Late Afternoon in the Namib

[Loukie Viljoen]

This was very late at sunset, Canon EOS ID MKII, 100 - 400 mm lens, the rest got "lost in translation"

[Arthur Morris]

I like the sidelight, esp. on the mountains. The tree and the bushes look soft. Are you using a tripod???

[Loukie Viljoen]

Yes Artie I use a tripod, but I think the 100 - 400 could not handle the depth of field from the tree to the mountains, it was late the speed slow and lens just about wide open, Regards Loukie

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Louikie. My concern is that the foregrond elements are not sharp. It is best always to focus on the foreground stuff and let the BKGR stuff go soft. Have you ever done a focus test with your lens by photographing some newspaper tacked on a wall at verying distances? Are you sharpening your jpegs?

Also, if you post the techinical data such as shutter speed, we are better able to help you...Are you using RAW capture?

[Loukie Viljoen]

Yes I see the lens was @ f16, that lens + my wife's D40 is deadly as you put it, I think it was basic operator inexperience, Thanks Artie


2005:04:16 18:29:27
135mm
1/4 sec, f/16
Mode: Av
Metering: Multi-segment
ISO: 125
Flash: Off
File size: 291KB
Image size: 633 x 420
Color space: sRGB
Color profile: sRGB IEC61966-2.1

[Leroy Laverman]

The light is nice and I like the composition as well. I tried to sharpen the image some to see if that would help with the softness. While I as there I increased the saturation a touch and got rid of the bush that's cut in half on the left edge. I'm surprised at f/16 that the foreground is soft. At 135mm you should have been a fair distance from the tree. Maybe some vibration during the long exposure?

[Loukie Viljoen]

Thanks for all the trouble taken guys/dolls all noted and put onto the brain hard drive.

[Arthur Morris]

Yes I see the lens was @ f16, that lens + my wife's D40 is deadly as you put it, I think it was basic operator inexperience, Thanks Artie


2005:04:16 18:29:27
135mm
1/4 sec, f/16
Mode: Av
Metering: Multi-segment
ISO: 125
Flash: Off
File size: 291KB
Image size: 633 x 420
Color space: sRGB
Color profile: sRGB IEC61966-2.1

Best advice from a bird photographer would be to focus on the tree and use the wide open aperture.

Best of luck

[Robert Amoruso]

The composition and light with the long shadows adding depth to the image works great. I like Leroy's cloning out of that bush. If possible, try not to crop thingks like that at the edges or remove them later.

The OOF FG is a problem and one of the reasons the 100-400mm at f/16 is not a good choice as more DOF was needed.

Though the tree sharp and BG OOF as Artie suggests would be a very different image, I don't feel it would be successful but hey give it a try sometime.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Loukie,
Sorry I somehow missed this. I agree that the 100-400 doesn't make a great Landscape choice especially at f16......but you work with what you've got! That main focus tree need to be tack sharp. The removal of the bush in the field, bymovong a bit left, would have been great but for me the clone out is acceptable. This may have also gotten the tree totally in the light blue.......helping even a bit more. This was very close.........a bit more attention to detail puts it even at a higher level!