It was very important to get all eagles in this image sharp. I estimated I needed 2 feet of depth, therefore I used F/8

One of the best ways to make a powerful wildlife composition is to have the subject in the foreground, sharp and crisp, with a very soft, pleasing background. To achieve this, you will need to use a very large aperture (small number). But how much? One of our favorite tools is a Depth of Field calculator or DOF.

In this little application that can go on your smart phone or PC, you enter in your distance to the subject, camera type, aperture and focal length and voila…you now have how much before and after your subject will be in focus.

It was very important to get the Sow and the Cubs in focus for this caring scene, therefore I increased my depth by using F/11

For example, when we photograph Bald Eagles, we know that they have a 6 to 7 foot wing span, and therefore, we need to ensure we get it all in focus to make an impressive image. When we photograph Puffins, since their wings are much smaller, we can look at the numbers again, and pick the proper aperture.

We will normally jot down a couple of examples in out field notebooks so we are ready when the action starts.

To find these great, and normally free tools, just do a search for DOF calculator.

Using DOF Calculators (Depth of Field) was last modified: January 24th, 2016 by Matt Shetzer