Does short DOF help making good picture?

Neare said:
Hey if I'm one of those types who like to take a scalpel to a neg before printing I might be into that Roger... :D

I could make the choice to dip a neg in fix for a few seconds, then develop then fully fix again couldn't I? I could use that process to create a certain type of photograph and it still has the potential to be a good photograph.

There are rules in that "there is only one way to do this and everything else in wrong" and then there are guidelines which can recommend ways to obtain something. Art is full of guidelines without a doubt, but I will continue to argue that there are rules.
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I think you meant to write 'there are NO rules'.

Sure, you'e pretty close to right, but then, if we're going to get semantic, I'd say that there are physical laws, such as gravity, unbreakable within a given model of the universe, and rules, which can be bent and broken, sometimes profitably.

By this definition, of course, laws in the legal sense are only rules, but often, it's a bloody good idea not to break rules, such as not putting the fixer in before the eveloper. In fact, post-fixation development has been demonstrated, but it's more trouble than it's worth.

Cheers,

R.
 
Yeah indeed
Neare said:
Perhaps were our argument lies is in the definition of the word 'rule'. ;)
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My definition of a 'rule' is related to the topic question in this instance. My opinion being that is there no 'rule' on how to make a good picture, instead that the artistic possibilities are near endless.
 
furcafe said:
Of course there's a lot more to photography than photojournalism, but in the PJ world, perhaps guys like Dave Burnett, Chris Usher, et al. spawned a mini-trend of shallow DoF w/their use of large format, Holgas, tilt-shift, & other techniques normally associated w/art photography. If so, Dave has often said he was @ tired of seeing so many PJ shots that looked the same, i.e., a deliberate reaction to the old motto of f/8 & be there, "tight & bright," etc.
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In photojournalism there's something else going on here, too. Many news organizations now ban photo-manipulations in post that -- not so long ago -- were everyday darkroom practice. The use of T/S, highly vignetting wide lenses, ultra-short DoF, etc, allow news photographers to obtain visually expressive effects that would otherwise be off-limits or at least pushing the rules.
 
I like short depth of field, but not too short. I think that wide open photos in bright light look strange...however in low light, it looks very pleasing. I think the best bokeh occurs at around f/4 so that you can see some details in the background while sill having the subject pop out just enough.
 
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