I took a brief walk down to the riverside in town at lunchtime today. I really didn't have time to spare and so it was a case of focussing in on the first thing that caught my eye. The light was just right on the pigeons with puffed up feathers and so they became my target.
Notes on use of manual setting for week 3 challenge:
I wanted as good a focus and detail as possible and as the light was good, I could happily keep the ISO at 200. I checked that I was using single area focus mode so as to be sure I could get this right for the eye which I was targeting (on my old camera, I seemed to have a spot focus option which I no longer have with this one :( ). Because the pigeons were moving their heads around quite a lot I needed a fast speed and settled for 1/250 second so that I didn't get motion blur. The f stop wasn't so important for me and I was happy with the f6.4 that would give me the correct exposure. The shot came out pretty much as I wanted and so I have done no post processing (I did try a crop to bring the eye closer to the intersection of thirds, but lost the full effect of the flow of feathers in towards the eye and decided to keep things as they were).
If anyone reads the notes and thinks - she really doesn't know what she is talking about - they are probably correct and any comments that gently correct my misconceptions will be most welcome!
That made me laugh Helen, I'm certainly the last to correct you on your notes, you certainly appear to know what you are talking about. Love the texture and detail you have caught on the puffed up pigeon.
Excellent feather details and terrific focus on the eye! I've read the same thing that Babs mentioned in her comment about always try to focus on the eye if possible in wildlife photos. I'm quite impressed with your notes on use of manual setting...you sound like a true professional.
@suzanne234 It's all talk Suzanne. I only know what I am doing when it has worked! That is almost always luck or perseverance rather than judgement. @kwind thank you Kim. The light was a gift otherwise I would never have chosen the subject. @taffy thank you Taffy. Just trying to catch the eye. @onewing I head that too and try to follow. In my very limited experience, it is solid advice. @moonmtn Kahsia - yes - had to be quick as it was a fidgety bird! @cruiser thank you Chris. I think if I tried to give a lesson I would soon be found out. @gaylewood Gayle - it is all talk. I think I have now revealed everything I know! @ziggy77 thank you Jo. @carolmw thank you Carol. @judithg I was surprised just how well the detail showed - just perfect lighting for it I guess. @wag864 thank you. I was pleasantly surprised - you can never tell until you have it on the big screen.
@redandwhite thank you Catherine. You are right, sometimes the light catches on their colours to produce quite stunning effects when viewed with some attention.
@kwind thank you Kim. The light was a gift otherwise I would never have chosen the subject.
@taffy thank you Taffy. Just trying to catch the eye.
@onewing I head that too and try to follow. In my very limited experience, it is solid advice.
@moonmtn Kahsia - yes - had to be quick as it was a fidgety bird!
@cruiser thank you Chris. I think if I tried to give a lesson I would soon be found out.
@gaylewood Gayle - it is all talk. I think I have now revealed everything I know!
@ziggy77 thank you Jo.
@carolmw thank you Carol.
@judithg I was surprised just how well the detail showed - just perfect lighting for it I guess.
@wag864 thank you. I was pleasantly surprised - you can never tell until you have it on the big screen.