Showing Off

[Mike in UK]

C&C appreciated!
1/60s, f16, -2/3EV, 50mm f1.4 AF-S G lens on D300s, spot metering, spot AF, Aperture priority. JPEG image and slight crop with Elements 6. RAW file still untouched. The title refers to the bird, not the skill of the photographer!
Just snapped while taking some landscape shots, but it amused me!

[Donald]

Mike

It's one of those that you just don't get time to plan (unless you had been there for the purpose of shooting the wildlife (with a camera)). So, from that point of view, well done for grabbing it.

But that too is where the challenges come from. The female swimming towards us is being hit by direct sunlight and the highlights are blown. Particularly the white at front part of her head is very distracting, I think. The other point I'd make is that because the male is facing right to left, it might have been stronger if you had managed to get him and her into the rigth-hand part of the frame, so that there was lots of room on the left-hand side, which is what he's looking into.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Mike,

Just nip back and get one without the goose in the background, or at least, with it better placed

What I am trying to say is that there is a large dollop of luck with shots like this and thinking of a fruit machines analogy (I dunno why), this is a 'one cherry, an orange and a lemon' shot - a 'three cherries' shot might be taken from the front quarter, no distracting bird overlapping the outline of the main subject and with the bird looking into the shot, all perfectly exposed and focused.

It just takes patience (or exceptional luck) if you want to get a really good one of these, and for the record, I haven't yet.

Not that I'm wanting to spoil your amusement either, it's a good capture, possibly 1/125 would have been slightly better shutter speed, but when these things happen, there's no time to phaff around changing it!

BTW changing the subject; how do you find the AF-S 50/1.4? If I were to get another lens, I am torn between the 50/1.4 or the 60/2.8 macro, like you, I have the 105/2.8 macro and like the wider apertures and close focusing, but it is too tight for some subjects.

Cheers,

[Mike in UK]

Thanks Donald and Dave. I too was drawn to the exposure on the female, perhaps I could do something with an exposure layer in Photoshop here? I looked at the framing and decided to go with the grass showing which meant a comporomise on the subject placing. I could have the subject more on the right with a closer crop. I was pleased with the timing as the camera was set to single shot and aperture priority with exposure compensation for the graduated ND, so I had to quickly turn the aperture until I got the shutter speed required and even then I suspect it shifted a little as I approached the subject!
On the subject of the lens, I chose it as a general purpose prime as it had good reviews. It's deceptively good for such a small and light unit, but means you can carry it all day on a D300s without your hand dropping off! Using it on a DX format camera means it is a little tight on some subjects. Overall I'm very pleased with it, particularly as I bought is second-hand. On the day I took this shot, I left it on the camera all day, even though I had the 16-85 with me also.