Is it a BAD HABIT to always shoot WIDE OPEN?

[@PangolinWildlife]

Will this be changing your mindset to shooting wide open from now on?

[@HollisRules]

@@PangolinWildlife Yes, it actually will serve as a guide. I’m usually so focused on shooting at as low an ISO as possible, I tend to shy away from stopping down for greater DOF.

[@brianmiller921]

Not really, but only because I am shooting birds with a Canon R7 and the Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5 - 7.1. I usually shoot wide open and everything is in focus because it is such a small f-stop already on the crop sensor body it is equivalent to f/11 in depth of field. If I were shooting with an F/4 prime on a full frame camera I would stop down.

[@kennytudhope4590]

I recently came back from Chobe and the Okovango Delta with Pangolin, and I gained more knowledge about photography while I was there, than I had in 3 years, I can honestly say these guys will make you a better photographer

[@PangolinWildlife]

Thank you so much for your feedback and review of our photo safaris. Hope to see you again soon.

[@eikohariu8460]

Thank you Pangolin team- very helpful as always!!! Miss you all!! Big hugs.

[@PangolinWildlife]

Thanks Eiko. Hope you are well

[@dilanjayawickrama2469]

Thank you, very useful !!

[@emesenmurthy8455]

Thank you team Pangolin for elaborating small things in photography in a big way…

[@PangolinWildlife]

You are welcome

[@IOSALive]

Pangolin Wildlife Photography, This is great! I liked it and subscribed!

[@PangolinWildlife]

Great to hear. Thank you.

[@HollisRules]

Charl, nice tutorial. I appreciate the insight. Very helpful

[@PangolinWildlife]

You are welcome

[@saptarishibasu1345]

Thank you again. All the tips you gave helped greatly on my trip to Ol Pejeta and Mara.

[@PangolinWildlife]

Thats great to hear. Thank you. Hope to see you in Botswana!

[@MrTmiket0007]

Thanks so much for sharing another wonderful video like always, for me f8 always works wonders ❤

[@andrewgaffney4881]

Great video

[@ashj1979]

As always another great pangolin video! Thank you, Charl!

[@PangolinWildlife]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sarahbatsford4791]

Love this channel. Always well presented with great content. Many thanks.

[@paultrunfull3324]

You can apply this same tutorial to sports photography, or your kids runnin around the local park, shooting wide open will isolate players/ subjects and get rid of bad backgrounds, while using a closed down app. will help with goal line melee keeping more players in focus. Or players coming in for a tackle. Nice one Charl.

[@PangolinWildlife]

Absolutely. Good point well presented

[@baramirm1509]

Thank you Charl. I still hear you suggesting me to stop down on our last trip together , since I was too much in love with my f4😂. Barbara from Switzerland

[@PangolinWildlife]

Haunted by Charl!! Excellent

[@baramirm1509]

😂​@@PangolinWildlife

[@joncothranphotography9375]

Great video, Charl! It's funny that you make this video now. I have recently been playing with this as of late. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@PangolinWildlife]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@marleenlagrange2899]

Thank you Charl for this valuable information. Regards and keep well.

[@PangolinWildlife]

You are very welcome

[@roscoebookbinder5370]

Thanks Charl, I learned a lot from you when we were there in April

[@PangolinWildlife]

Delighted to hear it. See you again soon?

[@roscoebookbinder5370]

@@PangolinWildlife We're looking forward to it

[@andregreyling1046]

Thanks for this very informative video!!🦁

[@PangolinWildlife]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@howardrankin7119]

Very helpful

[@PangolinWildlife]

Glad to hear that

[@theocoenen4415]

Thank you Charl, I hope to learn much more from you during my next visit in december. Theo

[@PangolinWildlife]

Not long now!!!

[@ianslingsby682]

Wide open on my RF 100-500 lens at 500mm is 7.1! I'd love to be able to shoot at 2.8 or 4 in the dark winter conditions we have here but last year in Botswana I did find myself using f11 a lot especially for the bigger animals.

[@PangolinWildlife]

Guess you need to come back!!

[@walterlewis7988]

Wow. Thanks! I needed to hear this.

[@pruimj]

Thanks Charl. Hopefully you will notice the effect of this tutorial when we meet in South Luangwa next year.

[@PangolinWildlife]

Looking forward to seeing you there!

[@digger360]

Thanks very useful tips and informative

[@PangolinWildlife]

You are very welcome!

