Another Nickerson Skimmer...

...in a Blast Off. :S3: 1DIII & 400L 5.6 - iso400 - F9 - 1/1200.

Attachment 131427Attachment 131428

Frank:

Interesting composition, and I couldn't really figure it out from the thumbnail.

Group shots can be very successful, but it all depends on the overlaps, and I fear that for my taste there is a little too much overlap of the central cluster. The top bird is sharp enough, and well exposed, but too much is blocked by the OOF front bird.

The lowest bird in the bg works OK for me, but I would prefer not to have the wing entering from the left side of the frame.

It takes a lot of attempts and a lot of near misses to generate a group picture where everything is just right. Keep working at it!

Cheers

Randy

Randy

Thank you for the critique and advise.

Frank

A nice artistic looking image, those beaks certainly stand out and agree entirely with Randy, perseverance will eventually pay off.

Not that I suggest you do what I just did in a 10 minute tweak in PS, much better to achieve a great composition without PS cheating, but sometimes a picture says a thousand words as my repost may suggest

Indeed an arty image and in my humble opinion the RP from Phil takes it to a new level:w3 Frank, the tips of wings here and there and OOF bird in the BG were slightly distracting and I found that my eyes were wondering all over the image looking for something in focus. As Randy said above, group shots are challenging but also very rewarding, looking forward to more from you!

Kind regards,

Blast-offs can be very impressive! I can see what you were going for but IMO the main subject is the one that should have been in focus, and I also feel the image could have worked better with many more birds and smaller in the frame...they are just too big and tight in the frame as is. We do get a sense of excitement and high "hub of activity" feel though...

Rumor has it this site is a cut above the rest and the rumor seems to be true. Thank you all :S3: