Northern Flicker

[A.M.D.A.]

Two from a walk this morning. This time I remembered to stop down the f-number as much as possible, still working on my MF-accuracy, Loupey inspires me greatly in this regard.
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Attachment 64338
Camera: PENTAX *ist D, handheld
Lens: PENTAX SMC PENTAX-A* 300mm F4 lens (MF-only).
1/500 second @ F8.0
ISO 800
450mm focal length (35mm equivalent)
Center-weighted metering

_____________
Attachment 64339
Camera: PENTAX *ist D, handheld
Lens: PENTAX SMC PENTAX-A* 300mm F4 lens (MF-only).
1/500 second @ F8.0
ISO 800
450mm focal length (35mm equivalent)
Center-weighted metering

Thanks for looking, any comments are appreciated.

[Ron Kruger]

Well, I'm an old MFer, or at least I've been called that before.
A method of manual focus I developed years ago still serves me well: I go past sharp focus both ways, watching the degree of focus as I go through, and then come back to settle on what looks best. When I'm dead on, I can see it sort of pop.
Also, don't focus on the whole bird, or whatever. Concentrate on the eye.

[Pink Dragonfly]

Sharpness looks okay at this magnification, perhaps more so in the top one. What a great piece of wood Works very well with the bird. I much prefer the first one, something to do with the posture of the bird? And the white wood looks better there too. Glad to see you are enjoying some blue skies and sunshine

Mette

[Loupey]

I love the diagonal "4 peaks" in these shots (reminds me of those Verizon? TV commercials).

I agree with Ron on the overshoot/undershoot method. Think of it as a sine wave - every time it crosses the x-axis, the subject is in focus and those points are where you shoot. It works the same way with in-flight, moving objects as well.

[A.M.D.A.]

Well, I'm an old MFer, or at least I've been called that before.
A method of manual focus I developed years ago still serves me well: I go past sharp focus both ways, watching the degree of focus as I go through, and then come back to settle on what looks best. When I'm dead on, I can see it sort of pop.
Also, don't focus on the whole bird, or whatever. Concentrate on the eye.

Thanks for the advice Ron, I should've mentioned you too, you also produce some very nice images. :thumbsup:

Sharpness looks okay at this magnification, perhaps more so in the top one. What a great piece of wood Works very well with the bird. I much prefer the first one, something to do with the posture of the bird? And the white wood looks better there too. Glad to see you are enjoying some blue skies and sunshine

Mette

Thanks for the comments, Mette. Blue sky didn't last long, only a couple hours. But hopefully it'll come back for this weekend.

I love the diagonal "4 peaks" in these shots (reminds me of those Verizon? TV commercials).

I agree with Ron on the overshoot/undershoot method. Think of it as a sine wave - every time it crosses the x-axis, the subject is in focus and those points are where you shoot. It works the same way with in-flight, moving objects as well.

Thanks Loupey. I will keep trying!