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More Photography News

Winners of our "Make Me Laugh" Contest!

=PhotographersClub:iconPhotographersClub: reports, 14h 30m ago
The news article version of our contest winners feature! :)

The Photography-APN Live Critique Project!

^kkart:iconkkart: reports, 9h 46m ago
Introducing the Photography-Animals, Plants & Nature Gallery Live Critique Project!

Please click the news article title for more information.

This evening at 10pm Eastern time US, the Photography-Animals, Plants, & Nature gallery here on deviantART brings you "The Live Critique Project" taking place in Photography-APN deviantART Chatroom.

All are welcomed and one doesn't have to be a premium member to participate. All details are contained within the link so please read as how this will work.

So be sure to swing by and join in on the fun! Everyone is welcomed!

RAIN

~secdelent:iconsecdelent: reports, 14h 31m ago
The beauty of the rain

The Best of Freestyle Vol. VIII

=PhotographersClub:iconPhotographersClub: reports, 14h 46m ago
A feature of the best 50 submissions we received in our October 2009 freestyle week.

Double one photograph

*ManGo-01:iconManGo-01: reports, 1d 8h ago
^^

1) Numbers in photography - one

*davespertine:icondavespertine: reports, 1d 5h ago
numbers in photography - one (1)

Polarization

*thaumadzo:iconthaumadzo: reports, 2d 1h ago
The use of polarizing filters in landscape photography.

The sunny side

~6igella:icon6igella: reports, 1d 15h ago
Sit back and see some pictures about the happiest things of the world. About the sunny side.

25 Excellent New Deviations!

*Karl-B:iconKarl-B: reports, 1d 23h ago
25 Excellent New Deviations!

Photography News This Week

Nothing to Hope

*scheinbar:iconscheinbar: reports, 2d 5h ago
There's nothing to hope?
If you see all these wonderful pics from my novembre-features
you will learn: there is a lot of hope

Finest Macro, Nature and Invertebrates in Squares

=rav777:iconrav777: reports, 2d 14h ago
Finest Macro, Nature and Invertebrates in Squares

I LOVE MY PETS! - 08

`emmil:iconemmil: reports, 2d 15h ago
Various faces in one name: LOVE! :D

If you like it, another feature in this series will keep coming!! :heart:

- `emmil

Pretty in Pink (VI)

=rav777:iconrav777: reports, 2d 13h ago
This is the 6th edition of ' Pretty in Pink ' - A huge collection of carefully choosen deviations from the photography/people & portraits-galleries.

Best Of The Best ;; SQUARES

~scream-for-silence:iconscream-for-silence: reports, November 25
This is the first of a series of features I will be doing.
They consist of my absolute favorite photography that i've collected since i've been a member of DeviantArt.
This feature's focus is on SQUARES, give them some love :love:

Coloured and Colourless VI

*recepgulec:iconrecepgulec: reports, November 23
We love square :)

The sunny side

~6igella:icon6igella: reports, 1d 15h ago
Sit back and see some pictures about the happiest things of the world. About the sunny side.

Better Digital Photography Magazine-Free online

^kkart:iconkkart: reports, November 26
From the Publishers of "What Digital Camera" and "Amateur Photographer", IPC Media today has announced a new online photography magazine, "Better Digital Photography" that people can read free and fully online, it is also interactive with embedding video tutorials from the magazine and mouse-over tips. Aimed at the entry and intermediate level photographer, it is heavily devoted to equipment and technique-focused photography content.

From the IPC Media website:

Publishing director Alex Robb says: “This is an exciting and innovative new venture for the photo portfolio. The editorial team have worked incredibly hard to create bespoke content, including technique videos and other interactive content. I am delighted that we have secured distribution to around two million photographers to ensure that as many people as possible benefit from the excellent tips and advice. Better Digital Photography is a further indication of how IPC continues to innovate in this competitive sector.”

Editor Mat Gallagher adds: “We wanted to create a product that helps the reader expand their knowledge, while being easy to use. It is thanks to the talents of art editor Steve Crabb that we have managed to produce such a visually stimulating and accessible magazine that surpasses anything else in the market place.”


My thoughts, this is downright awesome and VERY well done, it is like looking at an actual magazine, but the fact that it has videos embedded within for tips, tutorials, and techniques, make this even better! You can also subscribe for free, via email for upcoming issues, make personal notes within the magazine, and download a copy to your hard drive. GO GET IT!

