“How do I make my subject pop out of the frame and blur the background?”

This must be one of the most common questions that I gets asked on courses and workshops and for good reason.  A shallow DoF, that blurs the background, is an amazingly powerful way to create striking images.

Check out this example.

Nikon D3s, Nikon 70-200mm VR II, @ 200mm,  1/100, f/4.5, ISO 250

At an aperture of f/4.5 I was able to focus on the feeding jackal in the foreground and blur the background.  By doing this I have kept the main focus on the jackal but I have still been able to include the hyena in the background as he is a part of the story even though not as a leading roll.

What you must remember though is that the depth of field can not only be used to creatively blur the background but the foreground as well!

As a general rule, once you have focused on your subject your chosen depth of field will blur two thirds behind the subject but a third in front of it a well.  By knowing and using this you can create different images to the normal ‘blur-everything-in-the-background’ ones.

Check out this image from the same jackal and hyena sighting.

Nikon D3s, Nikon 70-200mm VR II, @200mm,  1/60, f/6.3, ISO 250

This time I focus on the hyena and my depth of field blurred the foreground (as well as the background if you look right at the top of the image).

By doing this the hyena becomes the main character of my story which would not be complete without the out of focus jackal in the foreground.

If you would like to read a bit more on Depth of Field check out these older posts on Photo-Africa.

• Depth of Field in Wildlife Photography
• Depth of Field in Wildlife Photography #2
• Tell Your Story with DoF

As a photographer, Depth of Field (DoF) is one of the most creative tools you have with which to tell your story.

Nikon D3s, Nikon 70-200mm VR II @ 100mm, 1/1000, f/3.2, ISO 200

The above image is a typical scene you might find out on a photographic safari.

Early morning.

A pride of lions in the road.

But… they just won’t play along and give you those amazing photographic moments we all hope for.

So, it is then up to you to create image that tell the story.

You have to make something out of nothing.

Enter DoF.

By shooting a scene with a shallow DoF you can keep certain areas sharp and in focus while blurring all the other elements of the frame that is further from, or closer to the, the camera.

If I were to have used a large DoF in when I shot the image above all the lions would have been in focus leaving me with nothing more than just another Tommy-tourist type wildlife image.  And we don’t want that now do we?

For a whole lot more on DoF in Wildlife Photography check out this detailed post and this shorter one I did some time ago.

If you have any questions or comments please shout!

Until next time.

Gerry van der Walt

* * *

As a photographer, depth of field is one of the most creative tools available to you.

Nikon D300, Nikon 200-400 @ 280mm, 1/640, f/5.6, ISO 200

The above image of two white rhino shows how depth of field can be used to tell a story and imply depth, one of the most difficult things to achieve, in a wildlife photograph.  After focusing on the rhino on the right I chose an aperture of f/5.6 which would blur the background enough to keep the focus on the front rhino yet still render the rhino at the back as a distinguishable form.  The depth of field in an image gets determined by four things:

1. Your focal length.
2. Your aperture.
3. The distance from you to the subject.
4. The distance form the subject to the background.

The effects of depth of field does not always have to be in your face and obvious like in the above image.  Even a very small depth of field can make a huge difference in your images like in the following example.

The focus is on the rhino’s face is sharp and the shallow depth of field starts blurring the rhino’s body.  This not only creates a slight feeling of depth but also helps to focus your viewer’s gaze even more on the intended part of your photograph.

Depth of Field. Play with it.  Learn it.  Use it.

Bye 4 now!

Gerry van der Walt

* * *

Even though photography is a creative craft, a certain amount if technical knowledge is required to lift that craft to the next level.

For me, one of the most important skills any aspiring wildlife photographer should learn is the understanding and control of the depth of field (DOF) in their images.  The ability to isolate your subject from it’s background or making sure your subject’s eyes are tack sharp and in focus is vital if your goal is to create striking wildlife images.  If you have spent a bit of time out in the field I have no doubt that you have taken images which looked great on the camera’s LCD but when you opened then on your PC you saw that for some reason the images just did not work.

A lot of the time this is because you did not pay enough attention to the aperture you were shooting at or your focal point was slightly wrong.  It has been said many many times before but to create effective images, wildlife or otherwise, you need to make sure that your subject’s eyes are in focus.  Today’s modern cameras give you up to 51 points which you can use to make sure that you hit the spot when choosing your focus points.  This is all fine and well but the margin for error, or slightly out of focus eyes on your subject, could be as small as a few centimeter.

