Obtaining adequate depth of field

[Peter York]

Also remember that you can assess depth of field on the groundglass while stopping down. In tricky situations it can be a lifesaver, even though the image gets quite dim.

[Leigh]

Remember that regardless of the technique used to increase DoF, your final focus adjustment should be on the main subject.

That's what you and the viewer are most interested in.

- Leigh

[Lon Overacker]

Andrew,

You didn't specifically mention if the tree was vertical, or laying down like a piece of driftwood. I'm assuming from your comments though that the tree is vertical. If that's the case, a couple of folks have nailed the issue already. When you have a strong vertical element trying to focus near/far as you were attempting becomes a frustrating endeavor because that plane of focus - from the near, foreground element and the far horizon is NOT the same or even close to the same plane of focus as the tree, assuming you want all the of tree in focus. So, you end up having to compromise. Still employing tilt, I might focus say 2/3 the way up the tree as the far point and then of course having to rely on a small aperture to bring the horizon in to perceived best focus. You can also still use hyperfocal at this point and perhaps focus slightly past the tree (but that all depends on where it sits in the frame anyway.)

I wrote a guide for this and several other scenarios that may be useful to you, or anyone else who cares to download it. I don't yet have it linked/included on my site, but here's where you can download it. Let me know if it helps or is of any value. I would love the feedback.

Lon

[David Higgs]

thats a great description, so very clear - thanks