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| Blown Opportunity - Page 1 | |
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| Posted: Wed Jul 25th, 2012 14:56 |
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1st Post |
Squarerigger
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Yesterday evening, I was presented with an opportunity never before given and just plain failed. The sun was over the house and the front yard was well shaded. I looked out the front door and saw something in the bushes I could not identify. I opened the door and stepped onto the front porch to go check the object out when it heard me and jumped back. It was a hawk which was having a late day snack. It jumped around when it saw me and I was afraid it was going to fly away immediately. I ran into the house to get my camera, D7000 with a 24-70mm lens attached. I thought about switching to a longer lens but thought the bird would be gone by the time I returned. So, I ran back out to the front porch and the hawk was still there only with it's back to me. I focused and took a reading. I had to adjust the ISO because my shutter speed was way to slow with the bird moving. I took one shot and in the hot summer day with humidity approaching 96 percent, my lens and camera were starting to fog up. The hawk still had it's back to me when suddenly it held it's head up and turned sideways. I figured this was my only opportunity and took one more shot without the benefit of any more changes to the cameras settings. The bird immediately flew off around the side of the house. I looked at the camera and saw condensation all over every piece of glass and knew I had blown my chance to capture the moment. I pulled the SD card and went to the computer to confirm my sorry effort. The shot of the back of the bird was not at all satisfactory and the side shot was either affected by my shaking with enthusiasm or the condensation. I had some choice words for myself at my total lack of skill. On the DX body I shot at about 100mm, the bird was 60 or so feet away, the crop was a very small portion of the photo. Attachment: Hawk 72412 5 of 8 - Version 2.jpg (Downloaded 58 times)
____________________ -------------------------------------------- Gary |
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| Posted: Wed Jul 25th, 2012 15:59 |
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2nd Post |
Robert
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Well, don't know wether to congratulate or commiserate!   It's in focus or not far off, I think the issue is shake and colour saturation. If you can get it to somebody with Photoshop they should be able to fix the shake. Ps has the facility to remove linear blur, provided it's the entire image, or by selecting part of the image. Perhaps a small handful of corn or a couple of dead mice at the same place tomorrow? A very rough and ready adjustment in Lightroom 3.6. Attachment: Screen Shot 2012-07-25 at 22.08.17.jpg (Downloaded 57 times)
____________________ Robert. |
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| Posted: Wed Jul 25th, 2012 16:12 |
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3rd Post |
Ed Matusik
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That's wildlife shooting for you. Happens a LOT.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26th, 2012 04:10 |
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4th Post |
Iain
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Just a little bit to much of a pull for the 24-70 Gary. There was a good chance that it would have sat there long enough for you to change the lens. Better luck next time.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26th, 2012 06:11 |
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5th Post |
jk
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As Ed says that is the reason why good nature shots are so difficult and why many great shots are staged or use 'tame' animals. To do it for real means that you need to spend loads of time knowing the creature and its habits and locations during the day.
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26th, 2012 06:13 |
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6th Post |
jk
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Iain wrote: Just a little bit to much of a pull for the 24-70 Gary. Yes but best professional practice says to get the first shot then refine and change position/lens/etc... 
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26th, 2012 07:09 |
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7th Post |
Ed Matusik
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You said a mouthful JK. All the instructional websites, manufacturers sites, etc., are dead on about taking a few shots, looking at the histograms and making adjustments to maximize the picture quality. Unfortunately, when a free-living, wild predatory or prey animal momentarily exposes itself contrary to its instinctual and learned behavior, it won't sit still for a photographer to get that ideal studio shot, and the rest of the story is history. Like JK, I shoot first then hope that I can get a second or third opportunity to get a better shot. Most of the super sharp images seen on nature shows or in magazines were taken in national park or zoological settings where the creatures are habituated to meeting people with cameras. If you want to shoot only really wild creatures, you must develop great patience, and make a lot of exposures because you'll not end up with many high quality ones.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26th, 2012 07:27 |
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8th Post |
Squarerigger
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It was a great educational experience. Since it was my first attempt, I was in a hurry and did not want to miss the opportunity. Using hind sight, I would have exchanged lenses to get more reach. I would have taken the time to get the best setting possible. I really wish I had a tripod. I am going to have to make an effort to practice this as it was very exciting. Well I am crushed to learn that many wild life shots are taken in zoos, etc. I have a new found respect for the wild life shots taken by Iain, Ed, and others on this site. I always appreciated them but now I am in awe. Robert, the thought did occur to me to provide some bait but we no longer have any small children left in the neighborhood.  Thanks for the input and now I have a new mission.
____________________ -------------------------------------------- Gary |
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26th, 2012 07:31 |
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9th Post |
Ed Matusik
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Squarerigger wrote: It was a great educational experience. Since it was my first attempt, I was in a hurry and did not want to miss the opportunity. What about excess mothers-in-law?
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26th, 2012 08:50 |
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10th Post |
Robert
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I could supply both! Willingly... 
____________________ Robert. |
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