The Canon Magazine 35
CAMERA SKILLS
03 SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD
Now it’s time to dial in the settings. Go to Aperture Priority (Av) and set
your widest aperture, like f/4, or f/2.8. This will give you a shallow DoF
that will make the bird and the fork handle sharp, but turn the background
into a beautiful bokeh blur. Adjust the ISO until you get a shutter speed of
1/200 sec or faster, though with any luck, on a sunny day, you should be
able to shoot at ISO100-200. Finally, use the Continuous High burst
mode to fire a stream of shots when the bird lands on the fork handle.02 FOCUS AND COMPOSE
Shooting through a window that overlooks the garden is a great way to get
images of birds that land on the fork. If you can’t do this, or can’t get
frame-filling shots, you’ll need to set up your camera on a tripod in the
garden and frame-up, so the fork handle is a good size in the frame, while
leaving space above it for when the bird flies into frame. Use One Shot
autofocus to focus on the fork handle, then switch to manual focus to
lock it in. Ensure you switch off any Image Stabilisation too.
FAST TELEPHOTO ZOOMS
70-200mm f/2.8 lenses for EF and RF
mounts have top image quality, rapid AF,
weather-sealing and a fast constant max
aperture of f/2.8 – making it easy to blur
backgrounds and achieve shallow DoF
effects at 70mm and 200mm. The only
downside is the zoom is a little shorter,
compared to the likes of a lens that tops
out at 400mm or 600mm, but if you can
hone your fieldcraft and get closer to
your subject, this lens is an ace choice.When photographing birds
always try and position
yourself for a smooth,
clutter-free backgroundww
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