I was lucky to be able to isolate them from the parents. I would appreciate it if April @aecasey or someone can tell me how to get them all in focus. I obvious had a wrong setting and they were moving all the time ;-)
What a precious shot! I think it would be very difficult to get all of them in focus if they were constantly moving. I think you have done an excellent job because most of them look to be in perfect focus in spite of the movement
What a cute shot, and you have gotten most of them in the foreground in focus. My humble thoughts: You are on the right track with the high ISO and shutter speed. The aperture is too shallow to get more depth of field from front to back. If your camera would allow, I'd kick that ISO up even more, and see if that will allow a higher aperture. I did a lot of experimenting with my water patterns and even shot some at ISO 5000.
Lovely capture.
The higher the F stop number, the greater the depth of field but you need to increase the ISO to compensate for the need for more light
They are so cute! You did a great job with focus on the main group. As noted above, to get a greater field of focus you would need a smaller aperture ... 7.1 or maybe even smaller depending on their movement. If you are shooting in Av it will set your ISO and shutter speed for you and at that time of day it looks like you had light to support the smaller apertures. I had a workshop instructor once who wanted me to shoot my macros in f11 or saller ... he hated my soft depth of focus. I've resisted for years, but I'm beginning to try smaller apertures, though not f11! I think he was basically a landscape photographer, and they love small apertures and deep DoF.
You might want to experiment using AI Servo. It is the focusing mode for moving subjects. For my wildlife photography I use AI Servo with back button focus. Back button allows me a faster focus than using the shutter button for focus. (It also holds the focal point if my subject isn't moving so I don't have to refocus.) If I'm trying to get a flying bird I just hold the focus button down and follow the bird while shooting. I'm terrible at flying birds but I still try ....
I don't know the physical conditions where you were, but if you could have gotten lower and shot more at their level the softer focus on the two separate from the group would have made a lovely background to the main group. Compensating for depth of focus by changing the composition is also a possibility when you just can't get a sharp focus all the way through. Can't lay on your belly in the pond though, and it looks a bit reedy so the conditions might have made that composition impossible.
I love the beads of water. They look so nice whether with the sharper focus or as a bokeh in the softer focus. So many fun elements to work with!
I think it would be hard for the camera to get them all in focus when they're spread out like that but you got pretty close. I'm glad you asked that question though because I had no idea what the Al Servo meant in my camera and now I do! Good shot!
@aecasey Thanks so much April, you are very helpful and teaching me a lot about my camera and photography. I shot in TV mode and used AI Servo, and auto ISO. Thanks to you I also use the back button focus (which I sometimes forget) and wonder why it is so blurred ;-) I will go back to the dam and try some new settings, might have to take a bit of plastic to lay on as it is very wet there ;-)
The higher the F stop number, the greater the depth of field but you need to increase the ISO to compensate for the need for more light
You might want to experiment using AI Servo. It is the focusing mode for moving subjects. For my wildlife photography I use AI Servo with back button focus. Back button allows me a faster focus than using the shutter button for focus. (It also holds the focal point if my subject isn't moving so I don't have to refocus.) If I'm trying to get a flying bird I just hold the focus button down and follow the bird while shooting. I'm terrible at flying birds but I still try ....
I don't know the physical conditions where you were, but if you could have gotten lower and shot more at their level the softer focus on the two separate from the group would have made a lovely background to the main group. Compensating for depth of focus by changing the composition is also a possibility when you just can't get a sharp focus all the way through. Can't lay on your belly in the pond though, and it looks a bit reedy so the conditions might have made that composition impossible.
I love the beads of water. They look so nice whether with the sharper focus or as a bokeh in the softer focus. So many fun elements to work with!