Saw the opportunity for a good work photo relating to the coast. This photo involved walking out into the mud in good clothes and shoes. I then set up the tripod and balanced the lens, took a few shots but the seal did not look sharp, so I used live view to micro adjust the focusing then set the camera to self timer and took lots of photos.
Then saw Danny's walrus shot and realised my mistake, instead of selecting f5.6 I should have gone for f22 and not bothered with the micro focusing and had a nice in focus background.
F22 would have given more depth of field but not sufficient to give a sharp background considering the focal length you were using and the distance from the seal to the background. I like the composition but feel the image could do with a bit more punch in the processing. I would also clone out that annoying little dark blob on the RHS.
Robert
Posted by Elliott Neep on January 9, 2009 at 8:45 AM
f/22 would have given more DOF so there would be no need for micro-adjustment. As long as the focus was approximately 1/3rd of the way into the scene, everything would be in focus, or near enough (edit: but as Robert says, it also depends on the focal length)
The trade off is that shooting on f/22 would have meant a much longer shutter speed, which is not always ideal in coastal windy conditions, if your camera is not properly supported, or on unstable ground.
With a wildlife subject it generally (but not always as I am sure some will point out) works better with a large subject that is a dominant foreground focal point. It depends on the effect you are after - contextual scene where the habitat is portrayed as clearly as the wildlife subject, or an impressionist POV where the BG is just suggested. Sounds arty, but the difference is clear. Hope this helps...
Robert how would you suggest i add a bit more punch in the processing
Elliot thanks for the comment, I the aim was to give a sense of scale, I have others with snow on the hills but these work less well. I suppose what I was after in a wildlife version of a wonderful image of a climber with Snowdon in the background, the mountain looks much bigger and more imposing thanks to foreshortening, more like K2 in fact.
If the subject is co-operative enough and the light allows it, it's always worth shooting off a few variations at different apertures.
I like the placement of the seal in the frame. Cropping a little off the top to lose the sky strengthens the composition further IMHO.
Posted by Lee Newman on January 10, 2009 at 12:10 PM
I like this. nice enviroment image
just from personal taste i would crop off some of the top.
Lee
Posted by Magnus Hird on January 10, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Works well as a lonely habitat shot but as mentioned cropping the sky off the top and losing the blob on the more distant sandback (a wader?) would help. Just scrolling up and down it looks like you could also crop just below the dark treeline and take some of the sides to preserve the ratio and position of the seal in the frame as another option
Discussion
6 repliesThen saw Danny's walrus shot and realised my mistake, instead of selecting f5.6 I should have gone for f22 and not bothered with the micro focusing and had a nice in focus background.
Can anyone confirm if this would of worked.
Other C and C very welcome
Ian Hay
40D 500mm with 1.4
ISO 200
f5.6 1/200
Robert
The trade off is that shooting on f/22 would have meant a much longer shutter speed, which is not always ideal in coastal windy conditions, if your camera is not properly supported, or on unstable ground.
With a wildlife subject it generally (but not always as I am sure some will point out) works better with a large subject that is a dominant foreground focal point. It depends on the effect you are after - contextual scene where the habitat is portrayed as clearly as the wildlife subject, or an impressionist POV where the BG is just suggested. Sounds arty, but the difference is clear. Hope this helps...
Robert how would you suggest i add a bit more punch in the processing
Elliot thanks for the comment, I the aim was to give a sense of scale, I have others with snow on the hills but these work less well. I suppose what I was after in a wildlife version of a wonderful image of a climber with Snowdon in the background, the mountain looks much bigger and more imposing thanks to foreshortening, more like K2 in fact.
Will do better next time
Ian Hay
I like the placement of the seal in the frame. Cropping a little off the top to lose the sky strengthens the composition further IMHO.
just from personal taste i would crop off some of the top.
Lee