The Harryette Winston Collection
by vawendy

Comment:
Very well executed, my top pick.

Sea Life
by Phocal

Comment:
backdoorhippie Thanks for the comment. It's the shadow and the angle of the boat that makes the pipe look crooked. I do think I did over sharpen it some, tend to do that for my entries.

Sushi
by Phocal

Comment:

Originally posted by bergiekat: Haven't been around much, but had to weigh in on this gorgeous shot! Fantastic work! (Wish we had had the chance to shoot with you at the Houston GTG a couple of years ago!) So glad this ribboned!

Thank you so much. I can't remember why I was not able to make it.

Retreat
by Phocal

Comment:
jules1x and revecca Thanks for your kind comments

Sushi
by Phocal

Comment:
Beatabg Thank you, I am still trying to improve my nature photography. Gets better every time I go out.

trotterjay Thanks for the wonderful comment. With telephoto lenses (especially 300mm +) it is pretty much impossible to zone focus. The DOF is pretty small when using a lens like my 400mm, even stopped way down. I try to always shoot at Æ’8 (which is the sweet spot for this lens and gives more DOF), but will open up if needed. This photo I actually took at Æ’5.6 and I am starting think I can shoot at this aperture without worry of softness (but the CA is worse then at Æ’8). Not going to lie, manual focus is tough. I miss some shots because of it and get a number of blurry photos. I have gotten to where I have about a 50% keeper rate (maybe a little better) as far as focus goes, lower when you take composition into account but you would have that problem with autofocus. I pretty much set up on an animal and continually adjust focus as I wait for the action. I can tell when a bird (the ones I photograph a lot) is about to strike by its body language. When I see the sign I hit the shutter button.

Here is a link to my Flickr gallery of wildlife photos, all taken with a manual focus lens. Wildlife Photos

Sushi
by Phocal

Comment:
Thank you very much Streetpigeon and for the really great comment you posted during voting.

Light and geothermal
by otto22

Comment:
I am so sorry about this.

Light and geothermal
by otto22

Comment:
Congrats on a beautiful photo of something I want to see for myself and a well deserved yellow ribbon.

Bald Eagle In A Blizzard
by Drake

Comment:
Congrats on a really cool capture and a well deserved red ribbon.

Portrait of a BlueJay
by vawendy

Comment:
Congrats on a incredible capture and a well deserved blue ribbon. The whiskers are really cool, never noticed them on a Blue Jay before.