Achieve Maximum Depth of Field - Understanding Hyperfocal Distance

Focus: How to Get it Right

The latest camera sensors and post processing software can compensate for many mistakes we make in the field, but there remains one thing you must nail in the field - Focus. There are many tips out there to achieve tack sharp focus: put the camera on a tripod, shoot in live mode, shoot with a cable release, and use manual focus. Yet some of us still wonder if there is more... and yes there is!

Just to make sure we are all on the same page, Depth of Field or Effective Focus Range, refers to the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in the scene that will appear acceptably sharp in an image.

Beginner advice, states:
small apertures = large f-stop number = deep (longer) depth of field
large apertures = small f-stop number = shallow (short) depth of field.

Generally this is fact, but actually lens sharpness falls off at the extreme ends. Image quality is affected when the aperture is closed down (towards f/22) due to light diffracting around the aperture blades. Therefore a more useful understanding of sharpness is that the middle apertures are ideal. On any given lens I try to shoot between f/8.0 and f/11 if I'm trying to get the whole scene tack sharp. There are times where I will stretch that to f/16 but anything farther than that I expect to lose sharpness.

That still leaves us photographers with the decision of what to set the manual focus to, since lenses can only be set to focus on a single precise distance. Sharpness falls off gradually from the selected focus distance in both directions (near and far, unevenly) so more than just objects at that distance can be acceptably sharp.

For landscape photographers, often the goal is to create an image that has tack sharp detail in the foreground all the way to the distant background. What is the best strategy to achieve that?

ISO 100 | 16mm | f/10 | 0.4 sec
Pacific Redwoods, California

What is Hyperfocal Distance

The key to understanding where to target the manual focus is an optical quality called the hyperfocal distance. For a given focal length and aperture, there is a corresponding hyperfocal distance. When the lens is focused at this distance the maximum depth of field is achieved. The effective depth of field at the hyperfocal distance ranges from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity.

For example: At 16mm & f/8 the hyperfocal distance is 3.5 feet (this applies to any lens at 16mm). If you were to focus on say a rock that was 3.5 feet away from the front of the lens, then all objects 1.75 feet to infinity would be acceptably sharp.

16mm | f/8 | focused at 3.5 ft

One interesting thing to note here is that if you focus closer than the hyperfocal distance than your depth of field will be cut short, not extending to infinity. Continuing the example above, if you focused to 3 feet, your depth of field would be from 1.82 feet to 21.02 feet.

16mm | f/8 | focused at 3 ft

If you focused beyond the hyperfocal distance you will still achieve focus out to infinity. Focusing at 4 feet results in a depth of field from 1.87 feet to infinity. Even focusing at 8 feet results in a depth of field from 2.43 feet to infinity. This means that a safe strategy is to focus a bit beyond the hyperfocal distance. Another way of thinking about it, is that the hyperfocal distance is the closest you can focus before you lose infinity.

16mm | f/8 | focused at 4 ft

The screen shots you see above are taken from the "Depth of Field Calculator" app for the iPhone. I highly recommend this one because it allows you to visualize the range quite clearly. This app (and nearly any other app) allows you to select your camera which will account for crop factor multipliers.

Alternatively you can use this depth of field calculator on the web to try out some focal length and aperture combinations.

A couple other additional items and highlights:

- Note that the markings on the lens indicating focus distances are not precise enough to use as a guide.

- Wide-angle focal lengths will allow you to achieve maximum depth of field on closer objects than a telephoto lens. If you happen to use a telephoto lens to focus on something quite close, your focus distance will be less than the hyperfocal distance and therefore your depth of field will be fairly short (this is also the reason why it is easier to create bokeh with telephoto lenses than with ultra wide angles lenses).

- Hyperfocal distance is only determined by focal length & aperture.

- Depth of field is effected by focal length, aperture, AND focus distance.

- It helps to memorize some focal length and aperture combinations that you use often so that you can be confident in the field you are getting a deep depth of field.

