Archive 2018 · Seagulls of Wethersfield Cove

FiveForm
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Seagulls of Wethersfield Cove

I've made a couple of trips to the Wethersfield Cove off of the Connecticut River recently in an attempt to educate myself on shooting birds in flight. Although at times we have eagles, hawks and the occasional Blue Heron, most prevalent are flocks of seagulls, particularly thick when someone pulls up with a loaf of bread, so made my job both more difficult because of a feeding frenzy, as well as easier due to many opportunities to sight-in on these gulls.

The first shot was with my somewhat newly acquired travel camera, the Sony RX10M3. Not a speed focusing demon with only contrast detection, but with a little planning and using continuous focus I was able to get the shot of the gull over the water with a nice pattern of ripples as a backdrop. Shot at ISO 100, 1/500th while panning at f/4. This is about a 150% crop, as well, and the 20MP one inch sensor held up pretty well in full daylight.

The other shots were a week later with my Sony a6500 and 70-200 f/4. Shot at ISO 200, 1/3000 sec. at f/5.6. My aim was to learn to get crisply focused shots while quickly acquiring one or two birds in the frame. With the a6500 I used lock-on center focus which seemed to work exceedingly well in combination with the 70-200 and a mid-rate continuous shooting at around 5fps.

Thanks for suggestions and taking a look!

Gull Over Water with Reflections - RX10M3

Gull in Profile - a6500

Two Gulls Backlit - a6500

Full Flight Gull - a6500

Apr 09, 2018 at 06:02 PM

steve_a_reno
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Seagulls of Wethersfield Cove

Looks like you are nailing the focus on some pretty shots. I would suggest trying to get the light behind you and the birds flying into the wind ( they will be slower and easy to aquire focus) I personally shoot at lower shutter speeds because I like a little wing blur to show motion. Gulls flying into a stiff wind are almost motionless and you can get creative. A good target to practice on.

Apr 10, 2018 at 12:06 PM

morris
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Seagulls of Wethersfield Cove

Fine work and I'm fond of the next to the last

Morris

Apr 10, 2018 at 05:44 PM

timm27
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Seagulls of Wethersfield Cove

All winners. well done! know that area well

Apr 11, 2018 at 03:04 PM

birdied
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Seagulls of Wethersfield Cove

Nicely and well done.

Birdie

Apr 11, 2018 at 03:45 PM


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