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Flock Photo Failure?

Discussion

7 replies
Posted by Mark Smith on February 17, 2007 at 3:11 AM
Flock Photo Failure?
A few weeks ago I took some photos of a large flock of Starlings. Flock photography is something I haven't done before and I found trying to show the movement and different shapes these birds were making very challenging. This is the first of several images I intend to post, so your C&C are most welcome as well as any suggestions for future flock photography :smile: :smile: :smile:

Techs:
Nikon D70
300mm F4
1/60 @ F4
ISO400
Resting on 600mm mounted on tripod!

Minimal editing in CS2

Mark
Posted by Jim Greenfield on February 17, 2007 at 4:32 AM
Having had many (wasted!) goes at shoaling fish, some of which whirl around like crazy, I can imagine this is hard to do. It looks a pretty good effort to me but I don't know anything about flock photography. Ideally I would like to see the whole flock without some being chopped off on the left and perhaps some more separation from the trees. Easier said than done no doubt. Look forward to seeing more.
Posted by Clive_S on February 17, 2007 at 4:36 AM
You can get some interesting effects (using a tripod!) by using a very slow shutter speed - say 1/8th sec. The resulting blurry images are not to everyones taste but they can result in some most artistic results! :wink:
Posted by David Kjaer on February 17, 2007 at 4:39 AM
Hi Mark

Looks pretty good to me - nice shape and colour in sky. Agree with Jim re the LH side of flock being cut off but I don't mind the contact with the trees/ground as after all they are coming into roost. Look forward to more!

David :toast:
Posted by David Taylor on February 17, 2007 at 6:04 AM
A good first showing. I agree with the cut off on the LHS, but that is only a minor niggle, Looking forward to seeing the others. The shapes produced can be amazing. :toast: :toast:
Posted by Rene de Heer on February 18, 2007 at 5:12 AM
I agree as well with regards to the LHS but still a lovely image with a great sky!
Rene de Heer
Posted by Justin on February 18, 2007 at 8:24 AM
The complete formation would have been the icing on the cake but the image still works well IMHO as it is.The pink hues in the sky are a real bonus.
Nice shot of this interesting and photogenic behaviour.:cool:
Good luck with your future attempts.

Posted by Richard Tynan on February 19, 2007 at 9:39 AM
I don't think this is a failure.

This is better than anything I have managed this winter. I like the flock pattern you've captured here and the colour in the sky is a nice bonus.