| May 2010 Newsletter |
This newsletter features information about working with the background in your photo and using a
lower angle to achieve a more out of focus background.
lower angle to achieve a more out of focus background.
OSPREY photographed August 2008, Dunedin Causeway, Florida. Canon 1DMarkIII 500mmF4 lens,
1/2500 at F7.1, iso 640, evaluative metering +0.3, handheld. While I was photographing in Florida I
found this Osprey with a half eaten fish down low on a post on the beach. This was the image I took
when I first found him and I was standing up. I was using a fast shutter speed and relatively high iso
because I was handholding and I thought he might take flight. The RAW file original was a little
underexposed as it was a cloudy day and I had a dark bird against a light beach background. The
proper exposure would probably have been about +1 exposure compensation to expose the bird
properly and get the beach the light color it should be.
1/2500 at F7.1, iso 640, evaluative metering +0.3, handheld. While I was photographing in Florida I
found this Osprey with a half eaten fish down low on a post on the beach. This was the image I took
when I first found him and I was standing up. I was using a fast shutter speed and relatively high iso
because I was handholding and I thought he might take flight. The RAW file original was a little
underexposed as it was a cloudy day and I had a dark bird against a light beach background. The
proper exposure would probably have been about +1 exposure compensation to expose the bird
properly and get the beach the light color it should be.
OSPREY photographed a few seconds after the previous shot. I used the same equipment but the
exposure was 1/1600 F7.1, iso 640, evaluative metering +0.3. By simply moving from a standing
position to a squatting position I was able to change the background dramatically from a white
sand beach to a blue water background for the top half of the image. This shows that when
working with a long lens small adjustments to your position can make a big difference and it
allowed me to get 2 images out of one. The exposure was about perfect on this shot as it was a
cloudy day with a mid toned background instead of a light one so my default setting of +0.3 for a
cloudy day worked out well here.
exposure was 1/1600 F7.1, iso 640, evaluative metering +0.3. By simply moving from a standing
position to a squatting position I was able to change the background dramatically from a white
sand beach to a blue water background for the top half of the image. This shows that when
working with a long lens small adjustments to your position can make a big difference and it
allowed me to get 2 images out of one. The exposure was about perfect on this shot as it was a
cloudy day with a mid toned background instead of a light one so my default setting of +0.3 for a
cloudy day worked out well here.
ROADRUNNER photographed May 2009, Pond at Elephant Head, Amado, Arizona. Canon
1DMarkIII 500mmF4 lens, 1.4x teleconverter at 1/1600 F7.1 iso 500, evaluative metering -0.3, Gitzo
tripod, blind. I was shooting down at this bird from a blind so I was forced to use a relatively
shallow depth of field (2/3 stop down from wide open). If I had not done so the background which is
already a bit distracting would have been even more distracting. The bird was close enough that I
wasn't able to retain sharp focus below the head and neck area. While it's a sharp image of a
Roadrunner I don't think it's a particularly good image due to both the background the lack of
sharpness on the back.
1DMarkIII 500mmF4 lens, 1.4x teleconverter at 1/1600 F7.1 iso 500, evaluative metering -0.3, Gitzo
tripod, blind. I was shooting down at this bird from a blind so I was forced to use a relatively
shallow depth of field (2/3 stop down from wide open). If I had not done so the background which is
already a bit distracting would have been even more distracting. The bird was close enough that I
wasn't able to retain sharp focus below the head and neck area. While it's a sharp image of a
Roadrunner I don't think it's a particularly good image due to both the background the lack of
sharpness on the back.
ROADRUNNER photographed November 2008 at Cave Creek Ranch, Arizona. Canon 1DMarkIII,
500mmF4 lens, 2.0x teleconverter, handheld at 1/1250 F13, iso 800, evaluative metering -0.3. In this
image I was lying on the ground. I think I had positioned myself in this bird's hunting path as he
looked for lizards among the rocks at the lodge. He approached very closely and I was able to take
some nice portraits. You can see how the lower angle makes a big difference with the background
here as it is quite a bit more blurred out. It also enabled me to stop down more (1 and 1/3 stops as
opposed to 2/3 of a stop). So the lower angle resulted in a better background and more of the
portrait being sharp.
500mmF4 lens, 2.0x teleconverter, handheld at 1/1250 F13, iso 800, evaluative metering -0.3. In this
image I was lying on the ground. I think I had positioned myself in this bird's hunting path as he
looked for lizards among the rocks at the lodge. He approached very closely and I was able to take
some nice portraits. You can see how the lower angle makes a big difference with the background
here as it is quite a bit more blurred out. It also enabled me to stop down more (1 and 1/3 stops as
opposed to 2/3 of a stop). So the lower angle resulted in a better background and more of the
portrait being sharp.
BELDING'S GROUND SQUIRRELS, juveniles photographed May 2010 at Malheur NWR, Oregon.
Canon 1DMarkIII 500mmF4 lens, handheld. 1/3200 F8, iso 640, evaulative metering -0.3 EC. There
were a lot of juvenile ground squirrels at the refuge headquarters that provided as many photo
opportunities as we wanted. At this point I was approaching the ground squirrels and shooting
from a kneeling position. Even though my angle was fairly low, it wasn't low enough to blur the
background. At this point I also noticed how high my shutter speed was so I bumped my iso
down to 500 for the next series of shots as I approached more closely.
Canon 1DMarkIII 500mmF4 lens, handheld. 1/3200 F8, iso 640, evaulative metering -0.3 EC. There
were a lot of juvenile ground squirrels at the refuge headquarters that provided as many photo
opportunities as we wanted. At this point I was approaching the ground squirrels and shooting
from a kneeling position. Even though my angle was fairly low, it wasn't low enough to blur the
background. At this point I also noticed how high my shutter speed was so I bumped my iso
down to 500 for the next series of shots as I approached more closely.
These are the same individuals from the previous photo. I used the same equipment as above but
the exposure was 1/1600 at F9, iso 500, evaluative metering at -0.3. By approaching slowly and from
a low angle I was able to get quite close to the ground squirrels and they continued to play. When I
had crawled to the point where I felt I was close enough to get the images that I wanted I lied the
camera on the ground in front of me. This allowed me to get the lowest angle possible and blur out
the background and the foreground while still retaining enough depth of field to get both animals
sharp. As I had gotten closer to the ground squirrels both of the squirrels were not sharp when shot
at F8 so I stopped down to F9 to get both in focus.
the exposure was 1/1600 at F9, iso 500, evaluative metering at -0.3. By approaching slowly and from
a low angle I was able to get quite close to the ground squirrels and they continued to play. When I
had crawled to the point where I felt I was close enough to get the images that I wanted I lied the
camera on the ground in front of me. This allowed me to get the lowest angle possible and blur out
the background and the foreground while still retaining enough depth of field to get both animals
sharp. As I had gotten closer to the ground squirrels both of the squirrels were not sharp when shot
at F8 so I stopped down to F9 to get both in focus.
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