Seagulls in flight

[A.M.D.A.]

Shooting in the park since morning. Got mostly seagulls, and some little birds which haven't been processed yet.

I used my PENTAX *ist D with a SMC PENTAX-A* 300mm F4 lens. (MF-only). Handheld... in strong wind.

By the way, I would like to confirm ID's on these... if possible... think #3, #4, and #5 are adult herring gulls, #1 and #2 are juvy's. Am I correct?

#1.
Attachment 63058
1/1600 second @ F5
ISO 200
Multi-segment metering
Aperture-priority

#2.
Attachment 63059
1/1250 second @ F5
ISO 200
Multi-segment metering
Aperture-priority

#3.
Attachment 63060
1/2000 second @ F5
ISO 200
Multi-segment metering
Aperture-priority

#4.
Attachment 63061
1/2000 second @ F5
ISO 200
Multi-segment metering
Aperture-priority

#5.
Attachment 63062
1/2000 second @ F5
ISO 200
Multi-segment metering
Aperture-priority

Thanks for looking, any comments greatly appreciated. And I promise come spring I'll post more interesting nature/wildlife subjects...

[Loupey]

Can't say about the ID

They look somewhat sharp but not tack sharp - looks like slight camera motion blur possibly?

How did you find the 300mm to work for these? Long enough? How much of a crop were these? Did you get any with food?


Whoops, more questions than answers

[A.M.D.A.]

Can't say about the ID

They look somewhat sharp but not tack sharp - looks like slight camera motion blur possibly?

How did you find the 300mm to work for these? Long enough? How much of a crop were these? Did you get any with food?


Whoops, more questions than answers

Couldn't be camera-motion-blur, check the shutter speed EXIF data.

300mm, long enough to make tracking birds easier, instead of having too long a lens and trying to find and position birds in the frame. Remember, on a PENTAX APS-C sensor a 300mm lens behaves like a 450mm. The juvys were slight crops, and the adults were moderate crops. I was pretty close as they struggled with the wind.

No, I unfortunately did not get any with food. Someone was earlier feeding them little pellets (similar to rabbit food). Not big enough to clearly show in a beak...

[Loupey]

Couldn't be camera-motion-blur, check the shutter speed EXIF data.

Actually I can't - never have been able to view other people's data. Perhaps it's my OS (Windows XP) or my software (CS2), but the data is always blank for me.

[A.M.D.A.]

If you have Microsoft Office Picture Manager, by right-clicking on an opened photo a basic EXIF-data bar will appear on the right. Also, with Opera web browser all you need to do is right click any photo on the forums and you can instantly know shutter speed, ISO, aperture, focal length, recording date, etc.. (Providing that the poster didn't "strip" the info beforehand, or applied serious editing).

The slowest shutter speed for these seagull shots was 1/1250 second, going all the way up to 1/2000 second for the last three. I have added shooting info under each photo.

[Loupey]

Thanks for adding the shooting information, Alex.

I don't have those other software so whenever I right click any image, all I get is the pixel dimensions and file size. If I open them in photoshop, sometimes I can get some information if the image is fairly SOOC. But if borders have been added, the details are usually completely gone for me.

[Dylan8i]

what program are you using to access the internet? (explorer, firefox, etc?)

[Loupey]

what program are you using to access the internet? (explorer, firefox, etc?)

I'm using internet explorer. Will firefox allow me to see the EXIF? I think I remember reading somewhere that it is a bit more user-friendly.

[A.M.D.A.]

what program are you using to access the internet? (explorer, firefox, etc?)

Who, me or Loupey?

[AgingEyes]

Thanks for looking, any comments greatly appreciated.

Composition-wise I think they're fine. They do look kind of soft and flat on my monitor though. Perhaps some pp sharpening or adjusting the contrast could help improve the final look of them

[A.M.D.A.]

Thanks for the reply & suggestions, AgingEyes.

[paulnj]

the 1st 2 are first winter herring gulls and the last 3 are adult (4 years or older) herring gulls.

[A.M.D.A.]

Thanks!