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Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Masters' Free Study III (Advanced Editing VII*)
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Canon FD 400mm f/4.5 S.S.C.
Location: Houston, Texas
Date: Jan 19, 2014
Aperture: 5.6
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/1600
Galleries: Nature, Birds
Date Uploaded: Jan 23, 2014

 A Great Egret catching an afternoon snack. Taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 and a 34 year old Canon FD 400mm Æ’4.5 manual focus lens.

Photo was taken from my kayak with camera mounted on a tripod. Watched this egret for well over an hour as he caught fish after fish. Wish I could have been a bit farther way to get his whole body in the reflection. One of those rare times when a bird photographer wished he had less lens.

[Jan. 28th, 2014 09:40:25 AM]

For all this commenting about seeing more. I was using a 400mm prime and had drifted really close to the bird as I was shooting. The only crop done to this photo was from straitening it. I wish I had gotten more. Had one sweet shot with wings fully extended (him looking right at me), but a lot of the top of one wing was cut off.

Not only was this a rare time a bird photographer wanted less lens, I wish I had a really good zoom. May have to look for one for the kayak shooting because you drift around so much and typically do not have time to change lenses (something I always get nervous about in the kayak).


[Jan. 28th, 2014 09:42:18 AM]

Neat I am honored to have you think my photo is from vawendy

[Jan. 29th, 2014 04:12:02 PM]

streetpigeon Thanks for the wonderful comment. You noticed everything I loved about the photo and one thing I did not notice before. I never noticed the fish was where the eye in the shadow should be. Now I love it even more. I am going to try and remove the wood, did not want to chance a rules violation on this one so it stayed.

[Feb. 2nd, 2014 02:14:59 PM]

When shooting wildlife I always shoot at the fastest FPS my camera will shoot. My current camera does 9 FPS. Shooting at a high FPS gives you the chance of catching the perfect shot.

Here is an example of why you need to shoot at a high FPS to get a photograph like this one and why shooting a single frame is almost impossible. This series was shot in one burst and I used every other frame from that burst. These birds are super fast when catching a fish and this series happens in right around 1 second. I have found that I need to shoot at a minimum of 1/800 to freeze action and even then you sometimes get motion blur (I try to shoot at 1/1000 or faster).



[Feb. 2nd, 2014 02:18:50 PM]

Keep forgetting to add. Yes the lens used is a 34 year old Canon FD manual focus lens. Shooting manual focus from a moving (you are constantly drifting or moving some on the water) kayak is a real challenge.

WOW Thanks everyone for votes and wonderful comments. I am so happy to have finished 4th in this challenge. This has made my week.

WOW was I shocked when I came back to check my photo for comments. Thanks again to the voters and the wonderful comments.

Statistics
Place: 3 out of 98
Avg (all users): 6.9719
Avg (commenters): 7.8889
Avg (participants): 6.7656
Avg (non-participants): 7.0877
Views since voting: 2722
Views during voting: 408
Votes: 178
Comments: 45
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 03/07/2014 12:00:03 PM
Originally posted by bergiekat:
Haven't been around much, but had to weigh in on this gorgeous shot! Fantastic work! (Wish we had had the chance to shoot with you at the Houston GTG a couple of years ago!) So glad this ribboned!


Thank you so much. I can't remember why I was not able to make it.
 03/05/2014 02:22:47 PM
Haven't been around much, but had to weigh in on this gorgeous shot! Fantastic work! (Wish we had had the chance to shoot with you at the Houston GTG a couple of years ago!) So glad this ribboned!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/14/2014 10:36:04 AM
fabulous shot.. my choice for the Blue

Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/05/2014 09:52:18 PM
Congrats on the ribbon. Beautiful shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/05/2014 09:27:34 AM
Beatabg Thank you, I am still trying to improve my nature photography. Gets better every time I go out.

trotterjay Thanks for the wonderful comment. With telephoto lenses (especially 300mm +) it is pretty much impossible to zone focus. The DOF is pretty small when using a lens like my 400mm, even stopped way down. I try to always shoot at Æ’8 (which is the sweet spot for this lens and gives more DOF), but will open up if needed. This photo I actually took at Æ’5.6 and I am starting think I can shoot at this aperture without worry of softness (but the CA is worse then at Æ’8). Not going to lie, manual focus is tough. I miss some shots because of it and get a number of blurry photos. I have gotten to where I have about a 50% keeper rate (maybe a little better) as far as focus goes, lower when you take composition into account but you would have that problem with autofocus. I pretty much set up on an animal and continually adjust focus as I wait for the action. I can tell when a bird (the ones I photograph a lot) is about to strike by its body language. When I see the sign I hit the shutter button.

