leaflet

I had just got my first prime lens--50mm f/1.8D--and was very keen on seeing what this little cheap glass could do. 50mm on a camera with an APS-C sensor (like D300) translates to about 75mm in a normal format, and thus a moderate tele. As such, not exactly a typical landscape lens. It so happened that my initial test-subjects turned out to be, yes, leaves.

Leaves because first, I like them. Second, composed appropriately, I'd have a chance to see the quality of the background blur (or bokeh) from this wide f/1.8. Out of many leaves scattered around the University Square, I came to this singleton on a bench.

My initial thought of carrying out the capturing with f/1.8 didn't exactly materialize. So narrow was the depth of field at f/1.8 that even the nearest and the furthest parts of the leaf could not stay in 'focus' at the same time. Wonderful as it was, the presentation aspect of the picture was rather weak, in my taste.

Stopping down to f/5.6, the whole leaf came to stay in focus, just. Remarkable how the texture on the wood comes from a blurred look to a sharp one, and then goes blur again. The green stands quite in contrast against the dark brown.

Location: University of Melbourne, Australia
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/125s
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 50mm
Filter: N/A
Flash: No
Tripod: No