So, I have a K-r, and I primarily use the 55-300 kit lens (f/4-f/5.6), and a 50mm f/1.7. My most frequent photoshoots are horses, so obviously I use the kit since they tend be rather far away. I rely on autofocus (continuous) a lot, what with them zooming around on the other side of the pasture. Unfortunately, at f/5.6, a lot of the shots just come out kind of... mehhh (IMO) due to the depth of field, especially if the background is uglyish. I have seen a lot of people who have horses+money yet no photographic knowledge or skill drop $1200 on a long, shallow lens and get shots with much much nicer bokeh than mine and it is sooo frustrating. I can fake it in photoshop, but it is VERY time-intensive to make it look authentic! Are there any lenses with at LEAST more zoom than my 50mm - even prime, at 135 or 200 or something - that have AF and stop up to f/2.8 or so that could produce nice bokeh on shots of horses from far away, or does everyone with shots like that have a 400mm+ lens? :| I'm getting paid now and would like to produce the best quality I can...
examples from most recent shoot - flickr may oversharpen them a bit, please excuse.
portraits/zoomed in, cool.
zoomed out, not cool. there is fence all over the pasture (all over most pastures) and a less-busy background is typically not an option :| I know people whose lenses would blur everything behind the fence :'(
even shots like this one would be, IMO, just..... more effective with even a slightly shallower DOF
QUICK sloppy photoshop job (lens blur filter + layer mask)....... see what I mean :| The girl+horse just pop a little better and the highlights in the background aren't so sharp and distracting.
I'm a broke college student so I'd have to save up. I'd have to save up for even a cheap, used, beat-up lens haha. :| Those $600+ lenses are shining and golden and sadly out of reach. Am I stuck with photoshop for now???
Last edited by Elisha; 10-10-2013 at 06:40 PM.