Here is a link to my Flickr gallery of wildlife photos, all taken with a manual focus lens. Wildlife Photos
 02/04/2014 05:12:08 PM
As a beginning wildlife photographer you have no idea how much I love this photo. You got a 10 from me only because they wouldn't let me score it any higher. To do this in manual focus blows my mind. I don't think you could even effectively zone focus when shooting birds. You are the master.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/04/2014 10:36:05 AM
Beautiful!! Congratulations on your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/04/2014 02:41:16 AM
So beautiful, congrats on the ribbon
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 09:15:44 PM
Now congrats, on the yellow you deserved it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 05:32:22 PM
Congratulations on the Yellow Ronnie! Well deserved. I love your nature photography. You're really good at it! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 02:58:10 PM
Congrats on this beautiful image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 02:33:02 PM
Congratulations on your new ribbon!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 02:14:20 PM
Thank you very much Streetpigeon and for the really great comment you posted during voting.
 02/03/2014 02:08:16 PM
Congratulations on winning the yellow with this lovely image, my personal favorite.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 12:34:25 PM
Big congratulations on a well deserved ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 09:08:20 AM
Bear_Music It is a fine piece of glass, I love using old manual focus lenses on my digital bodies. It can suffer badly from CA tho.

vawendy Thanks, I am amazed sometimes on what I am able to capture using old manual focus lenses. Lose some shots but the satisfaction when you nail the shot is awesome.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments.

Message edited by author 2014-02-03 09:09:52.
 02/03/2014 06:50:11 AM
whoa... manual lens?? Now I'm even more impressed! I particularly love the drops of water. Huge congrats on 4th!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 06:49:28 AM
Superb result Ronnie. Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 05:15:00 AM
Outstanding image, Ronnie. Excellent work. Congrats on the HM.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 02:53:34 AM
I was watching your posts in the scores thread and knew it would be close. :)
Congrats on getting 4th!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 01:01:49 AM
The best part is its own perfect shadow on its wing. Congrats on the HM
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 12:45:44 AM
Congratulations on the HM! Beautiful bird.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 12:31:21 AM
That's a fine, fine old piece of glass. Wonderful image, great clarity and tones. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 12:09:59 AM
And I thought this was sure to be Wendy's well done on a HM!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 12:09:36 AM
WHAT a spectacular shot. Great lift off of a splendid bird.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2014 12:03:04 AM
I knew your entry would be in the top ten, congratulations!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/02/2014 10:11:26 PM
Seriously? This is wildlife photography perfection. 10 all day from me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2014 03:13:01 PM
Superb capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2014 12:44:59 PM
Lovely catch for both of you!! -8- (voted earlier)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2014 08:34:47 AM
Amazing action shot, very crisp and beautiful reflection. Fantastic. Bump!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2014 03:04:58 AM
Excellent! Amazingly sharp.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2014 08:47:00 AM
Perfect timing on the capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2014 01:50:20 AM
Incredible shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/31/2014 10:56:31 AM
Wonderful, wonderful image. I don't think bird photography offers anything better. The pose is elegant and sculptural, graceful and energetic. Not only is the shadow cast on its own wing terrific, the real fish is held close to where the eye of the shadow would appear. Also enhancing the photo are the ripples, droplets and reflection. The wood on the right -- and hey, things are where they are -- is the only distraction.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2014 07:59:41 PM
Fantastic catch! Both of you! LOL!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2014 09:46:19 PM
beautiful colors.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2014 01:32:10 AM
A touched cramped but a really amazing wildlife capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2014 06:55:31 PM
Great shot that should I hope do well. The perfect moment and pose makes up for the bit tight upper frame.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2014 02:19:56 PM
Perfect moment. Nicely modulated editing
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2014 05:20:43 AM
Wow....only wish you had a tad more space above the bird!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2014 01:18:12 AM
Ah Wendy for sure, lovely sharp shot. Just wondering if you feel as uncomfortable as me as to how close the wings are to the edge of the frame, probably unavoidable, I guess whilst you sifted through all your images and then deciding this was the best, I know we do that all the time. Still having said that I'm sure it will so well for you. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2014 08:02:56 PM
Top 5
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2014 09:20:31 AM
oh no! I see you waiting. Great catch! Perfect whites.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2014 06:45:22 AM
Nice photo, but for my taste I feel the framing is a bit off, too little space above the bird and too much reflection, my eye actually wanders more towards the reflection than the actual bird. Definately above average though!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2014 01:00:08 AM
Perfect timing, exquisite light.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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