Varying depth of field and background bokeh effects from 45mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko lens on OMD EM10ii.
I hope to show in the next couple of posts some examples of photographs of a nearby foreground object, a simple early autumn late blooming honeysuckle flower in my garden against a background comprising of other garden plants at various distances behind it.
Firstly, I went through the OMD EM10 Mark II's main shooting balance options and art filters, all shot with the 45mm f/1.8 lens wide open at f/1.8, exposure times approximately 1/2000 second on a bright day. This gives an idea of how the art filters might affect a natural subject and also how they affect the colouring of the background blur.
Secondly, I then I did a brief study of varying depth of field and how it affects the perception of the picture through background blur at apertures between f/1.8 and f/22 on the 45mm M.Zuiko lens, which is already one I love to use.
With this subject as with many others, there is a trade off between the pleasing bokeh effect of well blurred background colour wash that brings the subject into relief wonderfully and eliminates background distractions, versus the fact that the actual subject of the photo usually cannot be entirely in focus when you shoot with wide open apertures, because it has depth in itself.
So, the reduced depth of field in good bokeh shots also often causes blurring in parts of the subject, which can be annoying, though not always. This is going to depend on the subject matter and could even be seen as an advantage to draw the eye to one particular feature of the subject, provided that the desired feature is the one in sharp focus, of course!
Firstly, I went through the OMD EM10 Mark II's main shooting balance options and art filters, all shot with the 45mm f/1.8 lens wide open at f/1.8, exposure times approximately 1/2000 second on a bright day. This gives an idea of how the art filters might affect a natural subject and also how they affect the colouring of the background blur.
Secondly, I then I did a brief study of varying depth of field and how it affects the perception of the picture through background blur at apertures between f/1.8 and f/22 on the 45mm M.Zuiko lens, which is already one I love to use.
With this subject as with many others, there is a trade off between the pleasing bokeh effect of well blurred background colour wash that brings the subject into relief wonderfully and eliminates background distractions, versus the fact that the actual subject of the photo usually cannot be entirely in focus when you shoot with wide open apertures, because it has depth in itself.
So, the reduced depth of field in good bokeh shots also often causes blurring in parts of the subject, which can be annoying, though not always. This is going to depend on the subject matter and could even be seen as an advantage to draw the eye to one particular feature of the subject, provided that the desired feature is the one in sharp focus, of course!
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