Comments about this photo please

[neutrino23]

In this Apple pdf
http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2011_Progress_Report.pdf

I was struck by the very first picture of the woman worker on page one. The composition is really nice. There are two more women in the background, slightly out of focus, not too out of focus. They are appropriately sized meaning that they feel about right as in this was not a wide angle lens making them very tiny nor a telephoto making them the same size as the foreground lady.

I was impressed that the photographer managed to get a lot of depth of focus in the foreground subject while the background ladies, maybe five feet away are suitably out of focus.

I'm inspired to setup some targets and experiment with apertures and focal lengths. I just snap holiday photos of people. I do OK but would like to do better.

I am hoping to solicit comments about how this was done. I'm guessing something like 35 to 50mm focal length and f/2.8 at a distance of about five feet?

If using autofocus would you target her eyes or maybe her cheek or even her shoulder?

In post processing does it seem they used something like unsharp masking to smooth her skin?

 

[acearchie]

I would say it's a much lower aperture more like f1.8 or f1.4 as the depth of field is actually very shallow, but I agree that it's probably a 35mm or 50mm.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Wide open and focused on the eye it seems.

 

[johnnj]

I would say it's a much lower aperture more like f1.8 or f1.4 as the depth of field is actually very shallow, but I agree that it's probably a 35mm or 50mm.

Yeah, probably a 50, but I don't think it's that shallow. The subject's entire body is pretty much in focus. If that was taken by my 50 lux asph wide open and focused on her near eye, the ear would be soft and so would both shoulders, depending on the actual angle of her shoulders in relation to the image plane.

Like the OP said, I think probably 2.8. If it's a 2.8 lens, then sure.. wide open!