Late Monday features

*niwaj:iconniwaj: reports, November 24
Features

Photography


Finding your Sweet Spot

`KevLewis:iconKevLewis: reports, January 20, 2008
A quick way to improve the pictures you get from your digital camera.

Every camera lens, with an adjustable aperture, has one aperture setting that will give you the maximum sharpness and detail. This is referred to as the lens' "Sweet Spot", and it is very easy to determine which aperture it is.

Please note that image sharpness has nothing to do with Depth of Field (DoF) other than the aperture selected will give you a specific DoF.

As you change the Aperture setting from large numbers (f22) to small (f2.8) more light is allowed through the lens, how long it will strike the sensor or film for is defined by the shutter speed. I know it's the opposite of what you would think. The lower the number the bigger the Aperture and consequently more light is allowed through the lens. More light requires a faster shutter speed to avoid overexposure. That's why lenses with bigger openings are referred to as "Fast Lenses".

Here is how to find your lens' sweet spot:

If you are a geek, like me, you would set your camera up on a tripod and shoot a static subject, which is placed normal to the optical axis of the lens. Using mirror lockup if possible to minimise vibration, take images at the full range of apertures available on the lens, analyse each frame to look for the image with the most detail i.e sharpness and this is your lens' "Sweet Spot".

If, on the other hand, you just want a quick way to check it:

Pick a bright sunny day and choose a test subject with lots of detail and color. I would use a something with a lot of texture in it, like a brick wall. It will need to be in full sun or use flash as you need to be able to take a series of images using all the apertures available on the lens WITHOUT allowing variables, like camera shake, to affect the results. Use a tripod if possible, mirror lockup and cable release or self timer to avoid this problem.

Using Av or manual mode set your lens to the largest aperture (smallest number) and take a picture. Change the aperture (and shutter speed) and repeat the photograph until you have images taken at each aperture.

Download the image files to your computer and compare each of them at 100% magnification. The pictures will be similar but they will have subtle differences.

What you are looking for is the image with the most detail, NOT the most Depth of Field because obviously that will change from aperture to aperture. Look at the edges of things in the image this will be the area where the difference is most apparent.

One image will be sharper than the rest and typically, it will be 2-3 f-stops from wide open i.e. if the lens is an f4 lens then the sweet spot will be somewhere around f8-f11. Unusually, doing this test on a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens I found the sweet spot was about f11 i.e. 4 stops down from wide open. This is probably down to the optical design favouring a smaller aperture for macro work.

So now you know the Sweet Spot for one of your lens, each lens will differ so it is worth checking them all.

Does this mean that you MUST shoot at this best Aperture? Nope it doesn't, before you take a photograph you need to decide what is important and what is appropriate for each photograph. Some images will require a big DoF so you would stop the lens down more but not too much or the image will suffer from diffraction softening (another kettle of fish to be aware of lol), or the ambient light may mean shooting with the lens wide open to get a reasonable shutter speed.

You just need to be aware that the further away from the sweet spot you go the less sharpness will be in the image, so it is always a compromise between DoF and sharpness.

Devious Comments

love 1 1 joy 3 3 wow 1 1 mad 0 0 sad 0 0 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0
:iconpixel-spotlight:
Really useful article, thank you! :D
:iconkeenna:
Interesting article!!!

--
Keenny Weenny! :w00t:
:iconvalevioleta:
I send you my pictures from your web site... When you let me know if my work will be on your web site??? Very interesting articule...

--
:chew: Aguante la pasta :rose:

:santa: Merry Christmas for every one :rudolph:
:icongkmon-doru-fanatic:
You might also want to mention to see if you can use mirror lock-up to get less camera shake for each shot. But interesting article :)

--
Fox and wolf lover! :D

"Anger turned inward is depression..and anger turned sideways is humor"
:iconkevlewis:
ValeVioleta,

none of the images met the size requirements for the site. Please reselect the best of those images, make it the correct size and send it to me again please

--
"It isn't what you feel that matters, it's who you touch"
:iconwatermelonbread:
Very useful.

Thank you.
:iconvalevioleta:
Okey then.. Thanks =)

--
:chew: Aguante la pasta :rose:

:santa: Merry Christmas for every one :rudolph:
:iconskifi:
I'm amazed at how many useful hints and tips you always have to share with us ;3

--
Anthro Gallery Moderator
skifi_at_volunteers_dot_deviantart_dot_com

...no me llames iluso porque tenga una ilusion...


:iconcheduardo2k:
thanks a lot for sharing this info :)
btw i found something on internet that might be useful: [link]

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