DP Review says: Depth of field (DOF) is a term which refers to the areas of the photograph both in front and behind the main focus point which remain “sharp” (in focus).

Depth of field is affected by the aperture, subject distance, focal length, and film or sensor format. A larger aperture (smaller f-number, e.g. f/2) has a shallow depth of field. Anything behind or in front of the main focus point will appear blurred.

A smaller aperture (larger f-number, e.g. f/11) has a greater depth of field. Objects within a certain range behind or in front of the main focus point will also appear sharp. [Source: Digital Photography Review]

Depth too narrow

The problem with taking macro shots with point-and-shoot cameras is that the depth of field is often too narrow that only a very small portion of an image will appear sharp.

At times you’d get frustrated because of the lack of f values for you to manipulate.

Aperture-priority and manual setting 

So the next time you buy a point-and-shoot camera, make sure it has an aperture-priority setting or better still, a manual setting which will allow you some room to play with this thing called the depth of field.

If you already have a point-and-shoot camera with these features, be happy now that you can have some freedom to make a difference for each of your shots.

Posted in Macro Photography Tips And Tricks, Plants Macro No Comments »

This is Sue, the most complete remains of a T-Rex ever discovered so far. The original specimen is being displayed at The Field Museum in the US.

The specimen being displayed here is a cast from the original specimen. Sue was found in New Jersey South Dakota in 1990.

Posted in Skeleton Macro 2 Comments »

I was all ooh and aah when I review the image sample of Nikon’s high end professional DSLR camera, the D3. I’ve never seen such a clean image at ISO 6400. My goodness, where did all the grains go?

Might as well Canon — which used to win hands down in the high ISO performance — throw in the towel now.

Nikon D3 has just up the ante by over 2o,000 notch with its ability to shoot images from ISO 100 to a mind-boggling ISO 25,600.

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If a picture paints a thousand words, then the photo caption should “capt” the picture.

Obviously in this case, neither the picture painted the words nor the caption captioned the picture.

This of course is unintentional and I’m sure it will be fixed soon.

It’s just happen that I had gone onto the website when the uploading process of the photo and caption was still ongoing.

But still, the effect is quite hilarious. I should be smiling in my sleep tonight.

Posted in Photo Caption Writing 2 Comments »

This is a millipede, recoiling from a mad macro photographer! It’s from the Harpaphe haydeniana species.

Posted in Creepy Crawlies Macro No Comments »

Sometime in September last year I went to Sydney for an assignment and had the chance to chat with several immigrants who had obtained Australian citizenship.

One of them, a taxi driver from Peru, told me Australia was a strange country. “It’s a big country but most of it are deserts,” he said.

On my flight back to Malaysia, his words came to my mind as I looked down from the plane’s window and saw hundreds of miles upon hundreds of miles of deserts. It took the Boeing 747 nearly three hours to fly across the desert.

A strange country, indeed. And strange leaf, this one.

Posted in Odds and Ends Macro No Comments »

I prefer to write using fountain pen. I don’t know why, but I can keep to a fountain pen until they broke down and never lost it.

Posted in Still life Macro No Comments »

Macro Photography Blog is number two on Google search for the keyword “macro photography blog”. It used to be in number one.

This blog is still number one on Yahoo! for the keyword. On MSN, however, this blog is nowhere in sight even after the third page.

Posted in Blog 2 Comments »

This really is a tiny bug, maybe about 5mm from the head to the tail — although I doubt this one has tail — and it won’t pose for the picture.

Posted in Creepy Crawlies Macro No Comments »

Casio is set to ship the world’s fastest camera capable of shooting 60 frames per second at 6 megapixel resolution. Now that’s fast.

The camera, which comes with 12x stabilised optical zoom, is also technically capable of shooting pictures you have missed or pictures you haven’t taken.

Now, how’s that possible? According to Casio, “Users can record images not just at the instant they press the shutter button, but before!”

“Continuously recording at up to 60 images per second, a maximum of 60 images can be saved in the camera’s own buffer memory even before the shutter button is depressed.

Even if users press the shutter a little late, they will still be able to catch that vital moment.”

It’s not call F1 for nothing. Here’s the specification of the world’s fastest camera. This camera will be very useful in macro photography environment.

Check also what the New York Times has to say about the Exilim Ex-F1 camera.

Posted in Camera Review No Comments »