Shrine Pass Hyperfocal Distance

By Rob Moody

Northwest of Vail Pass in the Sawatch Range of Central Colorado, the wildflowers peak at high altitude this time of the year. My goal on this day was to create images with extreme depth of field. I wanted flowers in focus in the foreground and mountains sharp in the background.

I would use hyperfocal distance to maximize my depth of field (DOF) and bring everything into focus. Roughly stated, when you focus a lens on a subject at any f/stop, the area in focus (DOF) will be represented by approximately 1/3 of the area in front and 2/3 of the area behind the subject in focus. Knowing this, I can use apertures or f/stops like f/8 – f/22 to render both the flowers and the mountains in focus on the image. Unfortunately, using autofocus can make achieving this difficult. This is best done with a tripod while manually focusing the lens.

Look for a depth of field preview button on your camera. Some have, some do not. If your camera doesn’t have a depth of field preview button, you can still use the hyperfocal distance principal to take the picture, you just can’t preview it. Then by reviewing the image using the magnifying glass and the direction buttons, you can inspect both the closest object and then the furthest object for sharpness. If you are unable to bring both into focus, choose a higher f/stop and or recompose your image.

For those of us with DOF Preview buttons, while engaging the DPF Preview button will result in reduced viewing brightness, it will allow you to preview the DOF of the selected f/stop through the viewfinder. To start, manually focus approximately 1/3 of the distance into your scene. It is important to focus 1/3 of the way into your viewfinder view, not at the actual physical distance of 1/3 of the distance to the mountains in the background. With the depth of field preview button depressed, slightly adjust the manual focus to bring both the flowers and the mountains in focus. If you are unable to bring both into focus, choose a higher f/stop and/or recompose your image. You should still perform a magnify and sharpness inspection to confirm accuracy.

Use this tip to maximize your depth of field. The chip in your camera is on the same plane as the optic in your lens. The ground you stand on is generally at a 90 degree angle in comparison to the chip and the optic in the camera. This makes getting everything in focus difficult if not impossible. By leaning your camera and thus the chip and lens of your digital camera toward the plane of the ground, DOF becomes more up and down instead of front to back. This allows you to carry more depth of field by optimizing it to your advantage.

Windy environments, as during this day, will present a challenge as log exposures are needed to compensate for more closed down apertures. I used a Nikon D7000 and a Tamron SP AF10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II to make the following images. I also used a circular polarizer to reduce the reflected light in the scene.

Comments

[Louise W]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! For once someone made plain sense about this. Can't wait for this weekend when I can get out and try it!

[Pat Mark]

I agree, this does make more sense than the explanations I have read before. They always make it sound so confusing.

[Jason Goldsmith]

Stunning beauty and awesome depth of field. Great photography.

[Brad Henry]

Made up my mind to choose the 10 24....thanks