- Target your focus slightly farther than the hyperfocal distance to make sure you get a depth of field that includes infinity. Extending the focus distance past the hyperfocal distance will only lose a couple of inches of depth of field on the near side. Focusing closer than the hyperfocal distance could drastically reduce your depth of field and disastrously blur distance objects.

- "Acceptably in focus" is a subjective term and you may be someone who desires incredibly sharp photos (like myself). Since focus falls off gradually from the focus point, this means that the depth of field given by the calculator is too loose. Using the DoFViewer app you can configure a tighter requirement for focus, and you will notice that the hyperfocal distance gets pushed farther out for each focal length and aperture combination.

Wait, How Do You Get Objects That Are Super Close In Focus?

I'm sure you have seen those images that are tack sharp from front to back, but also include an object that is extremely close to the lens. Now that you understand hyperfocal distance, you know that objects closer than a couple feet won't be in focus if you want to focus to infinity. This problem is solved by a technique called focus stacking where several shots are taken at varying focus distances (more are needed at the near end) to get the very close objects sharp. The images are then combined and blended in post processing.

The photo at the top of this post and also the photo below, both required focus stacking to achieve the depth of field that you see in the final image. In both images, the nearest object was not extremely close to my camera, so I only needed a couple of shots to cover the entire range. However, it is not uncommon for some shots with extremely near objects to require 7 or more focus stacked photos.

ISO 100 | 16mm | f/9 | 1/50 sec | 4-shots focus stacked
Buff & Blue - Lofoten Islands, Norway

If you found this tutorial helpful please share it with others! If you have any questions please email me or leave a comment! I cover this topic in depth during my workshops; click to learn more about my workshop offerings and instruction.

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Best of Instagram 2015

Here are my most popular images on Instagram in 2015. I especially had a blast traveling to Norway and exploring the Pacific Northwest!

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You can find me @dustinwongphotography

(was previously @natureformspirit)

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The Abundance of the Pacific Northwest - Pt 1

Lush, Rugged, & Wild - This is Washington

My intention for 2015 was to spend some quality time photographing the Pacific Northwest. Oregon and Washington, after all, are inhabited with outdoor enthusiasts for good reason. The land is incredibly diverse, having beautiful coastal areas, mountains, forests, waterfalls, and even deserts, and accessibility ranges from very easy to experts only. Staying close to my home base in Seattle was a nice benefit as well. This post will feature the Washington Spots, and look for Part 2 featuring the best of Oregon.

The Washington Coast & Olympic National Park

The Washington coast is a favorite among locals who have often spent childhood vacations out there. Located over 5 hours away from Seattle by car, or a bit less taking the ferry, it is still quite a trek to get there. The beaches are fairly rugged, sea stacks rise from the sand to create strange structures that are habitats for rugged trees that can lay roots in the precipitous rock.

One of my favorites was Second Beach, accessed by a short hike in, this hidden gem opens up to a huge area with silky fine sand and large rocks to explore. The forest extends right up to the beach so campers struggle to find space to pitch a tent that won't get washed out by the incoming tide.

Clear nights are extremely rare along the coast. I was blessed to be able to capture the stars and the Milky Way at this idyllic spot.

The Gift
Second Beach, Washington Coast

Another great beach is Ruby Beach with an allure of a simple setting that can be quite dynamic. This image was captured at blue hour, well after the sun had dipped below the horizon. Venus shown brightly even as the last rays of the sun were filtering through the atmosphere.

The Siren's Call
Ruby Beach, Washington Coast

Venturing inland from Ruby Beach, the legendary Hoh Rainforest awaits. One could do a short hike, or explore 20 miles deep into the wilderness. Moss grows abundantly here, nearly as abundant as the energy and mystery that is present in this land.

Enchanted Dimension
Olympic National Park, Washington

Along the hike there seem to be things that resembled faces: a gnome like mushroom, and a tree stump with the profile of a lady. I captured this being in our campfire late that night.

Elemental
Olympic National Park, Washington

One of the pleasant waterfalls in this area is Sol Duc Falls - I remember a simple photo of these falls that I bought at the visitor center years ago. It has served as inspiration to me for many years so I decided I had to go see it for real this time. Nothing fancy here. Just a beautiful cascading flow and a lovely walk through the forest.

