What settings for certain pictures?

Steph961

New member
I photograph my husbands miniature models I.e. soldiers, vehicles.... the problem is this amazing camera has so many settings I don't know where to start. There are free types of photos I take
1. Single miniature. With this I need it to focus solely on the whole model not just one section of it e.g. the face
2. A large model. Again I need to focus on the model which is trickier as it's fairly big.
3. A squad of 5+ soldiers. Again the camera focuses on maybe one character or a section but I cant get it to take in the whole squad.

If anyone can point me in the right direction on where to start, what settings to use I would be very grateful!.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
You'll need to explore "focus stacking"... DOF is very small with macro photography and in order to get all/different areas of the scene in focus, using a tripod, focus rails/bellows etc, you take multiple images of the same scene, then using specialized software, you stack/merge the images. Each of the "focused" parts then become a composite of the total focused image...

https://digital-photography-school.com/a-beginners-guide-to-focus-stacking/

Here's a short primer on the subject...
 

nickt

Senior Member
I'm going to suggest a different method.

First off, watch this to get a feel for exposure basics and depth of field:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8T94sdiNjc


and read this for more specific advice:
https://photographylife.com/what-is-depth-of-field


You want a greater depth of field (more in focus, front to rear). You need to use a higher numbered aperture to achieve this. This will keep more in focus. The bottom line is you need more light for this to happen. You could use flash or you could use a tripod with a longer shutter speed or you can raise the iso a little.

Now that you hopefully understand depth of field, you need to control your focus point. Don't let the camera choose. Instead of focusing on the front of a scene, you want to focus more in the middle. Say if you have 3 figures lined up behind each other, focus on the middle one. Same for a car, etc. Focus somewhere in the middle of front to rear. This method combined with a higher f number will give you more in focus in front of and behind your focus point. To do this, use either manual focus or use single point focus and jog the point around as needed to the center of the scene. In some ways, manual focus is better because there might not be anything specific to focus on for a midpoint. In that case, you can just guess that you are manually focusing midway between front and rear. The final photo will be more in focus than what you see in the viewfinder assuming you chose a higher f stop.

Final tip... back up so the scene does not fill the frame. More will be in focus the farther back you get. Then just crop the image. You have quite a few megapixels and will still have a sharp picture after cropping a little. Try your best to get this extra sharp so it survives cropping nicely.

I hope this does not sound complicated. After a little practice you should be able to get the shot you want instinctively.
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
Try this: Put the camera on a tripod, set it to Aperture priority. Set the aperture to f22 (or higher if your lens has that). Then shoot the picture. The shutter speed will be very long.

See how much more of your shot is in focus that way. This is the quickest way to find out if the depth of field of your lens/body is enough for the shot as you would prefer to take it. (Before even trying focus stacking or backing up or a tilt/bellows.)
 
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