We have all found ourselves before a wonderful landscape that we want to portray. You may be more into portraiture, architecture, or gastronomic photography. But if you like photography, surely the camera often accompanies you in your walks around the world. And surely from time to time you find yourself before a landscape that you would like to retain in the most precise, correct and memorable way.
In that case, you can not miss this very useful “tool” that we know by the name of hyperfocal distance.
But before delving into the hyperfocal distance, let’s refresh some concepts in case we have forgotten them or we haven’t just understood them, since they will be useful to understand what it is, how it works, and what the hyperfocal distance is used for.
Diaphragm
is the one controls light input through the lens. Normally, to More light we can work with larger diaphragms closed (F/16, F/22, etc.) already less lightto more diaphragms open (F/1.4, F/2.8, etc.).
To make it clearer to you, the diaphragm works exactly like the human iris. Surely you have seen many times how your pupils work when you illuminate them (they “shrink”) or when the light is scarce (they “open”).
By controlling access to the amount of light received by the sensor, we dominate or decide on another variable: Speed.
Speed allows us to play with movement or the absence of it, at higher speeds, we freeze any type of movement. At low speeds, the movement is “imprinted” on the sensor.
depth of field
linked to diaphragmwe find the concept of depth of fieldsince it is not only light that the aperture controls, it is also what controls what amount of area in focus we will have in the picture.
The larger the aperture of the diaphragm (f/2 for example), the more light, but also the smaller the area in focus in the image, that is, the less depth of field. And the smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field, and therefore, the greater the area in focus in the image.
Sharpness
When we think of sharpness we think of approach. And we are right, in part, because we are missing another variable, what we call acutance or contrast. The approach you already know what it is; let us see then what acutance is.
Acutance
Is he degree of contrast between details. The more contrasted the limit between these details, the more we perceive the sensation of sharpness, since they are more differentiated by their luminance. That is, the more contrast there is between the edges of the elements captured in the image, the more difference we will see between them, and therefore the clearer we will see those “lines” that draw any silhouette.
The target’s sweet spot
All targets have a perfect opening in which your degree of sharpness is maximum. This sweet spot is usually located in the middle of the diaphragm openings; that is, if it has a maximum aperture of F/22, its sweet spot will be approximately F/11.
Now yes, after this brief review of basic concepts, let’s finally see what hyperfocal distance is and how you, as a photographer, can benefit from it.
What is the hyperfocal distance?
The Hyperfocal Distance is the distance at which we get largest area of focus in the image; that is, older depth of field In the scene. This is one of the classic definitions of it:
“It is the distance between the objective and the closest point of acceptably sharp focus, when the objective is focusing towards infinity. When it is for the hyperfocal distance, the depth of field extends from half this distance to infinity.”
Michael J. Langford “Basic Photography
How is it calculated?
This is the formula to calculate it, since it depends on multiple factors:
H=(F*F)/(f*d)
Where H is the hyperfocal distance, F is the focal length of your goal, F the opening of the diaphragmY d the diameter of the circle of confusion.
Have you been speechless? Don’t be scared, did you think we were going to leave you with this confusing explanation after coming this far? 😉
Being realistic… simply and step by step
It may not be the most orthodox way to calculate the hyperfocal distance, but I assure you that it is the most comfortable, since there is a app great call Dofmaster what you can check here and that for free, calculate hyperfocal distance with identical parameters to the previous formula.
Before After entering the values you have decided on, do not forget that…
You are not only looking for the largest focused field areabut the largest sharpness possible in the image. Using the hyperfocal distance will already greatly increase that in-focus area of your image, but do not forget that lenses retain the highest degree of sharpness at intermediate apertures, which in the introduction I called “target sweet spot”.
Therefore, the best way to get not only the largest area of the field, but also the sharpest, is combine both factors.
here you have a example of the calculation of the focal length through Dofmaster. In which I have added the parameters of my scene and equipment: The model and brand of my camera, the focal length of my lens, the chosen diaphragm opening, and the approximate meters away from what I want to focus on. As a result I will obtain an automatic value of the hyperfocal distance, in this case 0.69m.
After After obtaining the magic number that will indicate the distance at which you have to focus, this is what you will obtain:
- Depth of field or area in focus from the place where you place the focus to infinity. In this case the formula tells me that I should place it at approximately 0.69m. That is, 0.69m. Until infinity everything will remain in focus.
- But not only that, the use of the hyperfocal distance, also increases the depth of field in front of the area in focus. Exactly at the half of the hyperfocal distance. That is, in my case, the hyperfocal distance is 0.69m. This means that its half is 0.34m. And that therefore, I will add depth of field in that distance in front of the area that I have previously focused; From 0.34m to infinity, my entire image will be in focus. A wonder for lovers of infinite depths of field, right? 😉
To make it even clearer, I show you by comparison what would happen in this same example, if you didn’t use the hyperfocal distance, and you will simply focus at 15m. that we have used to elaborate this “exercise”:
From the previous image we can easily and graphically deduce that without using the hyperfocal distance we lose a large and valuable area in focus both behind the focused place and in front of it.
And a few more tips for you to touch perfection 😉
- use the mode live view if you have it to adjust the focus live and direct.
- always work with tripod to avoid movements that could make you lose the sharpness or focus in the scene.
- work at high speeds.
- A trigger remote doesn’t hurt.
- Complement this article with the many we have on the landscape blog. Here are some examples.
- 11 + 1 Resources To Master Landscape Photography
- 11 Typical Composition Errors in Landscape Photography
- 10 Ingredients Every Landscape Photography Needs
- If you still want more, you have everything you need to know about landscapes in this fantastic ebook that you can download and take everywhere 😉
And that’s all, I really hope I have contributed to making hyperfocal distance stop being an abstract word for you and become your best ally when looking for images with infinite focus 😉 And you know, if you liked it, you found it useful and you think someone else could benefit from this article, feel free to share on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Thank you very much 🙂