Backyard fun

[Gary Esman]

Was fortunate to pick up a new 500 mm last week. This is one of the first shots from it. Gonna love this lens.
yesterday was dark and rainy here. Some adjustments in PS.

50D, ISO 320, 1/160, F/5.6 - yeah this should have been higher for more DOF. Tripod.

[Randy Stout]

Gary:

Congrats on 500mm. Isn't it fun to not have to crop so much:)

DOF is the only issue for me. Like the matching color in background,angle in frame, head angle. Nice detail in the perch, and yes, perhaps better if not broken off at the end, but branches do break.

Cheers

Randy

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Congratulations on the new toy! I like the soft light and eye contact. Could you have moved a bit to your left to have a uniform reddish BG? I think that would have made it even stronger. As is, I might sharpen the bird a bit more.

[Steve Large]

Hi Gary,
I am finding with my 500mm that although you can use the lower F stops successfully in most circumstances, F/8 seems to be the sweet spot - especially with the 1.4x. I agree with Axel's comments on this one. You will almost always need to add a bit of sharpening even with this wonderful sharp lens.

Steve

[Gary Esman]

Gary:

Congrats on 500mm. Isn't it fun to not have to crop so much:)

DOF is the only issue for me. Like the matching color in background,angle in frame, head angle. Nice detail in the perch, and yes, perhaps better if not broken off at the end, but branches do break.

Cheers

Randy

Thank you sir. I will start shooting more to bring in the DOF.

[Gary Esman]

Congratulations on the new toy! I like the soft light and eye contact. Could you have moved a bit to your left to have a uniform reddish BG? I think that would have made it even stronger. As is, I might sharpen the bird a bit more.

Thanks Axel! I was shooting out of our master bedroom window so placement was not to much of an option. Will start to sharpen more.

[Gary Esman]

Hi Gary,
I am finding with my 500mm that although you can use the lower F stops successfully in most circumstances, F/8 seems to be the sweet spot - especially with the 1.4x. I agree with Axel's comments on this one. You will almost always need to add a bit of sharpening even with this wonderful sharp lens.

Steve

Thanks Steve!

I am gonna try f/8. I had sharpened it a little bit, but always worried about sharpening to much. Thanks again!