Blending In

**Tawny** · #1 (**permalink**) 04-11-2008, 22:33

Photographers Comments
This female mallard just stood motionless as i passed her by in a nearby field.

Reg Nirrab · #2 (**permalink**) 05-11-2008, 12:11

What is it with you and birds? They just sit/stand still for you!

Lovely pic. Enough out of focus fore- and background. Plus the little flecks of mauve flowers lift the otherwise over-powering green. As you probably know, I would have cropped it off the right a fair bit and bottom a little bit, leaving Mrs Mallard at roughly the conjunction of right and bottom thirds, and leaving her "somewhere to go" in the frame.
Is this another hand-held long-lens effort for me to envy?
I think so!

**Tawny** · #3 (**permalink**) 05-11-2008, 14:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reg Nirrab

What is it with you and birds? They just sit/stand still for you!

Lovely pic. Enough out of focus fore- and background. Plus the little flecks of mauve flowers lift the otherwise over-powering green. As you probably know, I would have cropped it off the right a fair bit and bottom a little bit, leaving Mrs Mallard at roughly the conjunction of right and bottom thirds, and leaving her "somewhere to go" in the frame.
Is this another hand-held long-lens effort for me to envy?
I think so!

Thanks Linn for your feedback and suggestion of crop, yes its a good one, and i can see exactly what you mean:

trouble is with this one i had the four dogs with me and by the time i got them to settle down behind me, get my camera out of the bag, i just aimed and fired...so to speak, pretty much what happens most of the time when i am out on walks

and yes it was handheld

tripods are very useful tools, but having to control 16 legs of the canine form most of the time, another 3 (tripod) is beyond my sanity

Reg Nirrab · #4 (**permalink**) 05-11-2008, 15:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tawny

... I just aimed and fired... 16 legs of the canine form most of the time, another 3 (tripod) is beyond my sanity

Not counting your own two?
Those 16, or 19, or 21 legs won't interfere much with a post-processing crop.

I'm assuming you were able to spot-focus on the duck's head. My not doing that is why I had two disappointments in one day. I have a good (but not very good) pic of a fox looking right at me before he ran off, and a Muntjac feeding, again looking at me. I later realised (fairly new to this camera) that for such pics I should use spot focussing to make sure the camera doesn't get all the intervening grass in focus, and the creature nicely blurred!
Here's my first ever fox photo, which I was fairly pleased with, except for the above. This is a crop out of a much larger image.

**Dennyboy** · #5 (**permalink**) 05-11-2008, 17:17

You have four dogs and 18 legs all told (minus the tripod) and the piggin duck still poses! I have 2 legs and they disappear when i touch my camera!.

**Tawny** · #6 (**permalink**) 05-11-2008, 17:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reg Nirrab

Not counting your own two?
Those 16, or 19, or 21 legs won't interfere much with a post-processing crop.

I'm assuming you were able to spot-focus on the duck's head. My not doing that is why I had two disappointments in one day. I have a good (but not very good) pic of a fox looking right at me before he ran off, and a Muntjac feeding, again looking at me. I later realised (fairly new to this camera) that for such pics I should use spot focussing to make sure the camera doesn't get all the intervening grass in focus, and the creature nicely blurred!
Here's my first ever fox photo, which I was fairly pleased with, except for the above. This is a crop out of a much larger image.

I usually stick to f5.6 for my wildlife shots giving me a good all round DOF, and only use single centre focus point, and whether its just habit now, i always aim and focus straight between their eyes, so the overall focus has now covered the majority of the subject. Well, this works for me...."normally"

You should be pleased with your fox image, as thy say they are cunning and hardly hang around for you to aim, so credit to you, and once you have mastered your camera and with the abundance of wildlife in your part of the world i look forward to seeing more!

Denny, Denny, Denny! now how can anything run from you my friend

perhaps the wildlife down south are alittle more laid back

(im just waiting for the comment on that one!)

**Dennyboy** · #7 (**permalink**) 05-11-2008, 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tawny

Denny, Denny, Denny! now how can anything run from you my friend

perhaps the wildlife down south are a little more laid back

(im just waiting for the comment on that one!)

I have never tried to capture a southern bird!

Mine are all very shy creatures and scarper, mind you i am probably 8 stone heavier than you so i am sneakingly challenged!

**Tawny** · #8 (**permalink**) 05-11-2008, 18:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennyboy

I have never tried to capture a southern bird!

Mine are all very shy creatures and scarper, mind you i am probably 8 stone heavier than you so i am sneakingly challenged!

bless!

Reg Nirrab · #9 (**permalink**) 05-11-2008, 19:27

Thanks, Bev. We soft southern b-b-b-b-b- people must stick together. The fox looks OK in small but really big it's disappointing. But it made me learn. Early use of my Manfrotto monopod, too (which now needs a swivel head).

OK, hyphen man, I'm probably 4 stone lighter than you but half your height!

And Maybe it's time to own up and show you the Muntjac that I failed to get. It was really annoying because it was the best view I'd ever had, and it stood there munching.

First is the full frame as taken. Second is a non-resized 800x600 crop out of the centre. OK, I just have to get a longer lens...