Red made it into my week seven assignment. This was shot with a 55-200mm telephoto lens.

My homework this week was about lens perspective. I learned about lens speed, focal length and how my different lenses can be used. Whew! A lot of stuff there.

The assignment was to take or download from the interwebs two photos with a short focal length lens. The “kit” lens of my camera is 18-55mm, so I set my wide angle photos at 18mm which is the shortest focal point.

This is my wide angle shot at 18mm. It’s of our backyard outside the fencing that keeps the wild critters away — or at least some of them. If you compare this photo to Red’s, you can notice the difference in the depth of field. Red’s photo looks like the wall is right behind the fence. In the photo below, I was standing against the outside of the fence. It was taken at a focal length that makes the distance look further away. The real distance is at what we see with our own eyeballs, more in between the two but closer to the photo below.

This is my wide angle view of the nature’s preserve across the street from our home.

The next part of my assignment was to take two photos with a normal focal length. I used the same lens, but set it to around 50mm. Notice the difference of the photo below and photo above. The photos were taken only a few yards apart, but the photos are different due to focal length of the lens. Look at the mountains below compared to those above. They are the same mountains, shot from the same distance.

This is the entrance to our neighborhood. I picked a great day for photography because of the dark sky and clouds.

The third part of my week’s assignment was creating two telephoto long focal length images. My photo above of Red is my first example. I like using my telephoto lens to capture birds and wildlife. I also like the shallow depth of field that includes a fuzzy foreground or background with the emphasis on the subject.

I had taken a shot of a Gila Woodpecker in the tree and had completed my photography for the day. Then lo and behold, Mr. Harris’s Hawk stopped by for a visit. But after looking at the two photos, I’m going with the woodpecker. It’s a cleaner looking shot with less distraction in the background.

I’m enjoying this class because I’m learning new things. It motivates me to take a look around me and see things from a new perspective.

What’s going on with you that you find motivating or interesting to learn?

Do you think I made the right choice with the woodpecker photo?