Depth of Field

Beautifully captured images would always have a captive audience. The popularity of Flickr is a testament to that. Though I have been using a compact digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 4100) for some time now, I am a beginner at using the digital SLR (Nikon D40x). One of the elements in photography that have always fascinated me is the photographer's clever use of the Depth of Field. Though it is just one of the several applications in the art of photography, in my rather limited knowledge, its creative use epitomises my definition of THE perfect photograph. In particular, I find photos with shallow depth of field very interesting.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York currently has a special exhibition on this particular element of photography: Depth of Field: Modern Photography at the Metropolitan. It would have been a treat to see this exhibition in person (and perhaps indulge in a bit of travel photography). But I will have to make do with just simply viewing some of the images online.

My fascination with depth of field is one of the reasons why I wanted to take up photography using a digital SLR. I am still learning and constantly trying something new. After much research and pouring over numerous commentaries from actual users and discussions online on which lens to use to explore this wonderful technique, I recently got myself a 50mm standard lens.

Photo hobbyists and enthusiasts extol the virtues of the Nikon Series E (AI-S) 50mm f/1.8. The new addition to my gear is the second version with the chrome ring (c. May 1981 - 1985).



This amazing piece of glass is manual focus and having had a little bit of practice using manual mode in the D40x, it didn't take long for me to figure out the 50mm prime lens.

My first 'successful' shot:



I took out the 50mm for a walkabout over the weekend and did some more practice shots.







I just love this little lens and the wonderful possibilities it presents. I am looking forward to just having fun with it.