Greetings,

In my last post, “Migration”, I was having trouble with focusing. It seemed that I was having one of those days that we all have at times. Today I went out to practice shooting BIF, to learn what I was doing wrong, and retry to capture photos that had better focus. What did I find out? It really comes down to my technique and not the equipment. Even with a fast shutter speed, AF, and IS, my tracking movement was “jerky”, so jerky that IS could not compensate.

There were a lot of gulls flying and darting around today, so I practiced tracking and shooting them. Here are a couple of the shots. I continue to learn PP, and I have a lot to learn with that as well.

Your C & C is welcome.

Larry

Last, a common look at a gull.

Perfecting your technique through practice makes for some very sharp images with really clean detail Larry.
Focus is spot on in all of these and I'm assuming from your intro that the percentage of in focus shots went up significantly.
I really like the wing positions and comps in 1 and 3... well done.
PP looks very good to me... but we all continue to learn and perfect those skills too.
Nice work Larry.

Kirk

Larry,
Seems a little practice went a long way... great focus on these,
love the eye clarity in #1.

Tim

KirkB wrote:
Perfecting your technique through practice makes for some very sharp images with really clean detail Larry.
Focus is spot on in all of these and I'm assuming from your intro that the percentage of in focus shots went up significantly.
I really like the wing positions and comps in 1 and 3... well done.
PP looks very good to me... but we all continue to learn and perfect those skills too.
Nice work Larry.

Kirk
Hey Kirk,

Yep, my keeper percentage went up quite a bit. Smooth tracking helped a great deal, but good light also helps. I can't control the sun, but I will keep practicing the flow of tracking. Your comments are always welcome, and I learn from them. Thank you kindly.

Larry

These look perfect to me as well. As they say...practice makes perfect and in-flights isn't the easiest thing to do.

Have you tried using a tripod rather then relying on IS until you get a better feel for tracking birds? Just a question...not saying you're doing anything wrong with your current approach.

tfoltz wrote:
Larry,
Seems a little practice went a long way... great focus on these,
love the eye clarity in #1.

Tim
Hi Tim,

Thank you. Yep, practice does help. Yesterday there was a nice breeze and the gulls were soaring and darting all around, with that, their flight offered a number of different flight paths to focus on.

Larry

Duane N wrote:
These look perfect to me as well. As they say...practice makes perfect and in-flights isn't the easiest thing to do.

Have you tried using a tripod rather then relying on IS until you get a better feel for tracking birds? Just a question...not saying you're doing anything wrong with your current approach.

Hi Duane,

Thank you for looking in and having enough interest to comment.

I do use a good sturdy tripod probably about 30 to 40% of the time. What's kind of funny is that the day of my "migration" post, I was using the tripod most of the time. There are number of problems with using tripods, at least for me. They are not very conducive to be carried around. It always happens that after I set them up, a unique shot appears 180 degrees behind the line of sight of the tripod. I about kill myself turning 180 degrees or trying to remove the camera from the tripod to get the shot. I will be looking into getting a quick release for the tripod, but I have often wondered how sturdy they are when carring the camera mounted on the tripod.

Larry

These are pretty good efforts--you might open up your f stop a bit--they are a half a stop too dark in my view (all except the last one).

Good that you gained some confidence back Larry
The first shot looks naturally good and sharp. #2 looks like the whites went real flat, perhaps too much highlight control? Also agree with JB that it could be a little underexposure on them. Last shot shows a great white and gray rendering, I like that shot #3 is a great pose and a very nicely defined image

Karl

1 & 3 are really nice Larry them seagulls make a perfect target for practicing
on the 2nd shot I see some loss of details due to strong NR.

Looking real good Larry, these are nicely focused You do have it correct, your technique cannot be jerky, that is the most difficult thing with IF shooting and the biggest reason for soft images, well once the SS is high enough. The eyes on the flyers tell the story Well done.

Tim

Johnny Bravo wrote:
These are pretty good efforts--you might open up your f stop a bit--they are a half a stop too dark in my view (all except the last one).

Hi Johnny,

Your points are well taken and I learn from everyone's C&C. They may have been underexposed a bit thru PP, something that I am learning as well.

Thank you very much,

Larry

Karl Witt wrote:
Good that you gained some confidence back Larry
The first shot looks naturally good and sharp. #2 looks like the whites went real flat, perhaps too much highlight control? Also agree with JB that it could be a little underexposure on them. Last shot shows a great white and gray rendering, I like that shot #3 is a great pose and a very nicely defined image

Karl
Hi Karl,

I always look forward to your C&C, which is always helpful. I will take your comments to heart and continue to learn. My main focus was "focus". The gulls presented themselves for BIF. I was so determined to get sharp photos, I wasn't even thinking of the whites. I think that some of the underexposure is due to PP.

Thank you my friend,

Larry

Nello Milanese wrote:
1 & 3 are really nice Larry them seagulls make a perfect target for practicing
on the 2nd shot I see some loss of details due to strong NR.

"Hello Nello",

Yo, thank you for looking in and giving me some C&C. Your comments, as well as others, always helps in my improvement. I did have some "Nello shots", but didn't post them.

Larry

Tim Kuhn wrote:
Looking real good Larry, these are nicely focused You do have it correct, your technique cannot be jerky, that is the most difficult thing with IF shooting and the biggest reason for soft images, well once the SS is high enough. The eyes on the flyers tell the story Well done.

Tim

Hey Tim,

Thanks for looking in. My technique needs to become second nature, but as for now, I'm working on it.

You do have me thinking about the last subject that we talked about!

Larry

You do have me thinking about the last subject that we talked about!





Tim

tfoltz wrote:
Larry,
Seems a little practice went a long way... great focus on these,
love the eye clarity in #1.

Tim

+1

Garen

There is a lot to be said for using good shooting techniques as you so admirably point out, Larry. I've done it so many times now that it has become second nature and I know at the time I take the photo that I have either gotten it or that I will be dissapointed when reviewing the days pics.

Some excellent flight poses in this set even if they are sea rats with wings

Ken

I find its good to practice with the gulls Larry as I am not as up tight as if I was trying to get say a cormi in flight and then I can concentrate on trying to get the shot right. On the framing I would suggest giving a little more space for the BIF to fly into in the frame and in the direction of the flight.
You got some very nice ones here, keep up the practice
Martin