This Brown Pelican image was was created at LaJolla, CA with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Autofocus lens, the Canon 1.4x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the EOS-1D Mark IV now replaced by the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/30 sec. at f/20 in Av mode.
You can learn a lot about long lenses and d-o-f here.
Central sensor/Rear Focus AF on the base of the bill less than one half inch in front of the eyes and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial.
The great 4-stop IS system of the 800 allowed me to make a sharp image at 1/30 at 1120mm with an effective magnification of slightly more than 29X! There is a great used 800 for sale if you scroll down here. Do the same if you would like to join me for 3 days in San Diego, January 15-17, 2014.
As for the image, don't be shy. All comments welcome.
Last edited by Arthur Morris; 12-16-2013 at 06:18 PM.
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Hi Arthur, love the portrait.. As for dof or not, IMHO and few experience i must say i would love to see the beak in focus. (please don`t take this personally, i enjoy very much and have great respect for your work).
PS: the link for the article "about long lenses" is broken.
Hi Artie, incredible detail on the head, eyes and base of the bill where you focussed. The lack of DOF in this doesnt bother me due to the detail just described, as it takes the 'focus' away ( pun intended ) from the tip of the bill. I reckon you would have had to step back a fair distance to get the tip in focus, even at F/20. Did I mention how sharp this is, even at such a slow ss.
It would be hard to get the tip of the beak in focus with a long lens like this. I tried it as well:). I think what counts is sharp and in focus; fantastic detail as well. Super shot.
Wow details , i love the colours here
on the DOF with that close to the subject not sure if any F value would have been enough , if the subject was a bit steady would you have given a focus stacking image here with 2 images, not tried it yet ever but just got the idea if that would have been a option , in wildlife its such a improbable option but would you consider it
I Like this Artie. The detail on the eys is amazing and I was so drawn to it at first that I wasn't even aware of the Lack of dof till I saw the chest. It was then that I noticed the bill tip as well. I would have loved to see all sharp but as mentioned those eyes and face drew me right in
Artie, the colors are striking, sharpness (other than the bill) is excellent, and the eyes are hypnotizing. I love the perspective--looking up at the subject. With the OOF bill, I see it as very interesting, but not one I'd print and frame. While it might suffer a bit from the lack of the bill, I think a crop that retains the upper half of the image, in a square or nearly square frame, would make a very interesting image, retaining most of the color and those wonderful eyes!
Wonderful portrait. Great details and colors. Do you miss the crop of 1D MK IV?
I thought that I would but I don't. I just use my great stealth and knowledge of my subjects to get closer .
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Hi Arthur, love the portrait.. As for dof or not, IMHO and few experience i must say i would love to see the beak in focus. (please don`t take this personally, i enjoy very much and have great respect for your work).
PS: the link for the article "about long lenses" is broken.
Thanks Luis. Now that the link is fixed you can read the article and learn why it was not possible to get the bill tip sharp without focus stacking 2 or 3 images. See the additional comments below and thanks for you kind words. BTW, I strive to never take anything personally--doing so makes life much more fun :)
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Awesome eye level head on image of this beautiful brown pelican species. I think the image works well as is. Was flash used? One thing that would be particularly helpful in aiding people's thought process about wether more dof works better here, would have been to take the 1.4 off, use the same f-stop, then crop in post to obtain the same composition, display them side by side, then ask which was preferred....
I don't have a problem with the lower portion of the bill being out of focus. In fact, I think the image would be very less appealing if it were in focus.
With attention immediately drawn to the top third of the image, and then peripherally overall of the subject matter, the viewer is forced to return attention to the eyes of the pelican where critically so.
Love the perspective. Bird's left eye does not have a catch light. Always love this type of perspective.
One thing I love about Canon camera is the ability to shoot with Mirror Lockup with rapid fire. When I was shooting in the Jungle in Malaysia, often time we had to stop down to 1/15 of a sec. With cable release and mirror lockup, 1Dx has ability to fire with same amount of fps as shooting in normal mode.
At that FL, I doubt it you would have the ability to get the entire bill fall in the dof range. I like it as is.
very nice, I like the HA view and sharp details. the only way to get the bill in focus is to use focus stacking. it's tough though as you have to be really quick in moving the AF point
Awesome eye level head on image of this beautiful brown pelican species. I think the image works well as is. Was flash used? One thing that would be particularly helpful in aiding people's thought process about wether more dof works better here, would have been to take the 1.4 off, use the same f-stop, then crop in post to obtain the same composition, display them side by side, then ask which was preferred....
No flash. I rarely use it any more....
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
I really love this image, Artie, and find it quite powerful. The pelican has so much character. DOF works well b/c the critical focus is where it always needs to be...the eye area.
It certainly works for me. The shallow DOF, to me, makes the image feel less flat.
Thanks Matthew. Funny that it is possible to use "shallow d-o-f" and f/20 in the same sentence, but heck, that was the point of my post.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Depth--of-field. Or Not?
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) from the tip of the bill. I reckon you would have had to step back a fair distance to get the tip in focus, even at F/20. Did I mention how sharp this is, even at such a slow ss.
Originally Posted by Holger Leyrer