For the purposes of looking at how your aperture and distance from your subject can influence your wildlife images let’s use the following lion image.

I took the above image a few weeks ago.  We sat about 11 meters (that’s important) from the big male lion which gave us ample opportunity to use and try different settings.

Trying to create sharp and in focus images is always something that we should aim for and this image was no exception.  The other main goal, when shooting this image, was to throw the background out of focus to keep all the attention centered on the lion’s face.  Now the catch here was, and this is the purpose of this post, to make sure that I got the lion’s entire face in focus from tip of nose all the way to the mane while at the same time throwing out the background.

Step one was to make sure that I focus on the lion’s eyes, as can by the focus point in the image on the right, but then came the important part.  I needed to choose an aperture that gives me a large enough, but not too large, DOF.  I ended up using the following settings for the above image:

• Shooting Mode:  Aperture Priority
• Aperture:  f/4.0
• Shutter Speed: 1/650
• Focal Length: 185mm
• ISO: 400
• Distance to Subject: +/- 11 meters

Before I carry on let’s juts make sure we are on the same page by looking at what all the important terms, for the purposes of this post, means.

• Aperture: This refers to the opening on the front of your lens that let’s light in.  The aperture gets measured in f-stops which can range from f/1.2, which refers to a very large opening of the lens letting in a lot of light, to f/32, which refers to a very small opening of the lens letting very little light in.  From an exposure point of view it is important to remember that the larger your aperture (expressed by a small number) the faster shutter speed you will be able to use and vice versa.
• Depth of Field:  DOF refers to the areas of your images that will be rendered sharp.  I.e. different parts of the image will be at different distances from the camera and each of these will be rendered sharp, or not, depending on the  depth of field.  DOF can be controlled by changing the aperture.  Using a small aperture (large f-stop) will result in an image where a large part of the image is in focus and using a large aperture (small number) will result in a small area of the focus being in focus.
• Focus Point: This is the exact point where you focus the camera such as the animal’s eyes.

As we were photographing this big male lion in the Madikwe Game Reserve he was kind enough to turn his head to the side which allowed me to get the shot on the right which can help in explaining how changing your aperture or distance to your subject can influence the DOF and therefore the ultimate look and feel of your images.

Now without getting to caught up in the exact details, such as how far a lion’s nose is away form it’s eyes, I uses a fantastic iPhone application to put together the following examples. PhotoBuddy allows you to enter your aperture, focal length and distance from subject and it then gives you the focal range and other useful info.  Yes yes I know that most of the time you are not going to have time to do all of that when you are out in the field but once you understand how all of this works, and with enough practice, you will start getting a feel for it and you will no doubt start creating stronger images.

Another option is to download a DOF chart which you can print and keep in your camera bag for quick reference.  If you use Google you will find many different ones but to start with you can find a nice one at DOF Master.

With all of that said, here are three examples of how you can change the DOF in your wildlife images.  For the purposes of this exercise, imagine you are shooting the lion from the right of the frame to get an image like the one at the top of this post.  Based on the variable you will see the DOF, or area which will be rendered sharp and in focus, in the red shaded area.  Here goes…

Example 1

Getting the eyes sharp is everything.  You can see that at a distance of 11 meters an aperture of f/2.8 will render the lion sharp from the tip of his nose to the top of his head.  Anything further than the top of the head and closer to you than the tip of the nose will progressively be more and more out of focus.  In a scenario like this you have a little bit of leeway in that even if the lion moved a little you will still be able to render the eyes sharp.

Example 2

In this example the aperture has been kept the same but the distance to the lion has been decreased to 6 meters.  You can see, from the red shaded area, that the DOF is much narrower leaving a lot less room for error when trying to get the eyes sharp.  In this image you will end up with the eyes sharp but the tip of the nose will be a little out of focus.  This is neither right or wrong and depends completely what your creative goal is with the image.  It is important to note that if the lion was to lift his head a little as you shoot the image your camera might lock on to the nose leaving that pin sharp but the eyes will then be thrown out of focus.

Example 3

It has always been said that f/8.0 is a good aperture to start from and here you can see why.  Compare the DOF of this image to that of the first example.  You will see that the DOF here offers you quite a bit of room for error meaning that even if you did not hit your focus point, the eyes, you will still end up with an image where almost the entire head, including the eyes, will be in focus.  This is a safe way to shoot, especially if you are trying to keep track of a fast moving subject who, if they were to move away from or towards you, will move out of your chosen DOF.  On the flip side, it will leave an image which, when compared to an image with a very shallow DOF, will not pop as much and keep the focus completely on your subject.

