ject and force all our attention on the sharp tu-
lip.
So, what was the technique I used to accom-
plish this?
First, I used a telephoto lens for shallow depth
of field. In this case, my lens of choice was a
100-400mm zoom so I could easily change the
composition. For the flower picture, the focal
length ended up being 248mm.
Second, I chose a large lens aperture. The
maximum aperture on the lens is f/4.5, and the
photo was shot with f/5.
Third, and critically important, my lens was
extremely close to the foreground flowers on
either side of the frame. The end of the lens
was three to four inches from them. Therefore,
when I focused on the subject flower, the tulips
a few inches from the lens became the blur of
color I wanted.
Fourth, I looked for a tulip that didn’t have an-
other flower very close nearby. Had other flow-ers been behind the subject, even touching it,
those elements would have been out of focus
but too defined for what I wanted.
Real world DOF scenario #
The photograph of the remarkable interior of
the Church of the Spilled Blood in St. Peters-
burg, Russia (next page) presents an interesting
depth of field problem. The base of the deco-rated column on the right side of the picture
was close to the camera position -- I’d say about
five feet away. Complete depth of field in this
shot was essential to show all of the incredible
detail with tack sharp clarity, but it was quitedark in this cavernous interior. And no tripods