to create shallow depth of field

- stand as close to subject

- lower f number
- faster shutter

to create deep depth of field

- stand as far from subject

- higher f number
- slower shutter
- tripod is best

lense

- higher f number means smaller apeture or hole which is good for outdoor
photography with plenty of light or daytime time of light
- lower f number means wide open apeture which is good for available and low
light indoor photography
- lower mm means wide angle meaning even being close to the subject, it can be
captured completely where as higher mm means the lense will zoom that much so u
need to move back and away from subject to fill him completely in frame
- lenses with mm range, eg: 18mm-105mm means it has focual length in that range
so more over its a zoom lense which can focus from wide angle to telephoto so at
the lowest mm u can fill the frame with the closest subject without moving away
from subject and also at highest mm u can fill the frame with a far away subject
like taking a picture of a tigers face only to fill the complete frame from far
away rather than being close to him to or else the tiger will have a good meal
:)
- any lense with a range of mm is zoom and with single f number or single mm is
a prime lense which cannot zoom so u need to move back and forth from the
subject if u want the subject to fill the frame or subject as well as
surrounding
- lower mm lenses r good for scenes, nature, landscape
- higher mm lenses r good for maco, potraits
- higher mm and lower f number lenses r very good for macro, closeups
- some lower mm lenses can do good depth of field in which subject is in full
focus and things before it and after it are out of focus so this way the subject
stands out but its good when u r taking pictures of subjects that are close
enough to u
- nikon AF means the lense can auto focus with a motor builtin into the lense
itself so if ur camera doesnt have a motor then also the lense can auto focus
itself and if the camera has a motor then it wont be used but the lenses motor
will be used and if the lense doesnt have a motor and the camer does then thatw
ill be used, in all cases the lense will auto focus on subjects. If the the
lense or the camera doesnt have a motor then obviously it wont say AF and u will
be left with manual focusing also known as MF
- nikon lenses that are FX format are made for cameras with a 35mm full frame
sensor and these lenses can be used on a nikon DX format camera which has a
smaller sensor size but if a DX lense is used with a FX format camera then the
camera will operate in cropped mode
- Nikon IF means internal focusing so even if u hold the focus ring on the lens
and put camera to auto focus, the lens focuses moving the internal parts and the
out ring doesnt move and also u can focus manually using the outer focus ring
and that too will make it focus moving the internal parts
- A mode in nikon stands for apeture priority mode and in this u only set the
apeture size and based on that the camera will automatically select the shutter
speed, u can still set the iso level
- Low apertures are good for letting in more light, but low apertures tend to
lose some sharpness. Not "out of focus" sharpness, but simple clarity and
definition. Prime lenses don't generally suffer this as much. And then certain
zooms, like the Nikkor 80-200, are even somewhat immune, which is unusual for a
zoom. Generally speaking, you want to ideally shoot about two stops up from the
minimum, for guaranteed sharp images. On the f/1.8 lens, for example, f/4 should
be perfectly sharp
- If you stop down (f value increase, smaller apeture) more you get sharper
results, but if you stop down too far, diffraction gives you softer results,
just like squinting your eyes. The very best aperture is someplace between these
two
- If you are a beginner or just shooting a 35mm or digital camera then just use
a tripod and choose the smallest aperture you have if you need depth of field.
Avoid apertures smaller than f/8 or f/11 on digital cameras
- Any good modern lens is corrected for maximum definition at the larger stops.
Using a small stop only increases depth; beyond a certain point definition is
actually impaired
- more on focus at http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/focus.htm