Domestic Hunter [focus advice]

Any comments appreciated on this one.

I do have questions regarding the ability of cameras to focus on both the foreground & background of images. Is this primarily a lense characteristic? It seem to me the "norm" for focusing can be done on only one or the other [fore or background] . Yet I notice some the "big boys" seem to be able to produce images that retain both foreground & background in focus, often covering sizeable distances too!

A good example that comes to mind, though video, is the TV ad for Claritin Allergy relief . A woman holds up pill showing "Claritin" stamped on tiny 1/4" pill in focus of foreground, while colorful background scene stays in focus. What hardware makes this possible [lense]?

In my pic, feline was primary focus [background], yet out of focus leaves [foreground] are only inches away from subject. Is low end lense the cause?.

Do a google search on Depth of Field, this question has been asnwered already MUCH better than I ever could... :(

Basically, the aperture controls the depth of field, the smaller the aperture (large f/stop) the deeper the depth of field, more will be in focus from near to far. A large aperture (small f/stop) will drop the background out of focus rather quickly. What you have is an example os a large aperture. And no, lenses do not focus on the foreground or background, they focus on a certain distance in front of the film plane, and the stuff after and before that point will be out of focus to varrying degrees depending on the aperture setting.

This is a pretty good shot, although it is somewhat grainy.

as far as what Sebastian touched on with DOF,wide angle lenses will give much greater dof than zoom. Two extreme examples would be to look at a vast landscape shot taken mostlikely with a wide angle lens. Everything seems to be sharp, foreground and background which may even be 100's of feet apart. Now look at a macro shot of a flower or insect. Being extremely close to an object or zooming in will cut the dof dramatically. You will notice in a tight macro shot that whatever was focused upon (eyes of a bird or insect, or bud of a flower) will be sharp but antoher area only inches in front of and behind, will be out of focus.
Zoom lenses and wide angles, and aperture control allow us to compose a shot as we might like by controling the dof.
As for the commercial you are speaking of, it is hard to determine what kind of Tricks or technique was used in creating everything to be in focus. Subjects,like the woman holding the pill, , for example, can be superimposed in a video or photo creating a entierely different effect than what just a single lens could achieve.

light is too dull

Thanks [belated] for taking the time to respond.

Thanks to Sebastian for basic explanation on depth of field.

Thanks to gahspidy for explanation/input also.

I think my camera is limiting picture quality @ this point. ;)

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Originally Posted by E.T.

Any comments appreciated on this one.

I do have questions regarding the ability of cameras to focus on both the foreground & background of images. Is this primarily a lense characteristic? It seem to me the "norm" for focusing can be done on only one or the other [fore or background] . Yet I notice some the "big boys" seem to be able to produce images that retain both foreground & background in focus, often covering sizeable distances too!

A good example that comes to mind, though video, is the TV ad for Claritin Allergy relief . A woman holds up pill showing "Claritin" stamped on tiny 1/4" pill in focus of foreground, while colorful background scene stays in focus. What hardware makes this possible [lense]?

In my pic, feline was primary focus [background], yet out of focus leaves [foreground] are only inches away from subject. Is low end lense the cause?.

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I think that a picket fence is a good tool for learning about depth of field. Place your camera on a tripod fairly close to the fence so that the fence runs off into the distance.

Hang something on the fence to use as a focus point somewhere near your camera's minimum focusing distance and shoot using minimum, middle, and maximum aperture (I'd use manual focus so that doesn't inadvertently change). If you have a zoom lens, take one set of shots at minimum zoom and another at maximum zoom.
Repeat this with your subject hanging about 15 feet away and then repeat again at about 30 or 40 feet.

When looking at your pictures, pay attention to how many pickets are in acceptable focus (that's an arbitrary value that you have to decide) both in front of and behind your subject (should be more in focus behind than in front). Note how this changes with aperture, focal length, and distance from the camera.

I know this sounds like an anal way to spend some time(and if you are using film, money) but I think it's a worthwhile thing for any new photographer to do. You will always have a kind of rule of thumb (rule of pickets??) to use on location because you can kind of imagine that fence sitting in your picture and know about what will be in focus for different camera setups.

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I know this sounds like an anal way to spend some time(and if you are using film, money) but I think it's a worthwhile thing for any new photographer to do. You will always have a kind of rule of thumb (rule of pickets??) to use on location because you can kind of imagine that fence sitting in your picture and know about what will be in focus for different camera setups.

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Useful idea this is.
Im using digital storage, so the only cost involved is time ;)

Thanks Chunk!