Sol Duc Falls
Olympic National Park, Washington

Mount Rainier National Park

This dominant volcanic mountain in the Cascade mountain range can often be seen from Seattle on a clear day. However it's true majestic qualities must be appreciated up close. The park is large and the road basically routes one around the mountain, as if to show off each of its intricate faces. A popular vantage point from the south is Reflection Lake. My time at Rainier was a lot of early mornings and late nights. With sunrise at 5:30am, being in position here meant setting the alarm clock at a brutal 4am.

Reflection Lake
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

The mountain has become quite popular for night photographers to get a shot of the milky way and the mountain, and with clear skies showing on the weekend weather forecast, it was sure to be busy. Such is the state of nature photography these days! Another photographer, Victor Poon, who was visiting from Hong Kong, and I kept running into each other around the mountain. It seems we had similar ideas of where to shoot each day. We convinced each other that hiking in to look for a night shot was a good idea so at 1am we were on the trail passing many photographers taking up positions near the parking lot. The hike was worth it and we got there just in time for the alignment (as we had planned). Instead of dealing with massive crowds we shared a spot with four other chill photographers who were shooting a timelapse sequence. The magic of the mountain and the heaven's was in full on display--I couldn't have been happier to share this experience with a small group of photographers.

Heaven's Gate
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Victor and I decided make it an all-nighter and stay for sunrise. We had hiked in to the spot in dark so we didn't really know what the surrounding area looked like. As first light began to fill in we were gifted a most incredible reveal in 360 degrees of the glory that is Mount Rainier National Park.

Burroughs Selfie
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

The Northern Cascades

The most rugged part of the state is located in the Northern Cascades. Mountains and alpine lakes dominate the scene here, but roads are scarce and trails involve a fair amount of distance and elevation gain. I had driven up here for the night as conditions looked promising. As I neared the location in the afternoon rain clouds began to form which were totally not in the forecast! I arrived to gloomy looking conditions and decided to wait it out the van. I periodically checked outside to see if it was getting better, but it wasn't. At some point near sunset I decided it was time to go out and setup regardless of what it looked like. To my surprise the weather was rapidly changing, a full brilliant rainbow was forming over me! I grabbed all my gear and ran out of the van. I was a flurry of mixed emotions: full of shame for missing this moment sitting inside waiting for the rain to stop, and so excited that this was actually happening! Pumped full of adrenaline and a side order of anxiety flowing through me, I setup at the first spot that looked any good. The scene was so big that I had to go with a pano and reeled of this sequence. I will be back for more from this part of the state for sure!

Once Upon a Time
The Northern Cascades, Washington

The Enchantments

Each year there is more demand for the amount of permits they offer to camp in the backcountry of the famed Enchantments. My buddy, Fadi, and his lady Reham, were fortunate to secure a lottery backcountry pass and invited Megan and myself along. The pass was for Stuart Zone, which is not ideal for visiting the Core Enchantments Zone because the distance is still formidable for a day hike. I won't bother to go into too much detail about this, but the distance proved too much for our group and we made it halfway up Asgard Pass and turned back. Rounding out the day with 11.5 miles and returning to camp at dusk exhausted.

Half Way Up Asgard Pass
Enchantments, Washington

Panther Creek Falls

Located at the south end of the state near the Oregon border is the magnificent Panther Falls. A slippery descent drops one into a verdant garden of may apple and moss. The ever flowing water at this location keeps the vegetation healthy and the visitors glistening wet. However with an increase in traffic, much of the plant life is struggling and a muddy mess is starting to form at the base of the falls. If you do visit this location please do be careful where you step as to not damage the plant life any further. This falls unique mossy tendrils make it one of the best waterfalls in the state.

So there are some of the wonderful places I visited this year! All of my above images are available for prints and licensing. If you enjoyed this post please take the time to share it - it really does means the world to me - much love and gratitude!

