C&C Some Wildlife & DOF Question

Turnerea

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I'd appreciate any input people have for the photos below. Just learning how to use all the features on my XTi.

Also have been fooling around with trying to control the DOF with just the f-number (using a 100-300 lens- usually near 300) and have not been too impressed with the shallow end- things just don't get that blurry! Reference the last two pictures- first one wide open (5.6 I think?), and the second one at f/40. What else can I do to decease the DOF? I'd like to see the objects behind the subject be very blurry so they don't distract at all...

Thanks!


1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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7.
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Lowest F stop, most zoom, subject close, background far away are the best way to get what you are looking for. Looks like you need to get your subject closer like your last picture.
 
Thanks for the reply- short of being able to get closer to the subject, which sometimes is difficult, what else can be done? Would getting a more expensive lens, which would likely be faster than my f/5.6 @ 300mm help significantly? I'm just not sure if its my knowledge or the equipment holding me back (or which is holding me back most- I'm sure they both are !!)
 
At 300mm you're not going to find anything faster than f/5.6 for under $1000.
clicky
clicky 2

With your current set-up your best option will be to shoot wide open and choose your subject well. Get in close and shoot from an angle that puts the background as far away as possible.

You could get a shorter lens like a 50mm 1.4 or 1.8; or the 85mm 1.8. There are lots of lenses to choose from that are f/2.8 or faster, just not at 300mm.
 
I really like number 1 - 2 and 3 are a bit dark for me. great job though!
 
The bird shots are my favorites out of these, and I think are done quite well.
You DO NOT want a shallow DOF on those shots, at least.

The flower shots? What were your settings? The flower colors are blown. If you are aiming for just the flower, crop everything else out of those pictures.

My suggestion (er...not that I'm an expert, hell, I'm far from it) for the bird shots?
I see noise in them. Run them through a noise reduction program, just a very, very small amount of noise reduction would be needed.

I LOVE the moon shot, but I think the moon itself could appear sharper.
 
Thanks for the reply... yeah I was just messing with the DOF for the flower shots, not doing too much effort for an actual picture. I kept the background in to demonstrate the DOF.

I agree that the moon shot came out a bit soft. I shot it @ 1/200 at f/5.6 (max) at 300mm with ISO 100 to try and keep the noise down. At 300mm it only filled about 1/4 of the frame, so that is a crop- some of the softness might be coming in from that reason. Not sure what else to try to get a better image...
 
hm...from what I've read about on how to take decent moon shots (and I'm clueless because I don't even own a lens that would take me to the moon), is that you are going to want to raise your ISO so that you can raise your shutter speed and have the ability to close the lens more for a better DOF.
But, that was just suggested in general.
It's still a good shot, just that the moon was a little softer keeping it from being extremely perfect. Not all of it is soft, just the center and bottom portion.:D
 
Looking forward to trying the moon again... I did handhold it, which I thought at 1/200 was ok, but at 300mm might have been pushing it.

I think that the DOF is ok, even wide open. I calculated the DOF for 300mm @ f/5.6 here:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

the moon is 3,474,000 m away (thanks wikipedia)
so the DOF extends from 837m to infinity. Plllllenty of DOF to get the whole moon in.

So I think that next time I'll just get the tripod out to make sure that wasn't the problem. I'm not used to having such a long zoom, there is a rule of thumb with the focal length you're shooting at and the shutter speed correct? Is it one over the focal length? so I should have been at least faster than 1/300 for this shot?
 
So I think that next time I'll just get the tripod out to make sure that wasn't the problem. I'm not used to having such a long zoom, there is a rule of thumb with the focal length you're shooting at and the shutter speed correct? Is it one over the focal length? so I should have been at least faster than 1/300 for this shot?
A tripod might not be entirely necessary, you're going to want to keep your shutter speeds fairly high. Keep in mind that the moon is moving, so excessively long shutter speeds will give you motion blur.
 

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