Some-days, it is hard to hold focus. I like to make “in flight” type photo of birds, but at some point, I reach the edge of the envelope in regards to shutter speed vs. f-stop. Throw in trying to maintain the closeness of the birds you find yourself at the edge real quick.
This Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) was taking off from a Desert Willow tree in my yard. I was shooting with my 500mm set at a shutter speed of 1/6400 of a second which put me at f 5 which is close to wide open and it just gets impossible to carry focus much more than an inch or so. Hence nice and sharp legs & feet, but I begin to lose focus on the eyes.
That is what I love about photography, you can find all kinds of parallels to life itself. My father used to anger me to no end by telling me that life is a compromise. I fight that constantly, and have many scars from the battles.
Be careful what you compromise on your journey††††††††nada te turbe†††jim
Wonderful advice, thanks MJ