Watch Your Back

[Ed Prete]

First off, a long lost hello. Been a member here for 2 yrs or so, but haven't posted a lot.

Haven't even shot much wildlife in the last two yrs as having a 4 year old and a infant will do that to you. Add in work, commutes and other hobbies and everything vies for time.

We took a vacation down to FL several weeks back, went to a wedding, took the kids to the Kingdom of Mickey (which was a dream for me to take my older daughter there), and my wife talked me into bringing my 500 along with me. I was very hesitant with 150 lbs+ in luggage to worry about my gear, but the gods must have been on our side as everything went as smooth as I could imagine with the carriers, car seats, etc etc. Goes to show the wife is always right.

Anyway, enough dialogue, hope to get out there in the field again soon. Hoping to hit Nickerson, JamBay before the summer disappears.

Specs are:
5D MK2
500/F4 IS + 1.4 II
don't recall the shutter speed rt, I shot this at either 5.6 or 6.3

Just wanted to share. Love this little guys.

[Blake Shadle]

I'll have to say f/6.3 with the solid amount of DOF you got at that focal length.

Hey Ed! It's good to see an image of yours over here. Great image. I like the soft light, the pose, and the tall green grass on the right hand side is a great compositional element. Maybe just a little more room at the bottom so the bolt isn't so close to the edge of the frame.

Women have an instinct for that sort of thing... the only time they're wrong is when they say something like "oh there's a parking spot!"... "no honey, that's a Mazda Miata."

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Ed, Good to see you here. We are only 2 1/2 years old so your 5-year membership is a record :) I like the soft light, the way that you minimized the fence slat, the perfect head angle for this posture, the d-of, and the o-o-f grasses on the right. I would use the Unscrew Tool in Photoshop (Filter/Screw/Unscrew) to lose the two screws.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Ed, loved the pose and the BG a lot. A little room on top and bottom will help a lot IMO. Thx for sharing and looking forward to see more.

[Ed Prete]

Haha, very good Artie. nice catch! typo obviously as I've been here since you've opened. not sure why I left the screws in, would certainly improve without them. I must have hit the "lazi" filter instead.

Thanks Blake, seems we both need to shoot more, but as you now see, kids will help us change the calendar faster than we get to change our lenses! We've had that Mazda situation too.

Being this image is cropped Kaustubh, I do have room to add. Cropped a little top, bottom, left right, but the original is similar in message.

Felt great to have shot again. Hopefully the birds from the high counts at JamBay will stick around.

BTW, this was taken outside Naples in Marco Island.

[denise ippolito]

Ed, Glad to see you posting. I like the look back pose and nice details. I like the soft grasses in the BG. I think they help balance the comp. Will be at Nickerson all next week and hope to run into you. :) It would be nice to meet another person from BPN out there.

[Bonnie Block]

Very nice image, Ed. Love the unusual composition. I also would loose those two screws.

[Arthur Morris]

Bonnie, would you lose them or loosen them? :) (Folks have been saying for years that I have a few loose screws....)

[Bonnie Block]

Bonnie, would you lose them or loosen them? :) (Folks have been saying for years that I have a few loose screws....)

:D:o You are so right! But then you are the school teacher! I flunked out of english. (not really--but it was not my #1 subject) ;)