VTOL It appears like the bird is hovering.
African Spoonbill in the wild, a 3.5 hour round trip drive. The light was perfect for winter. Golden hour +1. A high angle location with water in the BG. The bird was coming in to land in the water to start feeding. Hand held single shot. Underexposed at time of shooting by -2.0 EV despite 8am. Increased saturation slightly. Cloned out some specs in the water. Cropped to allow space for the bird to fly into which naturally makes the bird a tad smaller in the frame. Sharpened. SFW.
[Aug. 7th, 2012 03:22:33 AM]
In response to a forum Q: Technical difficulty when shooting single shot? Pretty darn high. I am not a burst, choose 1 from 15 duds photographer.
[Aug. 7th, 2012 01:31:57 PM]
An 8, 9, 10 and then a 2 lol.
Some fabulous shots in this FS, one of the best I've taken part in in a long time, especially the 'natural looking' landscapes. Thank you commentators for the 8.2x Average and to all the other voters, Merci Beaucoup! Very pleased. To the trolls 'fess up and let's see your work this round?
Out takes this trip. Do you think the 1st one below was better than the one I submitted?
Statistics
Place: 17 out of 259 Avg (all users): 6.7788 Avg (commenters): 8.2222 Avg (participants): 6.8202 Avg (non-participants): 6.6250 Views since voting: 1454 Views during voting: 211 Votes: 113 Comments: 21 Favorites: 1 (view)
1) fabulous picture...I really think this should have scored much higher...thanks! as did I!
2) I have a 70-300mm Nikon...it seems slow and I don't achieve the clarity/sharpness that I would really like to have. Occasionally I'll get the good sharp one but over all I feel that they are just "soft" in the focus ...I have a Sigma 75-300mm and it's super crisp clear but also slow. I prefocus or select only one Focus Point, place it to the left or right third of the viewfinder and try keep it on the Bird as it's flying, very tricky. Also use f/8 or thereabouts (sharpest results) but shoot in Shutter Priority and broad daylight only. In golden hour drop it to the lowest f/stop (that is largest diameter) you can for the available light irrespective of ISO and switch off VR. Try and achieve a Shutter Speed of about double the focal length for that lens. So if shooting at 300mm your s/s should be minimum "1/600" or more if it exists. I shoot those lenses at 1/2000 or more to achieve clarity, sharpness.
3) of your lens' which one is your favourite/go to...why The Sigma 100-300mm f/4 EX DG APO HSM. It is super sharp at all Focal Lengths and a fixed aperture so Manual or Semi Auto exposures are easy to maintain (the s/s and the aperture remain where you set them 9/10 times) and I know the lens is fabulous from f/4 to f/16. Being sharp wide open (f/4) is critical for bird in flight especially in low light and at all focal lengths and you only get that in prime (or fixed aperture zoom) lenses (not all all mind you, some are duds). If you can get a 2nd hand one buy it (+/- $1000 USD). No longer made by Sigma. They replaced it with a 120-300mm f2.8 OS but it's an unreasonable $3200-00 USD new.
4) best price point??? Hunt e-Bay for a 2nd hand one from a respectable seller. About $1000 USD or sometimes a little less. But they are scarce because they are so good. The Nikkor 200-400mm is also excellent but pricier. All of them are full frame lenses so tripods, bean bags, or gimbals for a girl are a must have. I generally shoot mine hand held but only for seconds at a time as the action happens.
1) fabulous picture...I really think this should have scored much higher...
2) I have a 70-300mm Nikon...it seems slow and I don't achieve the clarity/sharpness that I would really like to have. Occasionally I'll get the good sharp one but over all I feel that they are just "soft" in the focus
3) of your lens' which one is your favorite/go to...why
very suprised this did not place higher - I marginally prefer this one to your out take but have to say both are stunning captures.
Thankyou for the information - as one trying to learn, I am very grateful.
I thought the elephants might have been yours, I gave this an 8 it's nice capture but the colours are a little muted which would have seen it score higher.
FYI I don't care if you spray'd and prayed or used a motion sensors or a robot it's about the final picture. There's no point going on about how technically difficult it was to Shoot with a zoom as we don't know that during voting. It's the picture we vote on, I submitted a nude it got about 5.6 not even looked I know dpc is far to conservative for nudes anymore now most the pro togs have gone but I'll keep plugging away at it here trying to bring a few rd to voting on the photos merits not on the subject.
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