Well explained with good example photos, thank you Danielle 😊. For a while now I have referred my photographer friends (especially the ones still new to wildlife photography) to your and other Pangolin videos.
Although it's pretty obvious when pointed out I hadn't registered the background effect of shooting down on a subject verses eye-level or shooting upwards. I knew to avoid shooting down but Danielle explained it well. We live and learn! Thank you.
Hi Richard. Thank you! Please note: I made a mistake in saying "decrease the distance between subject and background". It should indeed be "increase" as in the explanation following :-) So take note of the explanation, not the wording
@@danielle-pangolinphotohost1005 Thanks for the clarification Danielle. I knew exactly what you meant so it didn't even register with me. Appreciate the clarification though. Still intending to join you all in Chobe in 2021, after this year's issues pandemic permitting.
@@richardtadman That's a relief. Can't believe I'd make a mistake after going over the video 100 times before exporting it :-) We're looking forward to having you in Chobe once all this is over!
Excellent explanations and examples. I think “stopping down” in aperture terminology refers to increasing the f-stop numbers (which will increase the depth of field).
Aperture is the most obvious and what people are always taught when learning photography, and this is correct, but also be mindful of the focal length too, especially if you are close to your subject (say 15 ft away with a 300mm lens, shooting wide open at say 2.8). Your entire subject may not be in focus because of the compression and smaller DOF from being close, using a larger aperture, and zooming in. I would say experiment at home with subjects at various distances and distances from their backgrounds so you can learn at what distances, what apertures might be appropriate to get your whole subject in focus while keeping a blurry background. Once you can sort of figure this out, then it makes it easier in the field when you're trying to shoot something and are constantly moving around with little time to think about things.... I would say if you're up close to your subject and sooting even 70mm+, even at apertures like f/4 or f/5.6 that might be enough to blur your background and get the entire animal in sharp focus, providing the background is far enough away. 2.8 at close range on a long-zoom lens may be too shallow DOF< but again, by experimenting on your own is the best way to figure this out.
Subject well explained, and changing the focal length of your lens could be the difference between a 'picture record' and the 'wow factor pic'. Many thanks for the continued hints and tips. Doug B. Nottingham (UK)
I was aware of three of the methods. The subject to background distance I did not know. Thank you for explaining all four in simple and easy to understand terms and examples. Excellent video! Please keep up the good work and photographs. It's the only way I'll ever see Africa. I still love the accent.
Hi Guy. Thank you! Please note: I made a mistake in saying "decrease the distance between subject and background". It should indeed be "increase" as in the explanation following :-) So take note of the explanation, not the wording.
Nice video and examples. Very clear with good explantions. I am not begginer in photography, but I really enjoyed in your presentation. It is always good to remember basics. Well done!
Thank you very much Keith! Please note: I made a mistake in saying "decrease the distance between subject and background". It should indeed be "increase" as in the explanation following :-) So take note of the explanation, not the wording)
Nice tutorial, Danielle., as are the others i've watched. Thank you and the Pangolin team. By the way, nice chalenge having people shooting on the move against the sun, like on 23" :-) !. Thankfully elephants are the subjects
Hello Danielle Thank you for passing on your knowledge. Ace is very difficult to take very focused and clear photos of birds in the middle of the branches. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks
Hello Joao - yes that's very difficult. What you can do is to use just a single focus point, or switch to manual focus (lens & body) to prevent the camera from automatically picking the branches to focus on. -Danielle
