New Lens: Depth of Field

Wild Rose and Cow Parsnip at Fort Casey

I recently bought a new lens: a Tokina f/8 400mm reflex. It is a wonderful lens for its small form and cost (less than 10% what a Nikon 400mm ‘normal’ telephoto lens lists for). There are some trade offs for any reflex style lens: you get a fixed aperture and some artifacts from the front reflex mirror. I took it on the Port Townsend – Coupville ferry run and while on Whidbey Island, I walked around Fort Casey.

One of the characteristics of long telephoto lenses is relatively shallow depth of field. You can use it to your advantage, but it can be a challenge getting your image to work out. In the image below, I was focused on getting the kite in the image … which I did successfully. But the kite is just about all that’s in focus.

Kite at Fort Casey

Beach Grass

Beach Grass 1

These are both images of grass along the beach. The top one has the grass growing almost on a vertical bank with just a few green shoots coming up through the yellowed remains. It was taken with my iPhone, while the bottom image was taken with a film camera. You can see the film grain pretty clear in it, especially in the sky. Also, the wind was blowing the grass below … but in both you can see the effects of the wind.

More Alaska Images

Sleeping Truck

When I visited Haines, Alaska a couple times, I stayed in a small cabin close to the ferry terminal. As I was out for an after-dinner walk, I got this image of an old truck with one of the Alaska ferries in the distance. This is one of the smaller ferries that usually runs between towns, not the larger vessels that make the run from Bellingham, Washington.

The cabin had a number of grouse living in the yard. They were quite tame and I think were looking for handouts. I gave them a copy of my itinerary, but they didn’t seem interested in that type of handout.

Grouse

Sitting on a Bench

Sitting on a Bench

The black area of the tree seems to be hovering over this woman sitting on the waterfront/beach bench in downtown Port Townsend. It imparts an ominous feel to the image. (shot on Tri-X film)

Beach Walk 2

Beach Walk and Sea Birds

Another sunny day at the beach in the middle of winter along the Washington coast. There’s nothing quite as nice as a winter beach walk in the sun.

Beach Walk

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