what's wrong with this picture...literally

[jann1033]

I have been going over the canon tutorials and figuring out how i have gone wrong in old pictures( so as to not keep repeating the same old mistakes :thumbsup2 ) but this on has me stumped...the mid section is clear( at least to my eyes) and the back not to bad but the front is blurry. it's film ( from a yr ago) so not sure about shutter etc except think it's iso 400 and auto focus. so is the depth of field wrong? the fence and name tag are much clearer( readable) in person than they look here, evidently my scanner is not that great. but the front tent flap and rope are not sharp in person

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b332/jann1033/countyfair.jpg

[mhutchinson]

You did not mention what the focal length of the lens was or type of lens. You can get a blurry foreground depending upon the lens you are using, focal point and depth of field. Long lenses (telephotos) will have a shallow frontal DOF if your subject is fairly close to the camera.

[jann1033]

so that would be depth of field problem? i think it was my film 28-80 f/3.5-5.6 lens and i am guessing it was zoomed some as i am guessing it was bout 20-30 ft away or so

thanks i am trying to recognize problems since they never seem to show you their mistakes :)

[Kelly Grannell]

looks like DOF problem to me.

[mhutchinson]

i am trying to recognize problems since they never seem to show you their mistakes :)

It would be a depth of field issue. But there are times that you might intentionally want to have the foreground in soft focus (blurr) to bring attention to the part of the picture you want the viewer's eye to go to. As an example you are focusing on a specific flower but there are some in both the foreground and background that make the picture too busy. By reducing the depth of your field, you can bring the viewer's attention to the spot in the image you want to best show. Increasing the f-stop will increase the DOF, reducing it will do the opposite.

It is all a learning process.

Mike

[Sonno]

What was the aperture set at?

[jann1033]

no idea bout the apeture etc due to not having the fancy digital read out :) ( and a yr or more later, i'd never remember it)
that is one thing i look forward to, being able to easily see what settings i used for what results which is harder with film

thanks for the help