Photographing Crystal

[glenafton]

I am photographing my wifes crystal with limited results. I am photographing them indoors using natural light from the front. With some of the larger pieces I seem to have no problem as with the Blue Flower Candleholder. However as can be seen with the small global candleholders I can get the back one in focus with the others to a different degree. Or I can get the front in focus with the rest blurred
The camera is an EOS 550D. lens is the EF-S 17-85 IS USM
The details of the picture are: f stop 7.1 > Exposure 3.2 seconds > ISO 100 > Focal length 64mm > White balance Auto > Manual setting.
My other lenses are 50mm f 1.4 > 50mm f 1.8 > EF-S 18-55 3.5-5.6 IS > and the EF 70-300 4-5.6 IS USM.
Can someone advise me as to where I am going wrong

Glenafton

[Skyman]

are you zooming in to get such a close shot? this will narrow your depth of field (the portion of a photo from nearest to farthest from the lens that is in focus) there are two remedies available for this. 1 zoom out and move the camera closer and 2 select a smaller aperture (f7.1 isn't especially small) try F22 as a starting point and work your way up. Obviously this will mean you need a much longer exposure, so you may have to switch to bulb mode, or use a brighter light source.

[Medley]

With those settings, you'd have to be about 2 feet away from the front edge of the candle holder.

Here's an online depth of field calculator. Someone here gave this to me long ago. If I could remember who, I'd gladly give them credit. I use it a lot:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Hope that helps,

- Joe U.

[glenafton]

Skyman and Medley,
Thank you for the helpful advice. To-morrow will probably see me turning into something of an expert. Now that I have a calculator I will be able to get the exact settings.
Once again my grateful thanks.
Glenafton