Ultimate depth of field

This is a composite.  Notice that the bird, taken with a 500mm telephoto, is sharp and the distant clouds are sharp as well.  Because of the shallow depth of field of long lenses, those clouds would never be sharp.  That's why virtually all bird photos have such shallow DOF -- because we are forced almost all the time to use long lenses to fill the frame with small and/or distant birds.  Making both the subject and the background in focus simulates what we see, but it's not what we're used to seeing in our photographs due to the limitations of optics.  I am going to experiment with more of these 'impossible depth of field' composites in the near future because I think they look so intriguing.  This is a roseate spoonbill that I captured in Tampa Bay, Florida. I photographed this bird from a small boat hand holding the big lens.