Pipe

http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs28/f/20...the_mouse3.jpg
I saw an interesting pipe in the river at the park the other day. I wish it was a little bit sharper, but what do you guys think?

I wish it were sharper also.
Also it just doesn't stand out from the background.
Don't know if better light or composition would help but might be worth a try.

As composed...I see two images. 1. A left 2/3 of rotting pipe. 2. a great abstract reflection.That reflection is nice. Maybe you have something here.

My opinion:Crop this,Keep the right 1/3, fine tune around the reflection...You'll see. Just my thoughts.

Rick

In general, our eyes are attracted by light more than darkness; brighter, sharper, high contrast subjects more than dark, fuzzy ones. With that in mind, if your subject matter of this photo is the pipe, then this photo will be better if the pipe is in focus and look brighter than other elements in the photo.

Your DOF has let you down here, the large, blurred area in the foreground overpowers the smaller spot of semi-sharp pipe in the background. The image lacks clarity, the viewer not sure what he's seeing in the water...I originally thought(before reading your comments) that there were some gators in the water. I agree that the reflections are the nicest part of the shot.

I went back today and got a better quality picture, and a different angle.
http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs27/i/20...the_mouse3.jpg

Gerald, I like this version better than the first...like the reflection very much. Your DOF still seems to be off, though.
John

I'm still kind of a noob at SLR photography, but what is the depth of field?

Gerald, depth of field refers to how deep in the photo things are in focus.
Looking at your second shot, it appears the pipe is in focus just before entering the water and the pipe in the foreground is very soft.
To increase depth of field,(dof), you need a smaller aperture,(bigger number).
This looks to be a pretty dark place to shoot so the small aperture will probably also force you to use such a slow shutter speed,(uncer 1/60th) that you'd need a tripod or you would have to bump up your iso to get a useable shutter speed.
Just guessing, but I'd think you'd need an aperture of at least f/8.
There are many lessons, blogs, forums both here and elsewhere on aperture and shutter speed and depth of field.
Maybe someone has a good one for beginners.

I think this Pentax book my dad gave me from the 1960s has something about DOF, but I never really looked into it. So to get a better DOF for this shot, I would have to have an f number bigger than 8, or smaller? I hate it how a bigger number means it smaller and everything, lol.

f/8 should do but like I said you'll probably need a tripod or push that iso quite a ways up.

Your dad's book from the 60s should explain dof as well as any new book. The principle hasn't changed. The larger the aperture the less dof you'll have.
Try it on a stationary object with some background and some foreground.
Take a pic at each f/stop and let your shutter speed be whatever it needs to be.
Compare them and you'll see the dif.

There's probably lots of technical stuff concening all this but all you really need is the basic idea and practice.

After reading the section in the book, and your posts, it makes more sense now. Thanks for your help. :]