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Hack 56 Mastering Close-Up Photography

Control the depth of field to get a perfect
close-up every time.

Nothing
helps more than close-up photos to compensate for the fact that
bidders can't see your item in person. A good
close-up photo will show detail (a really good close-up will show the
texture of the paint), and will also allow you to adequately explain
any flaws or damage. Different ways of shooting close-up photos will
yield different results.

Understanding depth of field is the key to
shooting good close-ups. Depth of field is the distance between the
closest object in focus and the furthest object in focus, as
illustrated in Figure 5-4.

Figure 5-4. Depth of field is the width of the plane in which your subject will be in focus

Several things affect the depth of field:

Distance from the object

The further the distance between the camera and the object, the
closer your lens will be focused to infinity, and the wider the depth
of field will become. Bring the camera closer to the object to narrow
the depth of field.

Focal length

A wide-angle lens will increase the depth of field, and a telephoto
lens will decrease it. This means that if your camera has an optical
zoom lens (not a digital zoom), you can zoom out
to put more of your object in focus, or zoom in
to throw more of your object out of focus.

As you zoom out, hoping to increase the depth of field, you might be inclined to walk toward your object to keep the frame full. Unfortunately, these two actions work against one another. Instead, let the object get smaller in the frame and simply crop the photo later.

Aperture

If you're using an SLR (digital or film),
you'll likely have control over the f-stop. A
smaller aperture (larger f-stop) will increase the depth of field,
and a wider aperture (smaller f-stop) will decrease the depth of
field. This allows you to adjust what's in focus
without zooming or moving the camera.

Extension tube

Although it's almost certainly overkill for auction
photos, an extension tube inserted between an SLR camera and the lens
will increase the macro (close-up) capability of your lens and reduce
the depth of field to almost zero. The wider the angle of the lens,
the closer you'll be able to focus. For example,
with a 55mm extension tube and a 40mm lens, I'm able
to focus on the dust on the lens glass!

So how does depth of field come into play when taking close-up
photos? First, when shooting an ordinary close-up, the depth of field
will likely be too small, and it will seem nearly impossible to get
your item in focus. So, for example, you can try moving away from the
object to bring more of it into focus, as described above.
Figure 5-4 and Figure 5-5 show
the same object with a narrow and a wide depth of field.

Figure 5-5. Increase the depth of field to bring more of an item into focus

If you're shooting a shiny or reflective item, or
shooting with a reflective backdrop (see [Hack #55]), you'll want to
reduce the depth of field. That way, any objects reflected in your
item will be thrown out of focus, and your bidders will be able to
see the subject itself more clearly.

Finally, if you're shooting a sculpture or other
large object with a complex shape, you might have a hard time getting
everything in focus without bringing in too much of the background.
In this case, you'll want to fine-tune the depth of
field so that the entire subject is in focus, but nothing else.