Lilypad Sunset, Okavango Delta, Botswana.
Another shot from the Okavango Delta near Kwetsani camp, and another unscheduled blog entry to try and clear the backlog. In common with several shots I’ve presented over the last week or two, this shot was taken from a small boat and features the abundant lilypads.
Lillypad Sunset, Okavango Delta, Botswana.
Canon 5D with 24-105mm zoom lens at 24mm and F13, shutter speed 1/40 second at ISO 400.
Wide Angle Lenses.
When people think of wide angle lenses they often think of broad landscapes, the wide angle will allow me to “get the whole scene” in the frame. This is of course true, but the wide angle lens has another characteristic which makes it particularly useful and that’s its extended depth of field. In order to give the landscape a feeling of depth, it’s really worthwhile looking for interesting foreground material and getting close to it. The perspective effect of the wide lens, combined with a close foreground will add emphasis to that foreground material. In this instance I positioned the camera low to the edge of the boat to make the most of the lilypads, the closest of which was probably only a metre away. To further take advantage of the foreground, I chose a small aperture to ensure the greatest possible depth of field. Everything in the frame is sharp.
Also interesting here is the way the light plays on the water. Being sunset the tones in the sky and on the horizon are warm with red and yellow elements which are of course reflected in the distant water. The further towards the bottom of frame we get the colder the tones become. At this point we’re looking down at a steeper angle avoiding the sunset’s reflection. The broad perspective of the wide angle lens allows us to capture the contrasting tones which become a feature of the image.
The take home point out of all this? Look for and take advantage of good foreground material particularly when using wide angle lenses. To further illustrate the point, put your hand over the bottom half of the picture and visualize the remainder as a panoramic, not very interesting is it?
Comments
Lisa ♥ ♥ – 10/09/2009 12:43:59 PM
I out of Words. I just love this image.. So Very Beautiful.. in fact stopped me dead….and did learn more about my Wide Angle Lens . I havent used it that much and have had it a long time. I think it may be time to use it a little more.
Great Blog Kevin.
Cheers.
Lisa ♥ ♥ – 10/09/2009 12:45:00 PM
This is amazing light and Exposure.
ROCKET MAN – 10/09/2009 12:46:55 PM
Click! A switch just went on in my head and it all makes sense. Thank, Kevin! Great shot, by the way!
Patrick Anderson – 10/09/2009 12:53:27 PM
Excellent shot, Kevin. You be one steady fella to shoot that in a boat at 1/40 second and still keep it all sharp. Do you hold your breath without thinking about it? I catch myself doing that when shooting slow shutter speed. Anyway, nice work as always. Thanks for sharing.
kevin dowie – 10/09/2009 1:17:22 PM
Thanks everyone, I think I did hold my breath actually Patrick, I consciously do so whenever I’m hand holding a camera and I know I’m pressing my luck a bit with slow shutter speeds and the risk of camera shake. At the time I had a tripod with gimbal mount set up in the boat, but I was using that to support the telephoto lens. This shot was handheld with the second camera body. I may have actually rested it on the edge of the boat for extra stability, can’t actually recall now. The other issue is that I was sharing the boat with 4 or 5 other people at the time. Fortunately, they were photographers too, so everyone was conscious of not rocking the boat! In hindsight (wonderful commodity) I could have used a higher ISO setting to buy me another stop or two of light and go to a higher shutter speed. There’s another lesson in there somewhere. chuckle.
Here I Am Carrie – 10/09/2009 1:27:23 PM
Oh it must have been heaven in the boat out there. I agree the foreground offers so much to photo. I like the variation of color in the water.
Tatyana T – 10/09/2009 1:48:58 PM
it looks too real to be a photo 
Tatyana T – 10/09/2009 1:50:05 PM
especially sunlight… even feel shivers
T girl – 21/09/2009 4:29:44 AM
Wow, it’s a great photo, especially the light reflection. Very nice! I see swan in the upper right corner but is probably not there. This photo reminds me on our famous lake. There are swans and ducks and lots of lotus flowers.
Greetings, T
Rhonda Crabb – 3/11/2009 2:09:56 PM
I’m really partial to this one…wonderful color and reflections!
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Kuskulana Steve – 10/09/2009 12:37:12 PM
I am amazed how calm the water is, not the tiniest ripple from your boat.
I love big depth of field landscapes, this one is great!