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Challenge: Free Study 2011-01 (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Canon EOS-5D
Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM
Location: St Lucia
Date: Jan 31, 2011
Aperture: 5.6
ISO: 100
Shutter: 250
Date Uploaded: Jan 31, 2011

I basically sat for hours and waited for the birds. They fly by so fast the camera could not focus fast enough on them, I had to direct the focus on another subject, when a bird flew by I quickly moved the camera. Hours and hours of trying for this picture, along with many shots. I touched up the background in light room, slightly.

Statistics
Place: 273 out of 307
Avg (all users): 4.8219
Avg (commenters): 3.0000
Avg (participants): 4.7961
Avg (non-participants): 4.8837
Views since voting: 623
Views during voting: 228
Votes: 146
Comments: 4
Favorites: 0


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AuthorThread
02/14/2011 04:00:11 AM
Hello and greetings from the Critique Club-
Since I voted on this challenge, I will provide you with my vote and an explanation as to why I voted how I did.
For your entry, I gave you a vote of 4. While hummingbirds are undoubtedly one of the more difficult objects to capture, the bar has been set very high by other members in this arena and it isn’t unusual for them to take Top 10 placements in the Free Studies. Regarding your photo, the centered composition makes the photo feel very static. This feeling is increased by the lack of other subject matter. Technically speaking, the sharpness for this photo is below what is demanded by wildlife photos, which are expected by the very sharp. I think part of this is due to the aperture of 5.6, assuming you were shooting at the tele end of your lens. Knowing that the 5D is not known for focus speed, I would suggest you stop down significantly, for two reasons. First, it will expand your depth of field and make it more likely for you to catch the bird in focus, and secondly, because it will make your lens sharper in any case. Do not be afraid to crank the ISO of the 5D up- it performs very well in this regard. I would also recommend using a higher shutter speed as 1/250 for a 300mm lens is going to be pushing the limits for a sharp shot anyway. If you have external lighting at your disposal, I suggest you peruse this tutorial as well- (DPC Tutorial
Be aware, however, that the 5D often does not actually sync at 1/20 and frequently down towards 1/160 instead.
You’ve obviously got the most important thing for wildlife photography- patience- so I suggest you keep with it. There are few people who can muster the patience to sit around trying to focus on such small speedy creatures.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
02/08/2011 12:58:25 AM
I rather like this for the exuberance of colours, and that wing is full of grace. Many people take perfect hummingbird pics - they set up with feeders and whatall. I have done what you have done, only with dragonflies: sometimes waiting for them to come into my prefocus (camera beeps), or, better, using manual focus on my 70-300 zoom but also waiting for the camera to beep. I think of it as a sport.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/06/2011 05:41:20 PM
It could have been a very good image, but it's almost completely out of focus!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
02/02/2011 07:41:57 AM
Good capture - can be more crisp
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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