Thursday, December 24, 2009

Shallow Depth of Field


2009-10-08-080.jpg
Originally uploaded by crob

If you're wondering what the aperture setting on your digital SLR camera does...well, here's an example.
The aperture setting controls Depth of Field - this is the space behind and in front of the point of focus that is also in focus.
Wide apertures (small numbers) result in SHALLOW depth of field while narrow apertures (large numbers) result in DEEP depth of field.
This image was captured with an aperture setting of f/3.5 (pretty wide open) which is why only a small portion of the image is in sharp focus and the rest fades off into blur.

For Starters...

Hello, and welcome to the latest incarnation of the companion weblog to the Digital SLR Guide.
Let's get the introductions out of the way - my name is Chris Roberts, and I'm the person behind the Digital SLR Guide (writing, photos, etc.).
The concept for the Digital SLR Guide came out of a long-time interest in SLR cameras and their ability to take pictures differently from compact cameras.
As an SLR enthusiast, I spent a lot of time on a variety of different web sites reading about camera technology and terminology. I enjoyed reading about new cameras as they became available.
But one day something dawned on me: while there were plenty of sites covering digital SLR technology, the vast majority assumed that the person reading the information was a quasi-expert.
There were very few sites that explained the terms in simple non-technical language for people just getting their feet wet.
And so - back in 2005 - I started building the Digital SLR Guide.
It's come a long way since then and just updating the site on a regular basis keeps me pretty busy. The Guide also has a Facebook page, and I periodically post to Twitter as well.
Toward the end of 2009, I realized that I wanted to have a place where I could share a variety of DSLR information - photo tips, new camera info, cool web sites and useful tools.
And that's how Digital SLRs for Starters got its beginning.
I hope you find the information and links here useful, and also hope that the tips and other sites provide you with inspiration to help you start shooting some amazing pictures.
Happy picture-taking!
Chris Roberts, Your Digital SLR Guide