BiFs - more practice

[marlunn]

We went to a Wilfowl and Wetlands Trust centre near us in Llanelli - well when I say near us its the other side of Swansea.

A couple of so - so Birds in Flight, the mallard was a startle shot - as we came around a corner of a path a couple of them flew up from a backwater,




The swan was a flew over from behing as we were walking so thats my excuse for the back end shot aspect

[Rebel]

Nice shots Mark, I really like the first one.. not sure if a slightly tighter crop would work well?

[GBO25]

The blurred background behind the mallard really makes the shot by giving it a real feeling of movement with the main subject so sharp (but for the flapping wings of course). A slightly closer crop would probably lift it but not too close.
Nice exposure on the white swan as well. White birds can be difficult in sunlight but this is very good.

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts.

[JR1]

best of luck they are hard blighters to shoot

[Nicks Pics]

The mallard is unique and interesting. I don't know how you managed to get the head sharp and BG blurred on a BIF, especially when not expecting the shot.

[marlunn]

Thanks Matt, Graham, John, Jeremy and Nick,
Probably right about the tighter crop but I want to give it enough space to fly into so only slight I think.
The swan, well have to say I tend to have the camera set to centre weighted metering as default, so on this occasion it was big enough in the frame to sort it pretty well.
Mallard head sharp and background blurred, combination of the panning and the DoF with a bit of judicious selective sharpening in Elements I think, more luck than judgement on that one

[IzzieK]

Although I like #1 better, I am bothered about the background there, a little bit too busy for me....maybe blur it a little bit more? I like the white of the #2. Not too shabby...a little bit of the eyes would have been nice but that wasn't to be so be it. I still like it though. I love both...don't know which one to pick now after viewing in lytebox..

[FootLoose]

It doesn't matter how you achieved it, Mark, I love the light and detail in the mallard's wing. What is also impressive is the way you have caught the enlarged shadow of the bird against the blurred background. Well done.

[marlunn]

Thanks Izzie, Greg, appreciated - the Mallard was a snatch shot and to be honest a fluke - that is about half the frame,

ISO 320
F10
1/80th
tamron 70-300 @ 120mm

A bit of sharpening in Elements around the head but not much - the up side was the light was low and onto the bird and background that lifted it sufficiently to be worth keeping. Sometimes despite the odds you get lucky

[marlunn]

okay who shouted 'christmas stuffing'