This image is part of a series I've been working on that I call 'impossible depth of field.' In Photoshop, I combine two or more elements together such that everything is sharp. With bird and wildlife photography, we use telephoto lenses so often and backgrounds are usually out of focus. This kind of picture presents a unique look that we are not accustomed to seeing. Out of focus backgrounds allow all the attention to be riveted on the subject, and I do that most of the time. This kind of extensive DOF means the image has a lot more going on -- i.e. it's very busy -- but I find this approach to be quite compelling. These are Jabiru storks and the background is the landscape behind the lodge my photo tour group and I are using here in the Pantanal region of Brazil. For the birds, my settings were 1/3200, f/11, and auto ISO. I photographed them with a 100-400mm lens.
2 Comments
Nov 6, 2018, 5:20:46 AM
Jim - Bob, I have the 500mm with me, and I use it all the time with a 1.4x. Nothing like 700mm in the field when shooting birds and jaguars. Sometimes even more length is needed. We found a jaguar yesterday in a beautiful location, but it was too far for a frame filling shot even with 700mm.
Nov 5, 2018, 11:10:44 PM
Bob Vestal - I suspect that many folks seeing this image would not appreciate that the DOF is impossible. Certainly, agree that the composite is very compelling and a good reminder of the power of Photoshop. Takes practice, however, to get good result. You nail it every time! Did you leave the 500 mm at home this trip and are relying only on the 100-400 mm zoom? Recently discovered that addition of 1.4x teleconverter significantly alters available AF options, but the flexibility and quality of that lens is superb. Do use a teleconverter with it?