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Bill McCrystyn
10-20-2009, 09:42 PM
Nikon D300 200-400VR EFL600 ISO200 1/640 f/4

Early afternoon sun was just to much for this guy to pass up.
Mike Moats
10-21-2009, 04:56 AM
Hey Bill, he looks peaceful, and he needs a manicure. I like the comp and the nice sharp details, but the afternnon sun he's enjoying caused his shell to be a little blown out. You could try toning it down a little in PS. I like what looks like waves in the BG, and the diagonal placement of the log.
Steve Maxson
10-21-2009, 11:58 AM
An interesting pose and impressive front claws, Bill. I like the diagonal comp as well. I would wish that the light wasn't quite so bright (but this is the type of sunny day when turtles like to bask like this) so that there was more detail in those colorful yellow makings. :)
Julie Kenward
10-21-2009, 09:25 PM
Great turtle photo, Bill! Because of the harsh sun you have almost a haze over the image. Open up an exposure layer in PS and move the offset slider a hair to the left and see how that takes that haze down in a heartbeat. Use the other two sliders (exposure and gamma) to bring the rest of the image into balance and add a slight levels adjustment at the end if need be.

Great DOF for f4 and a nice choice of aperture for getting the turtle and log in view but still blurring the BG. Any idea where the 200-400mm lens was lengthwise when this was taken? It did a great job on the BG water.
Bill McCrystyn
10-21-2009, 09:45 PM
Hi Julie. I haven't been this way in a while but thought this little guy was a cute shot. The shell is covered with mud and I think (looking at the curves) are around 187. I toned down the front end of the turtle which was showing 255 with levels and brightness on my final rework (not shown here). I made the shot at about 30-35' and had the EFL at 600mm (fully extended) without a TC. I will only use my 1.4TC when I HAVE to.
Bill McCrystyn
10-22-2009, 10:39 AM
Julie , this may answer your question better. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The Nikon bokeh is well known for its pleasing effect at any aperture based on their diaphram design.

This is what I saw through my EFL600 f/4 lens at 35'. This is a RAW FF un-edited JPEG conversion.