2) I hate Canada Geese. I believe I've mentioned that on-list before. I'm going to put that bias aside as best I can, however, and say that I like the shot ~as a photograph~, despite the subject. Nice composition with the reflection. Only tiny quibble is that the eye could be a tad sharper. The back feathers seem sharp enough, so maybe focus was off just a coupla inches or so. Still nice shot.
3) What is a beaver, Alex? Oh sorry, this isn't Jeopardy. Does anyone know that Alex Trebek is Canadian? Well, he is. He's from Sudbury, Ontario. And he got a B.A. in Philosophy from University of Ottawa. But I digress... Ah yes, the Beaver. Canada's national symbol. Cool shot. Again with the not really sharp focus - I'm sorry if I'm so demanding about focus on nature shots, but to me it's kind of part of the deal. Anyway, I do really like the concentric circles formed by the ripples around le castor (that's French for beaver). Another shot I like...
4) I really like the comp on this one. All those plants seem to have a sort of gentle symmetry, they really work with where the bird is. I like...
5) I may like this one even more than the last. The way he's hanging sideways from that branch is neat. Lovely bokeh of those branches in the background. Very cool lightiing - all you see of the OOF branches is "pure light" without form, if you know what I mean. My fave so far.
6) Missed the focus. The bill is sharpest - should be the eye. Not a bad shot, but I find the sharp beak distracting.
7) I like this one. The lighting's better, more interesting rocks and twiggy things and stuff. I think maybe the bill's a bit sharper than the eye again, but for some reason it doesn't bother me as much here. I think that's because it's a more interesting shot overall than the last one.
8) This one's not so successful, IMHO. Or at least, I should say it doesn't work for me. That branch directly in front of the bird really takes away from the shot. And, the bird isn't sharp enough, IMHO.
9) There's way OOf stuff in the foreground that detracts from this one for me. Not sure about the exposure either. The bird (a woodpecker of some sort?) seems a bit dark to me.
10) Again with the focus. It seems that the shell of the one on the left is the sharpest thing in the photo. I'd want it to be either of the turtles' heads. Maybe it's just me, I don't know. Otherwise, it's an interesting photo. I like the lighting, the bright dried grass (or whatever it is), nicely OOF in the background. Comp is nicely done - the shape of the rocks and the reflections of them work very well.
11) The turtle makes it! Neat! But, again, what seems most in focus is not interesting. It seems to be the back of the swan. It should be either the swan's face or the turtle. Otherwise, nice comp.
Okay, individual critiques (or are they comments?) are over. I've gotta ask a question, Herb, are you using an autofocus camera? I only ask, because to me, many of the photos seem to miss the focus by a couple of inches, and since you are obviously shooting wide open with a very fast lens, missing by a couple of inches is quite noticeable, at least to me. Obviously, the camera's focusing on ~something~, but not the right thing, IMHO. I find it very distracting.
Maybe I'm spoiled by some of the incredible wildlife photographers on this list, and maybe I'm being unduly harsh or overly demanding, but there's just something missing, something needed for these to be ~great~ shots.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, so please take these comments in the spirit in which they're intended. And, yes, I'm the king of ~not~ focusing well. I realize the irony here... <vbg>
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: "Herb Chong" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: birds and turtles Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 13:21:07 EST
>> misc birds and turtles i took in the past couple of weeks. >> all with the *ist D and the FA* 400/5.6 or A* 400/2.8. i >> sometime used the Sigmal APO AF 2X extender on the 400/5.6 >> and the Pentax A2X-L on the 400/2.8. > >Hey Herb, are you going to provide a link? ;) > >
sorry, Amita. the entire weekend was a big headache as allergies here are both
earlier and worse than i can remember.
Herb...
http://users.bestweb.net/~hchong/temp/
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