[Rhodes22-list] Need opinions...deadline approaching

[Michael D. Weisner]

Elle,

Lean against trees, lay on ground, whatever it takes.  Take a deep breath, 
hold it and nearly stop your heart.  For nature shots, I pack a monopod 
(mine is a Gitzo G-1564 from B&H) - it is much faster and easier to use and 
provides enough stabilization for up to 400mm shots.  The 1700mm "next 
county over" lens requires a hefty tripod for slooow shots, especially due 
to the low amount of light collected by the longer lens.  I sit and wait at 
a distance for birds to come to me since I am too clumsy to sneak up on 
them.  Sometimes I use abandoned hunters tree stands.  Pack mosquito 
repellant or Sting-Ez.

Yes, yes, do remove the background using depth of field or other focus 
tricks.  When in sharp focus, they tend to distract the observer from the 
subject.  In addition, out of focus backgrounds provide beautiful colorful 
backdrops to your subject.  Using reflections in ponds and lakes is another 
wonderful way to create interesting shots.

Keep shooting ...

Mike
s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
Nissequogue River, NY

From: "elle" <watermusic38 at yahoo.com>Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 11:01 AM
> Mike,
>
> Thank you for your suggestions. I have made note of them  & will go back 
> to this spot later this afternoon & try them...(don't need the heron 
> present to.do so altho' he may be there....)....
>
> I do like to throw the background out of focus to highlight the 
> subject...shooting fairly wide open was necessary b/c of the light...when 
> I stopped down I could not hold the camera steady..even w/VR.
>
> I was handholding ,altho' I leaned the camera against a tree.  I'll have 
> to take a tripod down earlier in the day & set up...altho' the heron may 
> not give me a chance to get to it....
>
> thankyouthankyouthannkyou
>
> We can't change the angle of the wind....but we can adjust our sails.
>
> 1992 Rhodes 22   Recyc '06  "WaterMusic"   (Lady in Red)
>
>
> --- On Wed, 7/23/08, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Need opinions...deadline approaching
>> To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>> Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 10:37 AM
>> Elle,
>>
>> Focus and composition are much better in:
>> http://www.rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20080723/5a05b71f/attachment-0001.jpg
>>
>> Without being overly critical, I would add the following
>> observations.  I
>> might crop out the tree trunk and some of the very top
>> branches to reduce
>> distractions, although I like the hanging branch.  I wish
>> that you had
>> better depth of field in these beautiful shots.  The bird
>> is in good focus
>> but the leaves are not (you should manually focus since the
>> automatic focus
>> in most cameras is not perfect.)  In future shots, you
>> might want to try
>> "stopping down" the lens a bit (use the aperture
>> priority setting) to
>> increase the depth of field, bringing the leaves into
>> focus.  You may also
>> wish to increase the ISO setting a bit, although this may
>> introduce more
>> noise, particularly at high settings.  This was shot at
>> ISO-200, so you have
>> quite a bit to go before it is a problem.
>>
>> Need I ask if you hand held the 170mm, 1/125s, F/9 shot?
>>
>> Since you shoot with a Nikon D80, all of this is possible.
>>
>> Mike
>> s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
>> Nissequogue River, NY
>>
>> From: "elle" <watermusic38 at yahoo.com>Sent:
>> Wednesday, July 23, 2008 10:13 AM
>> > Ok, folks,
>> >
>> > I have a contest deadline approaching & can't
>> decide.
>> >
>> > This is a calendar for the Eastern VA area....I got
>> one in last year & am
>> > aiming for the cover this year...I cannot decide
>> between these two...i've
>> > been looking at 'em for so long that I can't
>> see 'em any more....these are
>> > small files for email...the originals are several MB
>> each....
>> >
>> > Anyone like one better than the other...or neither????
>> We'll call 'em
>> > skinny heron & fat heron.
>> >
>> > Even tho' the subject is in the center of the
>> frame, I can go in & recrop
>> > the image.....so that is not a factor.
>> >
>> > I'll be taking the four entries in tomorrow...
>> >
>> > thanksthanksthanks
>> >
>> > elle
>> >
>> > We can't change the angle of the wind....but we
>> can adjust our sails.
>> >
>> > 1992 Rhodes 22   Recyc '06  "WaterMusic"
>>   (Lady in Red)
>> >
>> >
>> >
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