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Renate Laaks posted in the group Wildlife Photography
As quiet as a mouse…
My dog chased this little guy into a tree. He sat almost motionless for quite some time.
Camera: Canon EOS 5D mark IV
Lens: Canon 100-400mm L with 1.4x teleconverterSettings: f 8.0, 1/1000 sec, ISO5000
2 Comments-
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Thank you, Bruna. I agree, the DoF is very shallow. The mouse was perched at about eye height for me with a lot of foliage in the way. I realised that if I crouch on the ground under the tree, I had an unobstructed ‘tunnel’ to the subject. I had a difficult time staying beyond the minimal focal distance of the lens. (it was also handheld) As for the aperture choice of f8, I know my camera introduces diffraction beyond f8, also affecting the sharpness of the image. I would appreciate advise on how to approach the trade-off between a shallow DoF and sensor diffraction.
As far as the composition goes, I agree with your comments. I struggled to get a completely satisfying crop. I’ll give it another shot.
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Well spotted, Renate. The image is well exposed with good light in the eye, and the background is nicely blurred to avoid distraction. For improvement, on a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (a full-frame camera), using a 400mm lens with a 1.4x extender results in a focal length of 560mm. At 560mm and f/8, the depth of field is very shallow, especially at close distances, so precise focusing is crucial. The subject appears slightly soft, perhaps due to this shallow DOF or mirror focus error. I would also suggest a different crop, as the mass at the bottom of the frame feels too heavy and does not add value to your composition.