Hundreds of skimmers were on the Cape May beach last Sunday. Hard to isolate one since they were mostly in a tight pack, all facing into the wind which was coming from the shore while the sun was coming from the other direction. After a long time spent crawling around on my belly I found this juvi slightly apart from the rest, with his feet cut off, sun from the high left and wind from the right; so this is a compromise with neither best light nor best view. I wished for him to turn his head, but no luck. Otherwise.... C&C appreciated.
Nice picture, with this much shutter could reduce the ISO and close maybe one/two more stops if possible. Usually beach shots provide plenty of shutter speed, keep the ISO low and aperture can be smaller with no BG to blur. I have heard, most lens have a sweet spot usually 2 or 3 stops smaller than their widest aperture, watch shutter/ISO trade-off.
I like this picture, the expression seem pleasant and you make this baby look beautiful. Maybe a little tighter to reduce some negative space - well done.
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 11-01-2009 at 07:22 PM.
Thank you Jeff and Alfred. Jeff: I agree with the ISO/SS comment in principle. As I was trying to catch these guys on the beach, every so often someone would walk by and the whole flock would go up in a blur, and I was eager to catch them sharply in flight as well (as you can see from my recent "blur" post, I finally gave up). It was hard to know how to set the camera for a relatively still subject and still be prepared for an instant flight reaction. I guess you can't have it both ways. And you're right -- I've found this lens works better at 6.3 or 7.1 than it does at 5.5.
Hi Bill,
Love the composition, image and low capture angle. The color rendition is very good. You have fine, sharp details, a good head angle and sharp eye...well done...and yes...this is the Nikon blue...:D:):cool:
Well done Bill, nice and sharp and the colours look good. Would seem to lend itself well to a pano. (A bit more off the top)?? You were actually lower than the bird, don't miss the feet. Think your brain puts them in.
Sun may not be at an ideal position but I like this image very much. You have a sharp bird with great feather details, HA looks alright to me and I don't mind about the missing feet. Agree about cropping some off the top and see some halo around the bird, but the might just be me.
Somehow this image remind me one of the super car concept, probably from the shape.
Another Black Skimmer