[@cherylcranfield]

Great advice. Thank you.🥰

[@PangolinWildlife]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kenstav1]

Great tutorial and some food for thought

[@PangolinWildlife]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@martinstokes5596]

yes, for sure and thank you for the tips

[@PangolinWildlife]

You are so welcome!

[@danielx555]

I love big huge prime lenses and I love playing around with all of the blur and the beauty, and then I jump up to 5.6 or 8 because it's just too limiting at 1.8

[@helmut7878]

Thanks 👍

[@uaebifvideo5472]

Very informative!!.

[@PangolinWildlife]

Glad it was helpful!

[@albe2002]

In order of DoF you could try a M4/3 camera for wild life photography: you could gain one or two stop of light and maintain a good DoF

[@PangolinWildlife]

Good point. Thank you.

[@HR-wd6cw]

Although I don't do a lot of wildlife photography specifically, the first question someone should probably ask is if he background or surrounding elements are important to the photo or not -- do they add or take away from the subject. Then make your aperture selection based on that question. Of course, sometimes it's for a matter of speed (you need a faster shutter speed, so you open up the lens to let more light in, while keeping ISO as low as possible, then that's a bit different ,but I feel the same question should still be asked anyway). That being said, for most lenses, I tend to try to stop down a bit regadless (so on a 1.8 lens, I like to stop down to f/2 just for good measure, even though there may not be as much of a different, than going to say 2.8, but some lenses are not entirely sharp wide open anyway, and even stopping them down 1/3 or 1 stop can mean sharper photos in some cases. High-quality primes generally don't have this issue as much, but some of the consumer zooms can suffer from this, and benefit from stopping down a bit for this reason. I mean I could probably shoot all of my lenses wide open (I have actually) without any real image quality loss, but I figure stepping down a tad (1/3 of a stop) doesn't hurt in 95% of cases I'm shooting in anyway (since I don't really do widllife, but more so landscape, travel and portraiture, where small amounts like that may not make a huge difference from a DOF standpoint, but might from a sharpness standpoint, and in most of the cases super fast shutter speeds like 1/2000s are not necessary for what I shoot).

[@helmut7878]

👍👍👍

[@jojo_zimm_wildlife]

hello, what about the aperture when you shot with the rf 100-500 who open a 7.1 at 500mm?

[@Kellysher]

Same question here. I struggle in the morning low light. I’m fairly new, so still learning. The distance to the subject effecting the DOF is interesting to me. I do understand the distance to the background greatly affects the bokeh. F7.1 is already considered stopped down! I shoot wide open in the early hours, until I can get to F8, which is my preferred aperture for most of my photography. Sometimes I pull back to about 430mm to get to 6.3. I’m not sure if that is buying me much. Still testing that. No monster prime in my future. I doubt I would like the weight anyways. The 100-500 is a light sharp versatile lens with some macro type features. It keeps me in the Canon family!

[@amitahlawat6717ppppp]

Charl thank you for the video...I have had this stuck in my mind for about 4 months...this is the first video that clears the air....Cheers and to the whole team....I follow all of you for the past 3 years... could you please share a video on choosing the right camera format as well ..I have a trip planned in December... mainly large mammals in Kaziranga....I have a Nikon d500 + 200:500mm and a Sigma 70-200 f2.8.....i am in search for a full frame DSLR but don't know if it will benefit at all....as of now I don't do big prints but just don't know if a full frame is indeed required for big prints or am I good with the current gear....love from India

[@PangolinWildlife]

Very nice video idea. Will add that to the list!

[@amitahlawat6717ppppp]

@@PangolinWildlife Cheers

[@shawnfry372]

👏

[@brendanhart1065]

Any chance you could identify the birds in your photos.

[@PangolinWildlife]

Any one in particular? let us know the minute when it appears and we can assist.

[@brendanhart1065]

@@PangolinWildlife all of them, I’m not very good on African birds as I live in Australia 🇦🇺 I’m a keen bird photographer and I just like to know. Thanks

[@Mr09260]

My 3 lenses S line Nikon are all GREAT at Wide Open >> No good buying a lens of say only F4 and its only sharp from F8 > My 180-600 is F6.3 wide open and I Never change that Setting >> faster/Brighter than the Oposition 100-500 f7.1 telescoping lens

[@luzr6613]

But, but, but... have you any idea what i paid to get these 2s and 2.8s?🤣

[@timbelber7342]

Oh I feel your pain!

[@isotechimages.9130]

😂😂😂

[@ScrimshawPhotography]

Having a 2.8 lens is great but you shouldn't be married to it. It's those low light moments when you really need 2.8, not for every single photo

[@PangolinWildlife]

Absolutely