Can I focus on three flowers while keeping the rest blurred on a Nikon D5300?
Asked 3/20/2017
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I’m shooting a bouquet with a Nikon D5300 and a 70-300mm lens. Settings are manual mode, ISO 100, around f/5.3, and 1/80s. I want about three roses to be in focus while the rest of the bouquet stays blurred.
I tried changing the autofocus area to 9, 21, and 39 points, and used AF-A and AF-C, but only one rose ends up sharp. Is there a way to focus on multiple flowers at once, or do I need a different technique?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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If you have regular lens there is only one plane field that is in focus and its norm is perpendicular to the sensor. Period.
If you have tilt lens there is only one plane that is in focus but it may be, as name says, tilted with respect to the sensor.
If you want to make 3 roses in focus, use the angle where they are in focus. There is allways an angle since three points define a plane (except for three points in line). Any three points are in (at least one) plane. Four points define a sphere fully.
Another way around is to merge three or more images together. Shoot multiple images with each rose in focus and play with it in postprocessing.
Originally by user39108. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user39108
9y ago
0
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Autofocus point selection does not make multiple separate depths become sharp. With a normal lens, the camera can only focus on one plane at a time. Choosing more AF points mainly helps the camera decide what to focus on; it does not create several independent focus zones.
To get three roses sharp while keeping other parts blurred, your best options are:
- Arrange or shoot from an angle so those three roses lie on nearly the same plane of focus.
- Increase depth of field by using a smaller aperture, if you can still keep the background sufficiently blurred.
- Take multiple shots focused on different roses and combine them later with focus stacking.
A tilt lens can tilt the plane of focus, but it still gives you one plane, not several separate ones.
So yes, it’s possible to make three roses sharp, but not by selecting more AF points alone. You need composition, more depth of field, or stacking.
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