Capture detailed close-ups

Explore all apertures when creating intimate portraits

A compelling image doesn’t necessarily have to feature the subject’s face: perhaps it is a detail in the patterns of their wing that might make an interesting composition? Keep your mind open to creative possibilities.

I generally prefer to shoot intimate closeups with the aperture closed down, set to f/11 and above. Then if the subject suddenly moves position slightly, there’s more chance of the image remaining sharp.

Bear in mind also the significant reduction in effective depth of field as you move closer and closer to your subject. This hare portrait (above right), where only the eyes and nose appear sharp, was actually photographed at f/8. Whilst the general rule for wildlife photography is to always get the eyes of your subject sharp, I believe that in moments such as these the nose needs to be sharp as well, otherwise it creates a distracting blurriness that leads the eye away from areas of critical sharpness.

When working in close proximity to animals, keep movements and sounds to an absolute minimum and approach over a significant lengths of time.