Part 2 - Great Green Oregon

Panther's Claw
Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington

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Cosmic Forces

Photographing the Aurora in Norway

I joined rock star landscape photographers Arild Heitmann and Ryan Dyar for their Lofoten & Senja Arctic Workshop/Tour for 10 days in March (www.lofotentours.com). Our group was there primarily to see the aurora borealis (a.k.a the northern lights) and photograph the cosmic spectacle in the majestic setting of the Norwegian Fjords.

The Lofoten Islands are an archipelago located within the Arctic Circle around 68 and 69 degrees north latitude--a hot spot for viewing aurora during the winter. The islands consist of rugged mountain peaks that form right up against the shore. Snow melt flows regularly down the mountain peaks so creeks and waterfalls are very common. After countless turns, bridges and tunnels along the one road that traverses the island chain, the landscape continues to impress and left me in awe of how many opportunities exist in this small corner of the world. There are rocky shorelines and soft-sand beaches that nearly always have an impressive view of some snow-covered mountain on the next island. I found it quite unusual to be at a beach where straight offshore another large mountain can be seen. I suspect there are few places on earth where this condition exists.

We arrived at our cabins in the scenic fishing town of Hamnoy just outside of Reine. This quaint fishing town has become world famous for it's photogenic qualities.

The second night we spent the evening at Skagsanden Beach, a well known location with an iconic mountain across the water. The skies were clear and around 9pm we started seeing some mild activity. After an hour the night sky had turned into a full blown spectacle.

A typical day on the workshop would start early for a sunrise, then back to our cabins for a nap and food. Some days we would scout out a place during the mid day, or just wait until sunset. We followed nature's schedule (constantly checking weather conditions) and when there were chances for good light we were out shooting something. The region has so many scenic locations.

We had some great lighting conditions.

The aurora was a frequent occurrence for us, (half of the nights) each display presenting very different conditions. I thoroughly enjoyed traveling through this mystical land abound with photogenic opportunities. The fellow participating photographers were all very inspiring to be around, and our guides Arild and Ryan were always in great spirits and very open to helping teach their craft. I left wanting to return to explore more of the idyllic scenery.

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How to Create Panoramic Images

Using Adobe Photoshop, creating panoramic images is astonishingly simple

Panoramic images are created by shooting multiple shots and stitching them together in post to create an elongated field of view. Wide-angle lenses are commonly used in panoramic photography, however techniques discussed here can be applied to telephoto lenses as well. Panorama's are usually found in the horizontal orientation, however the same concepts can be applied in the vertical direction.

Shooting the images

Here are some guidelines for shooting the images that will help you get consistent results.

Image Overlap

Pan from left to right (or vise versa) and take a row of overlapping images. When shooting your scene it is critical to include at least 20% overlap between your images. This redundant information is what the software will use to match the images together. When first experimenting with this technique I recommend including nearly 50% of overlap. As you become more comfortable with the process you can reduce the amount.

Keep it Level

Try to pan level to the horizon as best as you can.

Include a buffer zone

Through the stitching process, there will often be elements at the edges that will not fit into the final image. When you shoot your scene keep that in mind, and give your self a buffer zone in each direction.

Using a Tripod

I recommend using a tripod with a nice ball head to make lining up your shots a bit easier. It is possible to stitch images that were shot hand held, but results are better when a tripod is used.

Shoot in Manual Mode

It is important that all the images being stitched together have the same exposure settings. Figure out the exposure you want by taking a couple of test shots. Additionally you may want to consider using manual focus to maintain a consistent focus point (I have also had success adjusting focus in each shot, so play around to see what works best for you).

White Balance

Ideally, every image you are stitching together should have the same white balance. If you shoot in auto white balance mode the camera may select different settings for your shots. Shooting in RAW allows you correct this in the post-processing stage.

Shoot in Live View

Use the display screen on the back of your camera to help you line up your images. Determining your overlap is is much simpler this way.

Stitching the Images Together

If you shoot your images with process I outlined above, Photoshop will do a fantastic job automatically stitching them together to create a single image. There is some cleanup involved but it is fairly straight forward. I go over all that in this video tutorial.

