Camera Controls

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Our first task was to experiment the effects of camera controls using different depths of field and focal lengths. I headed out for the green houses of the Botanic Garden in Kaisaniemi. It was a cloudy day, but the sun kept popping out from behind the clouds, which made the shooting very interesting. Otherwise the conditions were excellent; the exotic temperature of 30°C in the middle of the chilly September suited me well and the sound of running waters was very soothing. My hair turning into an afro I consider a reasonable sacrifice. And now for the shots!

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Shallow Depth of Field

I adjusted the F number down to 4 and got a picture in which the front is blurry as well as the backround leaving only the flowers in the middle in focus.

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Long Depth of Field

With F22 the area of focus is much longer. Only the the flowers in the front are still totally out of focus being so close to the camera. The difference between the shallow and long depth of field isn’t unfortunately so obvious as it should be because the subject of the pic isn’t the same. All the shots didn’t come out well so I just chose pictures where the camera controls were the most obvious.

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Long Focal Length

These chili pictures I shot at home. When zooming in from distance the perspective becomes more compressed than it is in reality.

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Short Focal Length

Where as in this picture, wide angle shot only inches from the plant, the perspective is elongated.

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Creative Shot

I took lots and lots of shots in the green houses. This one was my favourite though. It makes me feel like I’m really outside on a small pond or lake looking through the foliage. The only thing that might be a give-a-way of shooting inside are the roof bars of the greenhouse reflected on the water surface. It was actually quite difficult to take this picture because the pool was very small and filled with signs and placards with plant names on them. Therefore I’m even more satisfied with the results.

I got some critic about this picture though. Everybody didn’t like the plants in the front being out of focus. For me however it gives a feeling of nature and calm, and that’s the reason I find this one better than the other one taken in the same position only with the plants in focus. I also like how the sunlight gives warmth to the picture.

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