Posted by Paul Inglis on February 5, 2008 at 7:59 AM
Hi everyone,
I went out Monday with the camera as the sun was shining for a change. It was still very windy (between 50-60mph) so getting some sharp shots was tricky to say the least. Anyhow I decided to have a go for some in-flight shots of the Gulls (with a good success rate – will post some later in the week) when I saw this chappie playing with his food. I watched him for a couple of minutes picking up and dropping from what I could gather was a shellfish then decide to take a few frames of him.
The techs are;
Body: Nikon D2Xs
Lens: Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Metering Mode: Spot
Exposure Comp: -1.0 EV
AF Mode: AF-C
Sensitivity: ISO 400
White Balance: Cloudy
Shutter Speed: 1/3200 sec
Aperture: f4
Focal Length: 400mm
Posted by Daniel Read on February 5, 2008 at 8:03 AM
Hi Paul,
I'm afraid this one doesn't really work for me. The background looks a bit underexposed on my monitor, and the subject isn't large enough in the frame to see what it is doing. Maybe a tighter crop would help .
Cheers,
Dan.
Posted by Paul Inglis on February 5, 2008 at 8:14 AM
How's this?
Posted by tony flashman on February 5, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Its good to get "action" shots but for me the bird is too far away to really tell what he is up to.
Tony
Posted by Graeme Lee on February 5, 2008 at 4:58 PM
Agree with the above comments Paul. Doesn't work for me either. Mind you, I'm very much a dull bird on a stick guy, so this is wasted on me
Posted by Daniel Read on February 6, 2008 at 3:48 AM
Hi Paul,
In principle the tighter crop works better for me, but the lack of detail on the bird due to the blown highlights in a major detraction. Still, it's a nice behavioural shot, but i think you'll have to get closer next time!
Dan.
Posted by Paul Inglis on February 6, 2008 at 7:11 AM
Thanks for your comments everyone. It’s interesting to read your observations about this shot. I agree it is a little under exposed here but I just thought it added to the atmosphere – obviously the wrong choice. I had stopped shooting as the sun was extremely harsh but just couldn’t resist this shot.
For me personally the bird wasn’t the only attraction in this shot but a sum of the parts. I am presently playing around with various compositions and ideas when shooting these very common birds – that something different factor so to speak opposed to the customary portrait captures.
Discussion
6 repliesI went out Monday with the camera as the sun was shining for a change. It was still very windy (between 50-60mph) so getting some sharp shots was tricky to say the least. Anyhow I decided to have a go for some in-flight shots of the Gulls (with a good success rate – will post some later in the week) when I saw this chappie playing with his food. I watched him for a couple of minutes picking up and dropping from what I could gather was a shellfish then decide to take a few frames of him.
The techs are;
Body: Nikon D2Xs
Lens: Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Metering Mode: Spot
Exposure Comp: -1.0 EV
AF Mode: AF-C
Sensitivity: ISO 400
White Balance: Cloudy
Shutter Speed: 1/3200 sec
Aperture: f4
Focal Length: 400mm
Tripod: Gitzo G1548
Head: Kirk Ball Head BH-1 & Wimberely Sidekick
C&C welcome! Thanks for looking!
I'm afraid this one doesn't really work for me. The background looks a bit underexposed on my monitor, and the subject isn't large enough in the frame to see what it is doing. Maybe a tighter crop would help
Cheers,
Dan.
Tony
In principle the tighter crop works better for me, but the lack of detail on the bird due to the blown highlights in a major detraction. Still, it's a nice behavioural shot, but i think you'll have to get closer next time!
Dan.
For me personally the bird wasn’t the only attraction in this shot but a sum of the parts. I am presently playing around with various compositions and ideas when shooting these very common birds – that something different factor so to speak opposed to the customary portrait captures.