Ask Jim

ASK JIM

Every month, Jim will answer a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com. Q: Jim . . .I took this shot of a land iguana in the Galapagos Islands a few years ago, and it has always bothered me that the background cacti are somewhat out of focus. Do you feel the same way, or is it acceptable for a landscape to be soft in a situation like this? What could I have done at the time to have complete depth of field?

James Walker, San Antonio, Texas A: I agree with you. The background should be sharp. That’s a subjective viewpoint, but you asked my opinion. To make the background sharp, you either needed a small lens aperture like f/22 or f/32, or you could have taken a separate, sharp picture of the landscape and then composited that with the iguana. That’s what I would have done to make sure both elements were tack sharp.

© James Walker 2020