Two Herons

[Desmond Chan]

I took this photo earlier a month or so ago (the Canada Geese is much more recent).

D300 200-400 f4 @400mm; f4 1/2500 sec ISO 800; aperture priority +0.7.

I think my +0.7 screwed up the exposure...and lighting was harsh, too (excuses excuses :D ) So, did quite a bit to try to salvage it. If it were taken with a S5, salvaging could be easier.

First time that I saw two GB Herons together and flying and that was the main reason I took the shots despite the lighting and possibly wrong settings. The two just took off from the water and was making a turn. Ooops! HAP... :o

Thanks for looking and comments will be appreciated !

[Lance Peters]

Hi Desmond - pretty much agree with your self assesment - always going to be tough in the harsh light.

Birds are flying towards you (Just) which is good.

IMHO - I might dump the second bird and just go with the first one, second is just OOF enough to take away from the first one, you could open the shadows up under the wings of the first bird a bit.

Is the 200-400 as good as everyones says - can you handhold it for long??? I am thinking i might want one. :) :)

[Desmond Chan]

Thanks for commenting, Lance !

As for 200-400, I think the general consensus is it's a good zoom lens. If I use it correctly, I get sharp results (like the Robin shot I posted sometime ago). With your skills, you can probably get better results than I can. But you already have a prime 500mm, do you really want a 200-400 zoom? As for shooting hand-held with it, I can hold it for more than a couple of sec. ;)

Al has 200-400, too. May be he could shed some light on it. On the main board, you can take a look at Raymond Barlow's posts. He primarily shoots with 200-400 hand-held.

Hi Desmond - pretty much agree with your self assesment - always going to be tough in the harsh light.

Birds are flying towards you (Just) which is good.

IMHO - I might dump the second bird and just go with the first one, second is just OOF enough to take away from the first one, you could open the shadows up under the wings of the first bird a bit.

Is the 200-400 as good as everyones says - can you handhold it for long??? I am thinking i might want one. :) :)

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Desmond,
I pretty much agree with your self-assesment and I think that Lance is right about dumping the second bird. If you can lose the shadows on the first bird I think you could have a spectacular image. I would also crop from the top - more of a pano look!
Regards,
Nicki

[Alfred Forns]

Love the action but the light got to you here Not sure you can revive this one? Will end up with funky looking colors under the wings !!!

The 200-400 is a fine lens Have posted examples with a 2X and razor sharp. Hand holding is possible but not recommended. I use a tripod 99% of the time unless there is a special need. If you learn to use one for bif you can do as well acquiring, tracking etc. I'm keeping the 200-400 since it complements my 600 VR It is one special lens !!! I use it with 1.4X and 1.7X routinely and occasionally with the 2.0X for static subjects.

[Harold Davis]

lance had a good suggestion!! light is harsh though. curious about your comment saying that if it had been taken with the S5 it would have been easier to process or salvage. why is that? thanks!

[Katie Rupp]

Hi Desmond, another vote for deleting the second bird and making a pano...or keep it as is because it was a "first" for you. I understand that motivation!

[Desmond Chan]

.. light is harsh though. curious about your comment saying that if it had been taken with the S5 it would have been easier to process or salvage. why is that? thanks!

Simply because Fujifilm S5Pro has a 12EV or a bit more (with careful processing ) dynamic range. According to dpreview, even the D3 is "...not quite Fujifilm S5 Pro level..." (D300 is just under 10 stops). In other words, I would have been able to recover more of the highlights if this were shot with S5, which I mostly used not very long ago.

[Desmond Chan]

Thanks guys for looking !

Oh well, just another photo record then. I'm still keeping it until a better one comes along.

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great flight capture Desmond. Do agree about getting rid of the other bird.
Regards,