So let's talk a bit more about the the shots, some of birds in trees and my new found Squirrel friend who eventually complied! I wanted to create focal points with the background and foregrounds in and out of focus. Initially I was using a zoom lens on a Blackbird in a tree.
However, the the day was quite over cast and grey, the tree's bare of leaves, it was almost monochromatic and felt really boring if I am being honest. But, it was good to understand more about the zoom lens and focus.
I spent about an hour trying to refine these bird shots. if I was going for a Film Noir effect or remaking Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds ( a 1963 Film I had to watch in 6th Form!!), I was halfway there by natural light alone. It just didn't feel right to me, I couldn't get the feeling of foreground and background that I was trying to achieve ( what was in my head anyway!) so rather than continue, I shifted to my focus on the shrubs and bushes etc as they had colour.
It's here that I felt it all started to come together, whilst they may seem simple shots footage wise it took a few attempts to get the focus movement right on with each shot. At first it felt clunky and jittery with the focus movement, I wanted it to be smooth between the fore and backgrounds, picking out the details. I was also not getting a fore - background Bokeh I was envisaging.
For some reason I was stumped and confused, it's a simple task that I was trying to do but I could not get the turn of the ring smooth or complete.
Eventually I realised that it was "user" error here, it was my dexterity and approach to the lens ring. I was holding it al wrong. I was placing my hand underneath with with my fingers at the top and thumb at the bottom. This was only giving me a 1/4 turn, I readjusted with my thumb at the top and finger at the bottom, this gave me 1/2 a turn.
I refined a technique ( not too sure if anyone else would think it was one), whereby I took my right hand right over the top of the lens, with my fingers at the bottom of the ring and my thumb at the top. this allowed me to get more or less a full turn. I could then measure- control the speed and smoothness of turn which cured the issues I was previously having.
Simple mistake, and one to learn from, nearly 5 years of study ( 6th form to Uni) and I was making such a simple error in the use of the lens.....or is it a sign that I should be using the set ups more.
Well it seemed to work......!
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