Mesh smesh

TinaC

TinaC

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Name
Tina
Edit My Images
Yes
OK, my results from Chester Zoo are not what I'd like.

2aaitdx.jpg


As you can see, the cage is there...I know there must be a way to minimise this but I couldn't, this is the best I could manage.

I've searched the site and failed to find anything; probably due to me!
 
Wire is one of the biggest problems with Zoos, there are a few things to remember when shooting, first, Aperture, you need this low, say F4/F5.6, see that you where at F5.6 so that should be OK, next is distance between you and the fence, the smaller the better, and if you can get the hood touching the fence all the better, then, subject distance, they need to be back from the fence, the opposite to you shall we say, but all this can be thrown out by the sun, if you have the sun behind you, hitting on the fence, then unless you can get the hood/lens end on the fence, it will be difficult to lose the fence, the other thing to look out for is the shooting angle, this will depend on the fence/light, but can make a big difference.

Hope that helps.
 
Tina
As you took this at F5.6 at 134mm focal length, using I assume your 18-200.
It may have been better to have stepped back and used 200mm if you could of course, keeping at F5.6. Maybe focussing a little further in !
Just to throw the wire a bit more OOF.
(Costlier answer is a wider aperture lens ! ) LOL
C
 
Ceejay said:
Tina
As you took this at F5.6 at 134mm focal length, using I assume your 18-200.
It may have been better to have stepped back and used 200mm if you could of course, keeping at F5.6. Maybe focussing a little further in !
Just to throw the wire a bit more OOF.
(Costlier answer is a wider aperture lens ! ) LOL
C
Click to expand...

That would make it worse. The closer the better.

The best you can do is use the lowest f/number available (and I assume f/5.6 was perhaps as low as you could go) and get the lens as close to the wire as possible. Take the lens hood off, as close as you can go without the glass actually touching - every fraction of an inch counts.

Even at f/5.6, that would throw the wire completely out of focus.
 
HoppyUK said:
That would make it worse. The closer the better.

If that is possible, a lot of zoos put extra barriers to stop you getting closer.
I know it works, admittedly I do use a longer wider aperture lens 300mm F2.8.
Again checking the focus (using DOF button) just beyond what you would normally focus on !
C
Click to expand...
 
Sorry Hoppy, although I agree the closer the better, as said by Ceejay, some Zoo's have double fences, so closer is not always possible, I regularly use my 100-400 at 400/F5.6 with a gap between me and the fence and lose it, does take the right technique though.
 
Ceejay said:
HoppyUK said:
That would make it worse. The closer the better.

If that is possible, a lot of zoos put extra barriers to stop you getting closer.
I know it works, admittedly I do use a longer wider aperture lens 300mm F2.8.
Again checking the focus (using DOF button) just beyond what you would normally focus on !
C
Click to expand...

cosmix3 said:
Sorry Hoppy, although I agree the closer the better, as said by Ceejay, some Zoo's have double fences, so closer is not always possible, I regularly use my 100-400 at 400/F5.6 with a gap between me and the fence and lose it, does take the right technique though.
Click to expand...

Guys, it may well work for you with long lenses and low f/numbers but the OP has a shortish lens at f/5.6. Moving closer to the fence will make it better and moving further away will make it worse. It's a simple depth of field effect.
Click to expand...
 
Tina
Have a look at
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
(you can use for different focal lengths)
You will see at 200mm DOF is about 0.22 feet at 12ft. : 11.9-12.1
therefore as a rough guess "your" cubs or whatever, if they are further away from you reset your lens to 200mm using F5.6 the bars should disappear, if they are further than this it should give even less of a problem. Unfortunately your exif does not give distance lens focussed at.
C
 
Ceejay said:
Tina
Have a look at
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
(you can use for different focal lengths)
You will see at 200mm DOF is about 0.22 feet at 12ft. : 11.9-12.1
therefore as a rough guess "your" cubs or whatever, if they are further away from you reset your lens to 200mm using F5.6 the bars should disappear, if they are further than this it should give even less of a problem. Unfortunately your exif does not give distance lens focussed at.
C
Click to expand...

It's the distance from the lens to the fence that makes all the difference. The subject distance doesn't make much odds to be fair.
 
HoppyUK said:
It's the distance from the lens to the fence that makes all the difference. The subject distance doesn't make much odds to be fair.
Click to expand...

Hoppy, if the subject is close to the fence, then the fence will be clearer in the frame. Depending of course on the what kit you have.
 
EOS_JD said:
Hoppy, if the subject is close to the fence, then the fence will be clearer in the frame. Depending of course on the what kit you have.
Click to expand...

Yes, it will be. But that's not the critical factor here, and since you can't move either the fence or the animals, not really relevant to the OP.

Put a mark on a window and focus on a subject outside. If you move back from the window just a couple of feet, the mark will be clearly visible. Out of focus, but still visible. Now if you move the lens right up to the glass, the mark will effectively disappear.
 
HoppyUK said:
Yes, it will be. But that's not the critical factor here, and since you can't move either the fence or the animals, not really relevant to the OP.

Put a mark on a window and focus on a subject outside. If you move back from the window just a couple of feet, the mark will be clearly visible. Out of focus, but still visible. Now if you move the lens right up to the glass, the mark will effectively disappear.
Click to expand...

I agree yes.
I liked this one taken through a mesh at Marwell Zoo. You can see the effect of the mesh though but like ytou say get the lens against the mesh and it disappears - more so if the subjecty is a few metres back from the fence.

Shot with a 70-200 @f4 (why I didn't use 2.8 I don't know now :) )

Owl_1.jpg
 
Another thing to look out for if possible is try and find a patch of the fence that is shaded, many zoos do have shrubs scattered about to make them look pretty and if you can find a part of the fence that is shaded you will find this will help.
 
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This has always been a problem for me. Thanks for asking the question Tina and thanks for all the advice TPers.
 
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