Local Dairy Farm

[ajsmith]

I took these photos a few weeks ago. I had to run a few errands at lunch and stopped at this local dairy which has an ice cream stand. It was a typical hot and humid New England summer day. The dairy farm has some animals on display and you can walk through the barns to see the cows. C&C welcome and help with #4.

1. This was one of several young calves in a pen near the main barn.
f5.6, 1/200, iso 200, 250mm Canon 55-250mm lens



2. This is the same calf. I loved the look on his face. Even though there were children feeding him, he was more concerned about what the camera was doing. It's the same look I get from my cat.
f5.6, 1/320, iso 200, 250 mm



3. This was a pretty red chicken who posed for the pic.
f5.6, 1/160, iso 200, 250mm



4. The cows were not very cooperative, wouldn't turn around. I wanted this photo to be sharp all over, but the foreground is a little soft. I think I need to move further away from the foreground to get the sharpness? Or would a smaller f stop work? I am sure a wide angle lens would be better too. How do you know how much of the photo will be sharp? I know there are calculators to help and the depth of field preview, but it is too small and you really can't see it. Is it something you just develop by trial and error, lots of errors?
f9, 1/200, iso 200, 55mm

[Mike Buckley]

The photo of the chicken is really special. It shows the environment. There's lots of detail and rich colors without being overly saturated.

What was the situation that created the plain white background with no tonal variation in the first two images? It would be more interesting to have some tonal variation even if it has to be created during post-processing.

The cows were not very cooperative, wouldn't turn around.

I had the same problem years ago in New Zealand until my wife mooed. All of them stopped eating and turned their heads straight toward me. The only problem was that it took me awhile to stop laughing so I could attend to taking the photo.

As for the depth of field, the easiest way to check it if you're using a digital camera is to examine all areas of the captured photo on the LCD when viewing it at 100%. Retake the photo using a different aperture setting if the depth of field isn't what you want. Alternatively, capture many images using various aperture settings and select the best photo once you are at your computer.

I don't think a shorter focal length in this situation is a viable solution, as the field of view would change without perhaps contributing anything to the image.

For me, the problem is not that the foreground is a little soft; just the opposite, I like that aspect. Instead, the problem for me is that the foreground plants are too high. You could have positioned yourself to eliminate them and the fence (if that had been possible) or perhaps you could have found a spot where the plants weren't as tall. Another solution is to have someone hold the plants out of the way, which is something I often ask my wife to do for me.

[ajsmith]

Hi Mike,
Thank you for your comments. In the photos of the calf, there was a white shed behind him. There were some water stains on the building that I cloned out, maybe I should have left them in the photo.

I can see your point about the plants in the foreground. They are too big and compete with the cows. I will try the "moo" trick next time to try and get the cows to turn around.