Watch the Tutorial Video

Eliminate Image Parallax (advanced)

To help you illustrate what image parallax is, visually line up your index finger with an object in your room. Close one eye and observe what happens, then switch eyes and observe once again. Viewing the objects through your dominant eye should change nothing, however viewing the objects through your less dominant eye should reveal a shift. This shift, or parallax, is what happens when you don't rotate the camera and lens about the optical center, aka nodal point. The nodal point, varies for each lens and focal length, however it is typically located a small distance behind the end of the lens. Rotating the camera and lens about the nodal point will eliminate image parallax.

There are some fancy tripod mounts that allow you to rotate the camera around the nodal point of the lens, reducing any shift in optical perspective, however that level of precision is generally not needed. Rotating around the nodal point becomes increasingly important when using an ultra-wide angle lens and including subjects that are very close to the camera.

If you have any questions please send me a message at dustin.t.wong@gmail.com.

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The Road Ends at Black Rock City

Burning Man, Black Rock City, NV 2014

Burning Man, the final stop of my 4-month long road trip brought me to the harsh living conditions of the playa, aka Black Rock City, about 100 miles north of Reno, NV. I had just come off a photography segment which included Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons. I was physically exhausted, which is not a good way to start Burning Man. After spending a couple of days in Reno gathering some supplies and getting some rest I was ready, and I made my way into the festival.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Burning Man, it is a week long art festival held annually in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. People who attend, or "Burners," must bring everything one needs to survive (including water) and then pack everything out. Radical Self-Reliance & Leave No Trace are two of the festival's ten principles.

Because some 70,000 people come to the event on a two lane highway, getting in and out of the festival is often a challenging experience. From where the road ends and the playa begins, the Man can be seen miles away on the approach to Black Rock City. This year I was lucky to enter on Sunday morning just after gates officially opened with only an hour delay in line! This is very smooth compared to the nightmare delay burners had the next day where rain caused the roads to be closed sending people through a 22 hour ordeal involving being sent back to Reno and standing in an epic multi-hour line for will call. Yikes! Tip: get paper tickets - always.

Our camp's theme was "Love Alway" which is inspired by Charles Bradley, a funk/soul/R&B singer (think James Brown) who lived a vagabond life in poverty and was discovered in his 50s. His gut wrenching lyrics and soulful style demonstrate what a heart that remains pure through struggle is capable of. After his performance at Sasquatch Music Festival he spoke to the crowd and reminded us to always choose love. Being illiterate, he signed my friends shirt "Love Alway" and the rest is history.

Love Alway

This being my second year, the initial shock and awe of the event was not present, but I was excited to return and have an entirely new experience. Similar to last year I shot with my 5D mkII and 16-35mm f/2.8 lens. Protecting one's gear is a must out there, but it's not that difficult. Some gaffer's tape and a camera rain bag does the trick quite nicely. I also try to keep it in a backpack when I'm not using to it. Also if you are riding around on a bike, make sure there is adequate padding for your camera in case the bag falls out of the bike basket. If you have a DSLR, never change lenses outside. In fact try not to change lenses at all. Even in the relative calm of a clean RV there is still a ton of dust floating around that can fall on the sensor. If you must change lenses, you should plan on sending your gear in to be professionally cleaned after.

It was a visually stunning event yet again with just about every scene at any given time of day worthy of taking a picture. The lighting conditions change through the week so each day brings new opportunities. I took out the camera when I could but I tried to preserve my energy to last the whole week. I ended up coming down with a head cold (like many others) on Friday and the dust was so bad that I felt I had to get off the playa. I left before the Man burn and Temple burns. Even though I missed those two great events, I still had a complete experience at Burning Man this year. The highlight was meeting and making a connection with a group of three ladies who randomly asked to join our camp. In the end, it's the people who make the journey that make the event what it is. Here are some snaps that I got off while making my way around the festival. I hope you enjoy them, and I encourage you to share this blog post with anyone who might find these pictures inspiring.

Click on any photo to view the larger versions. Or check out my updated minimalist tumblr page for a smoother viewing experience.

And my friends, remember "Always Choose Love"

-

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