Black Skimmers Panorama

[Henry Domke]

Yesterday while walking the beach on Sanibel I came across these Black Skimmers. I liked the pattern of their wings.
Because it was a group of birds I wanted a greater depth of field so I picked f/16.

Canon 5D3
400 2.8 with 1.4 tele
Hand Held
Manual Exposure
1/2500th of a second
ISO 2000
f/16

Processed in Lightroom 4. Then significant work in Photoshop CS6. I removed a couple of terns that did not belong in the picture. Significant cropping had to be done to get this composition.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Henry, its always good to capture a group of subjects, but in this, I feel its not quite working as most of the skimmers are overlapping each other. I do like the hint of reds on their bills.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Hi Henry, this is a very nice capture. I think, however that f/16 may not have been needed. I assume that they were at a fair distance away and f/8 (maybe even f/5.6) would have landed you a nice dof. With that said, and this is said in hindsight of course, I may have tried for a nice panning blur. Either way, it looks like you are getting nice use of the 400mm - how do you like handholding it?

[Henry Domke]

...it looks like you are getting nice use of the 400mm - how do you like handholding it?

I am able to handhold the 400/2.8 lens but it is work. My upper body strength isn't much and I must say I'm wishing I had more. Perhaps this will inspire me to do some strength training!

[Peter Dexter]

I think you capturesd a beautiful image and the crop for me is just right.