Lens Diffraction

My latest post to the Outdoor Photographer blog, Lens Diffraction, discusses whether or not you should be concerned with the loss of image quality that results from using small apertures such as f/16 or f/22. The image below, which illustrates the post, was taken in the rain forest of Olympic National Park in Washington.

"Chaos Calmed" - Olympic National Park

This was one of the most chaotic environments I have ever photographed. I simply love working with complex scenes. The trick is to find a simple, unifying shape to help calm the chaos and create order and compositional structure. Here, I was attracted to the long sweeping curve of the moss-covered vine maple limb. Using an ultra-wide angle, I was able to get in close to the branch and emphasize its shape. The radiating diagonal lines in the background complete the composition. It took me quite some time to get my camera position perfect for this shot. The light was overcast, and since I was deep inside a tunnel formed by moss-covered trees, there was lots of green light bouncing around.

Technical details: Canon 5D Mark II camera, 14-24mm lens (@16mm), polarizer filter to reduce glare and intensify colors, ISO 400, f/16, 2.5 seconds.

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About Ian Plant (275 Posts)

Ian Plant's photographs and instructional articles have appeared in a number of books, calendars, and magazines, including Outdoor Photographer and Popular Photography. Ian writes a regular blog column for Outdoor Photographer online, and he is the author of numerous instructional eBooks and digital processing tutorials. Ian leads several photo tours each year.

Tags: diffraction, olympic national park, rain forest

9 Comments

scott July 20, 2011 at 2:03 pm

WOW!, this is maybe my most favorite photo inside that mossy world that is Olympic! AMAZING shot, Ian.
- Ian July 20, 2011 at 2:46 pm
  
  Thanks Scott, very kind of you to say!
Carol Cohen July 20, 2011 at 5:30 pm

Beautiful image, Ian. Was it taken in the Hoh rainforest? I love living in WA state and really am enjoying your incredible images taken during your recent trip here.
- Ian July 20, 2011 at 10:21 pm
  
  thanks – actually it was taken in the Sol Duc area
yardstick July 22, 2011 at 8:45 am

Hey Ian, I think another teachable moment here might be to explain how/where you focused your camera to get all subject matter from inches in front of the lens to infinity perceptually sharp.
- Ian July 25, 2011 at 8:31 am
  
  Funny you should mention that, for a future blog post I plan to talk about hyperfocal distance and depth-of-field.
Murray July 23, 2011 at 5:39 am

Hi Ian,

Bloody cracking shot mate. I’m looking forward to your ‘stitching’ photoshop tutorial – there’s a tease of a patagonia pano pic in the ribbon of your website. I can’t wait to watch how you stitched that beauty together!

Cheers
Murray
- Ian July 25, 2011 at 8:32 am
  
  Hi Murray, always good to hear from you! The Patagonia “pano” is actually just a crop, but a stitching tutorial sounds like a good idea – I’ll add it to my second batch of videos!
Edith Levy July 24, 2011 at 8:13 am

Great shot Ian.

Lens Diffraction

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