30 minutes in Mishawaka

[Plumcrak]

Hi Jon,

You may dislike me for drawing your attention to this
But I hope it helps you (and others) recognise when it is a danger and take steps to minimise it.

I couldn't help noticing that you have some background bokeh issues with #5 and #7 - a 'double edge' effect on the grasses - I know because I recognise this from my own experience.

I see from the EXIF data that these were shot with the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II at the full 250mm focal length and wide open, additional factors contributing to this effect being so visible in these two shots are that you have background grasses of a particular size and these are brightly lit and some are light in colour in front of a darker background tone. With different picture content in other shots, you won't even notice it.

As I said, (sadly) I recognise them from my own experience using my Nikon 70-300mm lens, particularly when used at maximum focal length and aperture - and that experience has taught me that using f/8 or f/11 significantly reduces this nasty 'double edge' effect, compared to shooting wide open at f/5.6.

Further, it helps if you selectively sharpen only the subject in PP (post processing), avoiding applying sharpening or contrast enhancement to these (usually background) troublesome elements. I find this a heck of a problem with reeds too; as they're usually a light yellow in colour and often sunlit, when shooting waterfowl in front of them.

I rarely publish my shots that exhibit this effect, as I personally detest it, but here is a similar-ish (Nikon) example, still visible even after I had tried to minimise it by using f/8 and with careful PP, although that was 4 years ago and I think I do better at hiding it these days (and produce better shots).

Hope that helps,

Dave, Thank you for explaining this. I had a hunch it was due to both extremes on the lens. Don't worry, there is no dislike just appreciation for sharing knowledge.

Cheers

[Dave Humphries]

Dave, Thank you for explaining this. I had a hunch it was due to both extremes on the lens. Don't worry, there is no dislike just appreciation for sharing knowledge.

Phew

Thanks Jon,

Of course, in order not to use f/5.6, you have to juggle shutter speed and/or iso to avoid motion blur (be that camera shake or subject movement) and/or noise (esp. if cropping significantly)

But that's all part of the fun, eh?