Probably one of the better moments I have seen captured on film (or CCD/CMOS/Foveon/Whatever. :)) At first I thought it was actually three shots of the same bird coming in to land composited together. First on the right the bird coming into shot, wings spread. Next to the left the bird is furling in the wings a bit, banking to slow down. Then lastly more to the left the bird is almost hovering in it's flight, ready to land on the water. I think that is just great, lucky snapshot or not the point is that you were there, you took the shot. People who complain that it was "lucky" forget the endless other hours waiting for moments like that; Plus they weren't there, they did not have their camera ready, you did and you deserve praise for that if nothing else.
It is a pity the background was quite so complex, but really for me it does not matter much as I am drawn strongly to those three birds which make it a great shot.
You are welcome. I try and be objective in my critiques. I guess I think that if I am objective to others, they will be objective to me. Also, every photo we take is because we want to capture a moment, so the photos we take all mean something to us. So don't be afraid to post up the "not the best" shots. I have a lot of those, and they will find their way here...
I actually posted this purely to get advice - I have yet to purchase a 2x converter to put on the end of my F707, so shots like this are lucky at best, and this one is not that. Thanks for the open crit, they are a pleasure to recieve. I've been "umming and aaah-ing" about posting this for about 3 months, and finally decided to add it anyway, just because I like the centre bird :)
I cannot say this is your best photo. Comparing this against the rest of your images, this one seems to be little more than a lucky snapshot. "Imaginary friend" and "Motion Portrait" and "Early spring on the lake" stand out far better than this one. Technically, DOF and Focus are good (hard to get those wrong on the F707) but they can't carry the rest of the photo. The lighting is bland, and the only action are the three flying birds.
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{K:14261} 4/30/2003
