I have long observed that when you’re using zoom, objects in the background can look much closer to your subject than they really are.  A couple of months ago, my DH Jim was reading in the sun room.  He looked so comfy and natural, I didn’t wanted to disturb him while taking a picture.  I used quite a bit of zoom and basically took the picture of him from two rooms away.  I was surprised — no, shocked – when I got the photo on my computer, because I know we don’t have a neighbor that close in the back!  It looks like I could just run over and borrow a cup of sugar fat quarter, doesn’t it?

Take a look at a picture of the same house taken out of the same window but I’m standing close to the window and didn’t use any zoom (the house shown in the picture above is outlined here in red):

Weird, huh?  Well, when I took the picture of Jim, the camera zoomed everything in, including what was in the background, and made it appear that there is less distance between the subject and the background than there really was; things look compressed.

Why would you do this on purpose?  One reason would be if you’re on vacation taking a photo of your family in front of a landmark or something of interest.  If you back up from the people and then zoom in on them, still including the landmark in the background, what’s in the background is going to look larger and more prominent and make for a more interesting picture (rather than standing close to the people and including the background behind them).

Another reason would be fairly similar to the picture I took of Jim.  Let’s say it’s a cluttery background that we want to minimize (like my sewing room!), and we don’t want to have the background detract attention away from the subject of the photo.  You would do the same thing I did:  back away from the subject and use your zoom.   Because it’s “enlarged”, there will be fewer items appearing in your background, and it will be less distracting.

And remember, for the best quality photos, only use your optical zoom.  Your picture quality will degrade once you get into the digital zoom range.   (I do occasionally use my digital zoom, but I do lose quality when I do.)

“Depth of field” is a term used to describe the how much of the photo is in focus, depthwise.  Zoom can affect your depth of field, as shown in a lot of my bird photos.  Here I was using quite a bit of zoom and had my focus directly on the Cedar Waxwing.  That accounts for the soft focus of the branches at different distances than the bird, as well as our neighbor’s house.

Compare it with this photo taken out the same window this spring, but no zoom involved.  Much more of the picture is in focus — greater “depth of field”:

Don’t wait until a big occasion to try some of these techniques.  Practice and play around with it.  Then when the need arises, you will have a better idea of what you’re going to get, because it can be difficult to see just what’s in focus on your display.

Also, depending upon the amount of zoom your camera has and how much of it you are using, you will have more or less of the compression effect or change in depth of field.  Just play and have some fun!

Also, feel free to upload pictures to the PhotoFridays album on Flickr.

My usual disclaimer:  I am a layperson when it comes to cameras and photography.  I just happen to like taking pictures and trying to figure out how to take better pictures and to understand my camera better.  Hope this has been of interest to you!

–Sue

Thursday’s Child Has Far to Sew…

I would love to be able to say I’m devoting all my time, 24/7, to finishing up my many, many UFOs.  That is not the case.  However, my goal is to keep at least one UFO project in the foreground so that particular UFO doesn’t slip back into the dreadful black hole known as my sewing closet.  Right now I have selected three projects to enjoy the light of day as well as some weekly attention:

1.  Shine On Bayou Cane (a Judy Laquidara quilt-along pattern from last fall).  I determined that to make a queen-sized quilt, I need 56 blocks.  Previously: 1 block done.  This week: 8 additional blocks done!!  Woo-hoo!!! 

2.  Nana’s Posies & Pinwheels.  I started this throw-sized pieced-and-appliqued quilt in a class last summer two summers ago, and since appliqué isn’t my thing (shudder), it got stuck in the closet.  Previously: the 13 pieced blocks are done, as well as 5 of the 12 appliqued blocks. This week: 2 lousy leaves appliqued!!!  That’s 1/6th of one block.  Not much to brag about, but hey, progress is progress!   Aren’t the blocks pretty with the leaves?  I was hoping that by doing this quilt, applique and I would become one.  Isn’t happening.

3.  Moda Posh Charm Pack Quilt.  The top was done many months ago, the binding is made – it just needs to be quilted and bound!  This is earmarked as a birthday gift for SIL Marilyn’s July birthday, so it has worked its way to the top of my quilting pile.  This week: thought about loading it on the longarm, but four customer quilts are ahead of it.  I guess “thinking about it” doesn’t count for much, or else all my projects would be done by now. 

It occurs to me that this is an ideal combination of UFOs to be working on.  I have some piecing to do at the sewing machine, some portable handwork, and a top to pin onto the longarm.  I didn’t work on all three items this week — only two of them – but that still smells like victory to me.

How are you doing?  Did you do at least a little bit of work on a UFO this week, just to get reacquainted with it?  It feels really good to see progress, no matter the amount.  Hang in there.  A little bit every week will add up to eventually finishing an item. 

Here’s something that is working for me:  I now have a design wall (thanks again, Judy).  I pulled out a manageable number of unfinished blocks to complete this week (eight) and pinned them up on the design wall.  Instead of being mystery fabric in a plastic tote (which is all too easy to ignore), they became a visible reminder of what I needed to get done this week so I could blog about it today.

You may post any UFO photos on our UFO Busters’ Challenge album on Flickr if you’d like, and it would be fun if you leave a comment about your UFO progress, or lack thereof! 

–Sue

My First 10 UFO Projects Slated for Completion, with the year project was started:

Shine On Bayou Cane (components made; need to make 56 blocks)  2008
Nana’s Posies & Pinwheels (need to finish applique on 6 blocks) 2007
Posh Charm Quilt (need to quilt) 2008
Amandajean’s 9-Patch (50 blocks made/30 to go) 2009
Afternoon Tea (24 blocks made / 5 to go; assembling top will be some work!) 2004
Fruit Ladies (needs quilting) 2008
Minnesota Quilt (needs quilting) 2008
Large Wholecloth (sew on borders and quilt) 2009
Rose Basket Wallhanging (quilt it) 2002
One Block Wonder (figure out what the heck to do with it; don’t like it thus far.  I think I will make it smaller and get rid of a bunch of blocks.) 2007

Today hop on over to Jamie’s Scrap-Bags web site.   She has a great tutorial on discharge fabric dyeing that makes me want to gather all the materials and do it right now!  It will have to wait, but I am going to try it.

To be eligible for Jamie’s drawing you have to do TWO things: leave her a comment for one of her prizes AND sign up to be a follower of her blog.  Comment on all 10 Minnesota Blog Hop bloggers in the appropriate spot and be eligible for a grand prize!  The designers have done a fabulous job in offering a fun array of patterns and tutorials these two weeks.  One more tomorrow, so remember to stop back!

–Sue