In what situations would you, personally, use a focal length of 50mm?

[TCampbell]

GREAT shots Buckster!

 

[Buckster]

GREAT shots Buckster!

Thank you kindly!

 

[batmura]

The bottom one was actually shot before the top one. By the time I shot the top one, I'd determined that I needed more DOF to get the whole bird in focus, or the tail would blur.

I didn't know it was possible to blur the background at even 11 and 16. I thought one had to open the aperture as wide as it goes for that effect. On my 18-55 kit lens I've never achieved that kind of blur at even 4. Is your 50mm a prime lens that opens as wide as 1.8, by the way?

 

[Buckster]

The bottom one was actually shot before the top one. By the time I shot the top one, I'd determined that I needed more DOF to get the whole bird in focus, or the tail would blur.

I didn't know it was possible to blur the background at even 11 and 16. I thought one had to open the aperture as wide as it goes for that effect. On my 18-55 kit lens I've never achieved that kind of blur at even 4.

It depends on how far away the subject is vs. how far away the background is. When the subject's very close and the background is relatively very far away, it will blur like that, unless hyperfocal distancing is achieved, either on purpose or inadvertently.

Go to the following link and you can play with the values and get a better understanding of the relationships involved:

Online Depth of Field Calculator

Is your 50mm a prime lens that opens as wide as 1.8, by the way?

Yes, though I seldom use it wide open.

 

[andrewochs615]

What a killer shot!

Thank you kindly!

Can you tell me all the settings while shooting this one?

EXIF is included in the shots, but sure.

Both were shot with the Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II lens on a Canon 40D at a shutter speed of 1/250 (flash sync speed), ISO 100. Top shot was at f/16 and bottom shot at f/11. I used two 580 EXII speedlights, both off camera, top left and bottom right (and in ETTL mode, as I recall).

As for the technique to get close enough to use a 50mm and get the details, I set up an area that was baited with seed (I have quite a few in my yard to attract and feed birds because I like to have them around, but this one was specifically set up for shooting photos of them) and let them get used to it. Then I set up my lights and camera pre-focused on the branch area I expected the action, and then stepped back with a radio remote trigger and sat on my back porch, waiting for the birds to come and eat, which didn't take long.

The first couple times that the setup flashed, they immediately flew off (still got the photos though). Soon though, they were used to it, and would sit right through flash after flash, like nothing was going on out of the ordinary at all.

I would be so scared they would poop on my camera lol.