Jan van Wijk wrote:
> Bill Casselberry, " Hummer "
> Another nature picture, now including a hard to catch bird too.
> It must be quite difficult to get enough DOF to get the flowers sharp,
> and still use a fast enough shutter-time to freeze the birds motion ...
Yes, I believe I was stretching the limits of my slow tele's
abilities, even w/ 1000asa film
> I like the overall picture, but there are two things that could have been
> better I think:
both points well taken and I agree a better shot could have been
taken if the situation were better. As mentioned, I was tripodded up
inside the house and the little guys were feeding off just this one
not so photogenicly placed bunch of flowers. They flitted from one
to another and this particular blossom did yield the best compositional
potential, as they approached it from the side. So, I focussed on
it and waited for one to come into position in the small open space.
> 1) There is no real "main subject" I think, the hummer is a bit
> too small so it doesn't catch attention right away. (also the
> wings are almost invisible at this point) It would take a lot
> of patience and shots (and getting closer ?) to correct this though,
> so I realize that was probably not an option at the time ...
They really are tiny, and as I have told many who seem amazed
at lenses longer than 200mm, 400-600mm is not really all that
long of an optic (of course they usually don't understand ;^).
I started out trying to shoot from outside in the yard, but they
were way too spooked and split. Consequently my possibilities
for framing were rather restricted and I basicly shot for curiosity.
> 2) The big light triangle at the upper right corner is distracting.
> That probably would have been solved by a small change in camera
> position ... I DO realize it is very hard to notice those little
> distracting thing on the edges while you are litteraly focusing
> on a fast mover like the hummer.
Oh, I saw the light triangular area. It was inevitable so I just
accepted it and attempted to at least make it "fit" decently up
in the corner. It is the sky, above a roofline of the backyard
neighbor's low shed. I really didn't want to crop out just the bird,
so I left "as is" with just minimal cropping into the print, which
was just a cheap-o 4x6. I doubt there would be much gained from
cropping, as the bird is so high in the frame.
;^) I suppose we could claim it to be "FoundView" !8^)
> You could make it less distracting by cropping the top off a bit as
> well I guess.
> Still, a good shot!
Thanks, perhaps next time I will have a more photogenic
arrangment - or a 2000mm lens so I can keep far enough away
that I don't scare the little guys off! All in all, I was
pleased enough with the shot and being able to pull it off
with the gear at hand.
Bill
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Bill D. Casselberry ; Photography on the Oregon Coast
http://www.orednet.org/~bcasselb
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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