F11 and Be There

[Ray]

A couple of days ago, as I was taking a walk along the Brisbane river with my weightless Nikon Z50 and pancake 16-50mm lens, I took a quick shot of the eye-catching mechanical creation of two Pelicans, with the Brisbane city and bridge in the background.

I focused on the Pelicans and chose F11 so I could get both the foreground and background reasonably sharp. When I later processed the RAW image in Adobe Bridge, I was very surprised to discover a real lizard in the foreground, which I hadn't noticed when I took the shot, probably because the lizard was partly obscured by the foliage and I was moving on too quickly.

I'm pleased that I chose F11. This F-stop is now becoming my favorite with the Z50, even when using the 50-250 mm lens. The over all sharpness from corner to corner is impressive for such a lightweight system.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Impressive!

(Although the pelicans have an oddly metallic look.    )

[Petrus]

Where do you turn the X-ray feature on on Z50?

[Jeremy Roussak]

Impressive!

(Although the pelicans have an oddly metallic look.    )

Emaciated, too.

Jeremy

[Bob_B]

Are those skynet pelicans? BTW, nice shots.

[Ray]

I did a Google search to find the name of the artist. Apparently, the correct name for those Pelicans is 'Biomechanical Pelicans'. They were created by the artist, Christopher Trotter, in 1995.

https://www.weekendnotes.com/christopher-trotter-sculptures-brisbane/

[Ray]

I wonder if this shot has a better composition. Perhaps it better complies with the 'rule of thirds'. Lower third, pelicans and foliage; middle third, water and bridge; upper third, sky and buildings. Whaddaya think?

The image is totally uncropped, showing my great skill at getting the uprights correct. 

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

OK, but you need a fourth third to include that fine, non-metallic lizard.

[Ray]

OK, but you need a fourth third to include that fine, non-metallic lizard.

Or I could have enlarged the three thirds by turning my pancake lens to a wider focal length, and/or kneeling down to take the shot instead of standing up. 

[degrub]

a narrower DOF might help the sculpture

[Ray]

a narrower DOF might help the sculpture

I might revisit the site with my 50-250 zoom and use F5.6 to reveal the full texture of the rust, although, unfortunately, the feet might be out of focus.