BEWARE! (Click for larger view)

I could use some help on this image. Please read my concerns by

clicking on the image. Thank you!

It was quite dark (impending storms); hence my decision to use ISO 500.  What settings would you have recommended to try to get the Rattlesnake sign tack sharp, but also get the distant mountains and the 2 figures hiking on the mountain also in sharp focus?  Or is this possible, considering the distance between the two?  In trying to get the mountains in focus, I may have over-sharpened the image.  Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hi Christal

Nice landscape result. I like the snake's warning...curious...Congratulations. Roldao

To increase the depth of field go with a higher aperture, at least an f/8.

Roldao....thanks for your feedback....greatly appreciated!

Jim....Thanks! I know that higher f stops result in a deeper depth of field.  But given this circumstance and not wanting to use a higher ISO, I wonder if I could have focused somewhere other than the sign and still gotten the entire image in focus.  My settings were f8, and this was at a 28mm focal length.  Thanks!

Christal, I can now make critiques on your photos.  This is a great image and love the rattlesnake sign.  We have lots of them in Texas.  Also love the geology in all the rock formations,  You have captured it well.  Missed the hikers until I viewed this in the larger view.  

Bill.....yes, problem solved....thanks to your email.  Thanks!  This Rattlesnake sign was a first for me.  I was on the look-out for rattlers, and would love to have seen one (from a distance), but we didn't.  These signs were everywhere in the Badlands.  Okay.....off to work.  Have a nice day!

A tripod would have been a good choice at any ISO and then set the camera for its smallest aperture... f/22 perhaps. If you didn't have a tripod along you could have set the camera on a rock, set the image up and used the self timer to eliminate camera shake. If you were too close to get deep dof you could have backed up a bit and zoomed in to crop it the way you wanted to. Use a wide angle lens of course, which it looks like you've done to get the maximum dof you can.

-r-

A fun shot Christal,  It looks like Raymond and the others have said pretty much about the solution. 

The tripod thing is a must.  I don't always want drag along my huge carbon fiber gitzo setup and have now taken to including this really fine little traveler as a "don't leave home without it" item.

Check this out on Amazon etc.  (Costco DID have them up until a few months ago) Dolica TX570 Ultra Compact Tripod w/ ball head and plate.

It was invaluable one our recent hikes into the Hoh Rainforest.

It reverses and folds up to less than 13 inches and has  a, supposed, 15 lb load capacity.... for $88 !!  It comes with a dandy little carry case.  You might try just ordering it from Dolica, I found their customer service dept to be tops.

Great image. Beautiful yet ominous!! Looks very rugged...so much so that maybe the rattlers should look for digs much more comfee!! Heh. Seriously, great composition projecting an uneasy feeling. A photo can't do more than that!

Christal, I am pleased that our critique problem has been resolved.  As mentioned earlier, I like your rattlesnake sign, and just wanted to share one from Texas.  

Raymond.....good suggestions.  I did not have a tripod because we were hiking this trail.  It's a pretty rugged trail and we didn't want to be encumbered.  I have difficulty hand holding with my 200 lens, so I don't usually use it unless it's on the tripod.  And it's too heavy to hike with.  So I was using my 24-105 lens, if I recall.  But I could have backed up....didn't think of that.  It's a high enough megapixel camera that I could have cropped in and it would have worked.  Thanks for your help!

Steve....I thank you AND my husband thanks you!!!  He's usually the one to carry the tripod.  I have a full-size carbon fiber that holds about 11 pounds (enough for me), but the one you're suggesting is small and holds 15....wow!!!  We'll definitely check it out, and I really appreciate you writing.  I recently saw Dolica in an Outdoor Photographer magazine and wondered about it.  Thanks for the endorsement!

Warren......good to hear from you.  I've noticed some of your images popping up.  Looks like you've been traveling again.  I'll have to get over and check out your stuff.  Thanks for your visit!

Bill......hey, that rattlesnake is bigger than mine.  But isn't everything bigger in Texas?  ;-)  Have you ever seen a rattlesnake in the wild?  Yes, I'm glad we got that 'blocking' issue resolved.  I've never blocked another person, though once I was tempted.