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1 Location, Subject and Gear: 2 Very Different Images

Today I’d like to share two images by photographer Remush Lerner. I’m sharing them for two reasons.

Firstly they’re beautiful but secondly because they are two shots of a similar location and subject and the same gear – but with different settings which result in very different results.

Let’s look at each in turn:

The above image was shot with a Canon EOS 1DX and a 400mm focal length. The settings used were a fast shutter speed of 1/1000 second and aperture of f/2.8 and an ISO of 640.

The fast shutter speed freezes the movement of the birds in the image beautifully.

The large aperture not only allows for the fast shuter speed but also creates a very narrow depth of field and throws both the foreground and background out of focus – leaving just the main bird and those at a similar distance in focus.

Lets compare this to the second image.

While not exactly the same location (the main tree seems to be a different shape) the camera is still a Canon EOS-1X and it’s shot with a 400mm focal length. But that’s where the similarities end.

Shutter speed in this image was a much slower 1/8 second. This allows some of the motion of the birds (both those flying and those in the foreground) to be capture.

Aperture is a smaller f/8 – which makes the depth of field larger. You can see this particularly in the background of the image where the trees in the distance are still relatively sharp in comparison to the previous image.

ISO in this second shot is 100.

Read more about the factors to consider in getting exposure right

For a great overview of how to get exposure right check out our eBook Photo Nuts and Bolts: Know Your Camera and Take Better Photos.

We also have a lot of tutorials in our archives. Here are just a few of those which relate.