Seagull

I'm finally managing to get a few BIF that are reasonably sharp by finally turning off IS and shooting at higher speed. I had been using Mode 2. I guess a seagull is bit like posting a cat picture in DPReview.

Is it better to try to focus on the eye with surrounding points turned off or is that just too difficult for most birds?

Minor sharpening in DPP and reduced in CS5. Can the blown areas be recovered at all?

1D4, 70-200 f/2.8IS II x 2.0, 400mm, manual exposure, f/6.3, 1/2500, ISO640 Ai-Servo centre point w/ surrounding points.



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28305360@N00/5174995209/" title="CE0C9896Seagull by Blake Cook, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5174995209_6fc061de36_o.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="CE0C9896Seagull" /></a>

Blake:

Great eye contact, sharp, good DOF.
Exposure generally good, might try to tone down the whites o the rump,tail,crown.

I like the breaking waves in the background.

A bit more room below and in front would make it feel less cramped.

On Nikons, I use a 9 point array and try to put the middle sensor on the eye if possible.

Cheers

Randy

Like this one, it has energy.

Tim

Thanks, Tim and Randy.

I have quite a bit of difficulty setting the centre point on the eye/head to start focus on a bird slowly flying into a headwind like this one. Practice practice I guess. Aircraft are a snap compared to BIF. I can't imagine how many here get sharp shots of snipe in flight.
I'd have to nail it to a log to get a snipe as sharp.

Blake