Great Blue

[Old Timer]

This is a cross post from VF. Everyone is very kind and gentle over there and I appreciate their kind words about these images. However I'd like to get some comments from a tech and comp side over here and see how these images hold up to your scrutiny. I am not a regular widlife type photographer, but was pleased when the opportunity to record a Great Blue Heron came my way. These image recorded with the Nikon D70 and 80-200mm f2.8 lens. Thanks in advance for looking and your critiques.

[OldSchool]

Hey OT,

You've already read my vicious review in View Finder. Sorry, but I haven't changed my mind about it.
Tim

[jar_e]

Nice shots, and beautiful colors!

Jared

[Old Timer]

Nice shots, and beautiful colors!

Jared

You guys are way to kind. These were the first I thought I could post over here in some time. I figured someone would give me some kind of heck. Thanks though I really do appreciate the kind words.

[Knight]

Great photo`s
Tell me now how did you setup to take these , was the one of the bird in flight using the handheld method or a tripod ? and had you a function on your camera to take multiple pics with only one button push ? fill me in pls

[Old Timer]

Great photo`s
Tell me now how did you setup to take these , was the one of the bird in flight using the handheld method or a tripod ? and had you a function on your camera to take multiple pics with only one button push ? fill me in pls

Both of these were shot hand held at 1/800 at f7.1 with the camera in aperature mode and an ISO of 200. The D70 does have motor drive capability but I was shoting in single shot and was able to get off three shots as the GBH crossed in front of me. (Two of the three were in focus) I did not know the GBH was at the pond when I approched it to take a few images of geese that were swimming there. He kind of took me by suprise and I took a couple while he was wading near by than attempted to move in closer when he spooked and took to the air, I was expecting this of course and followed him in flight as long as I could.

[jcharris]

Hello Old Timer

It is a really beautiful shot ! Thanks for sharing your info on how you did that as well .
I learned quite a lot from that !
I have looked at the images you have posted on VF as well , they are also great !
I know it is very diffucult to get a shot from a bird in flight and you did a great job there !
I cannot really add something here to be of any help to you , for me it is a beautiful shot .

Regards
james

[gahspidy]

Oldtimer, good to see you on the board. I like the shots, especially the one in flight, but they both seem to suffer from colorcast or some odd colors, cannot say what for sure. Also the sharpness is not as high as I would like to see from wildlife shots like these and there is noise i these images. The last two points might have more to do with your conversion for web post. I do like these and a great looking bird is that Blue. You've got a good focus and light in the birds eye. Hope to see more.

[Knight]

Ok Old Timer thanks for taking the time to post about how you got these fine pictures as always it helps .Now i have another question for you

I am not a regular widlife type photographer

what other types of photography do you do and could you post some more

[Paul Wolf]

First shot: You've done well to capture what you did, but this does look a bit soft. The eye should be sharp as a tack, clear and distinctive. The background is not blurred enough and should be level and, therefore, tends to distract from the bird. The blue of the heron seems to be a bit odd, too - just way more cyan in there than I'm used to seeing. The color of the background is not very pleasing to me, either. If this were my shot, I'd blur the heck out of that background. It might make the heron "pop" and perhaps make it appear a bit sharper. The exposure is right on, though, and for a surprise shot, again, you've done well, here.

I saw on VF what you started with, and I think you kind of hit it on the head with your lack of equipment to do this shot justice. You just need to be get much closer (Man, is a lens ever big enough?!?). I fear the equipment just didn't record enough detail to accomodate the kind of cropping you had to do to emphasize the bird.

Second shot: The color of the water really bothers me and is the first thing I saw when I viewed this photo. Most, if not all that blurred foreground should be cropped out and perhaps even some of the top (at least get rid of that brown) to see if that helps. The bird seems to be sharp, but lacks detail. Just too difficult to tell with the .jpg what's going on with the detail. I don't know what you started with for this shot, but it, too, may just suffer from a lack of detail to allow such tight cropping.

Now, the thing that bothers me about both is that they are a bit ho-hum for me. Since, you don't shoot a lot of wildlife, I know it is exciting to get shots this good. I am to the point where I shoot birds for one reason - to get unusual or distinctive views. I have way too many static shots or shots that I think I've seen over and over again and even done better by others. If they do not stand out (really sharp, unusual activity or pose, really great composition, very pleasing colors, etc.), I just save them and don't do much more with them. It gives me a reason to keep trying. In the second shot, for example, if the heron had a fish in its mouth or appeared to be searching for food rather than keeping an eye on you, it would have showed a bit more drama or "naturalness". If it filled the frame to begin with, the detail would have been awesome.

I didn't quite see the noise Gary mentioned, but if it is there that would be a bit surprising at ISO 200, unless you slightly underexposed in the field and compensated in the computer. That would also cause some detail to appear a bit undefined and even flat.

Shooting birds is, at least for me, extremely difficult and maybe I'm just too critical of my own work. I hope I haven't taken it out on you. If so, I apologize. But the one thing about wildlife is that it sure offers one heck of a challenge each and every time.

Paul

[Piet]

I think you did extremely well.I am sure you had no time in planning the shots, and under such circumstances you did extremely well, in particular the flying one in which you managed to stop the bird in midair and still have a lot of detail visble.

[Old Timer]

First shot: You've done well to capture what you did, but this does look a bit soft. I saw on VF what you started with, and I think you kind of hit it on the head with your lack of equipment to do this shot justice...... Paul

Thanks very much Paul I appreciate the time and effort it took to write your critique. I think you have really given me some very good points to concentrate on. This is exactly what I was looking for when I posted on this board. Wildlife and birds in particular are such a specialty that those of us that seldom do it fall into a lot of traps and when we get a couple of shots like the GBH I did we tend to jump up and down and think we have nailed it when in reality there is much to be improved up on. Thanks again for your thoughtful response.

Larry

[Old Timer]

Ok Old Timer thanks for taking the time to post about how you got these fine pictures as always it helps .Now i have another question for you what other types of photography do you do and could you post some more

Thanks Knight I appreciate yours words and so many others that have commented on these images on both boards. I rarely post over here on critique because I usely don't feel I have images that come up to the standards that I try and set for myself in terms of content and quality. However as I pointed out I am not a wildlife photog and really wanted someone to give these images a ripe so I would have a better idea of what I need to work on the next time I gave it a try. It would be kind of hard to say what kind of photographer I am since I tend to dabble in a little of everything. I have posted several pictures over the last couple of years on PR (mostly on View Finder) please take a look at them by doing a search or you are welcome to take a look at my gallery here on PR, which has something of an overall view, all thought I don't post on gallery as often as I should. Thanks again, I enjoy so many things about photography and these boards at PR are a perfect why to express that.