Make sense?  The smallest change can make a huge difference to your resulting images.  By paying attention to, understanding and using aperture creatively when photographing wildlife you are well on your way to creating better, stronger image.

A few points to remember:

• Large aperture = small number = shallow DOF
• Small aperture = large number = large DOF
• Small distance to your subject = shallow DOF (that’s why getting pin sharp macro images is quite a challenge)
• Large distance to your subject = large DOF
• Your chosen DOF works both away from and closer to you from you focus point.
• In wildlife photography you subject might move at any time so a shallow DOF is risky but can result in amazing images

Understanding DOF, and applying it to your wildlife images, is one of the most creative tools you have to make a profound differences to your images.  Check it, understand it, use it!  Next time you are lining up a shot and you have your focus locked on your subject, take a second and think what difference changing your aperture can make.

If you have any further questions or comments don’t hesitate!

Until next time.

Gerry van der Walt

* * *

I have quite a few field guides.  A lot actually.  Anything and everything ranging from bird and mammals to trees and frogs.  You would think that there comes an point that you don’t relaly need another one, and that is what I thought, but then this one came along.

The Raptor Guide by Ulrich Oberprieler and Burger Cillie has raised the bar for bird field guides and is an absolute must for anybody heading out into the wild places of Africa.  Yes I know there have been a lot of raptor guides in the past, and yes I have them as well, but the detail and ease of use of The Raptor Guide makes it stand out above the rest.

The book is divided into the following chapters:

1. General Biology – Includes info on bills, eyes & vision, calls and hearing, breeding behavior and conservation problems and solutions.
2. Raptor Groups – Including details on how to identify different groups of raptors.
3. Species Accounts – A detailed account of each individual species.
4. Confusing Birds – Comparisons and ways to differentiate between confusing species.
5. References – Sections on raptos groups, raptors in flight and a quick index.

The introductory section of the book covers, in amazing detail, an introduction to raptors and proceeds to look at how a raptor’s senses work.  Attention to food and hunting methods van make an incredible difference when you are viewing raptors in the field.  By differentiating between terms such as soaring, stooping, quartering and surprise attack you will be in a much better position to identify raptor purely on the way they search for and attack prey.

In the section group called Raptor Groups each group of raptors get looked at in a general but detailed way.  Common prey and behavior per group will make it easier to start narrowing things down when you do see a raptor out in the wild.  From here you can proceed to the Species Accounts where you can read up on pretty much anything you ever wanted to know about each individual species.  Each species has has been given a double spread.  On the right hand page you will find some amazing photographs of each species showing different plumages and variations that you might find such as in breeding or juvenile birds.  On the left of page you will find all the standard info you would expect in a field guide and more.  The layout makes it easy to use and very informative.

This field guide really takes that next step when you get to the References section.  One of the most difficult aspects of identifying raptors is when they are circling high up above. The Raptor Guide includes a complete comparison, per raptor group, that shows each species, including juveniles and variations which will make identification a whole lot easier.  Yes, many field guides have comparisons of raptors in flight but the difference here is that species are shown in flight as you would normally see them.  Large raptors normally get seen from underneath so you to compare them like this.  Smaller raptors such as goshawks and harriers are show differently as you normally see them darting around between trees.  So simple and a huge help when trying to identify raptors in the field.

Another great, and very helpful section, is one on Confusing Species.  Each possible confusing species, such as a Martial Eagle and a Black-Chested Snake Eagle, are looked at with various pointers that you could use out in the field.  Easy to use and extremely effective.  Follow the numbers step by step and you will know which species you have your binoculars pointed at.

If you work in a game reserve, visit lodges often or are just looking to get a great field guide to the raptors of Southern Africa you need this book.

The Raptor Guide is available at Kalahari.net and any good book store.   Click here to get your copy from Kalahari.net immediately.  By using this link you will not only be able to order the book, for less than R200, and have it delivered to your doorstep but you will also be helping me to earn a few cents for the referral.  I reckon if 100 people use the link I could perhaps buy a Coke?

On a slightly different note, I am almost finished reading No Stopping for Lions.  Still an absolutely amazing ride through Africa.  I received an email from Tracy recommending ‘The Elephant Whisperer’ by Anthony Lawrence.  Great call Tracy as I already have the book ready and waiting and I will post a review soon!

If you have have any recommendations for books or blogs that relate to wildlife, photography or anything ion between let me know!

More soon!

Gerry