Hi Wendy. Good focus on the heron and his prey. Your exposure looks good. IMO, this would have been improved if you had not clipped off the tail and if his head was slightly turned towards you. Since you were shooting wide open, I don't think there was much you could have done about the busy background. TFS and keep 'em coming!
Ian's comments are solid...I concur 100%. Totally agree with the clip comment ...it is alright to cut but not clip. You demonstrate good field technique leveraging a tripod and the exposure techs are solid...using a wide aperture to blur the background is a good way to allow DoF to mute the background.
The opportunities are light and point of focus. Notice the bight light on top of the head/neck area....the eye and face are in shadow. Remember you shoot the light not the subject. Try and position the light on the face...a well lit clear eye makes the photograph much stronger. What was you point of focus...were you using center sensor. Sometimes when we use the center square and we position it on a horizontal subject's eye we can clip or cut the subject...I often move the sensor accordingly (thumb control on the MKIV)...does that sound reasonable? I am assuming you used that and not the ring of fire or something else?
On balance... nice capture and good action moment in the life of nature... please keep em coming!
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 06-24-2013 at 05:04 PM.
Thanks for your helpful comments, Ian and Jeff,
I was concerned about the fact that I had clipped the tail, but I was hoping that the water droplets and the intense look on the heron's face would make up for it. I see what you mean about the light. I was using the central sensor but I haven't yet tried to master the camera button that would have allowed me to keep the eye in focus but capture the rest of the bird. That, and using the depth of field preview button are next on my list to master. --Wendy
Heron with prey
I see what you mean about the light. I was using the central sensor but I haven't yet tried to master the camera button that would have allowed me to keep the eye in focus but capture the rest of the bird. That, and using the depth of field preview button are next on my list to master. --Wendy
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