*OFFICIAL* Snapshot of the Day (one image per post please) #1

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Weebl

Dave,
I've sat in front of my house trying to get one of the Annas and none come close to this. Excellent shot.
I made the mistake of clicking on your Flickr and looking at your "interesting shots". Note to self, visit Dave, kidnap him and hold him for ransom from Getty images. I hope you submit some of those to magazines, you really need to share them with the world.

Kevin, thanks for looking at my Flickr site. Yes, I've gotten few pix in use at Cornell Ornithology Lab and some other sites with my permission. I've entered just a couple of contests, but I plan to scale that up.

About your Annas, did you take 200 to 300 shots with the light behind you? That's been one key that I've found to getting images like this, with the light in the eye, super focus, great colors and super bokeh. With hummers I shoot some with a "slower" speed, like 1/800th and some like this at over 1/3000th. I think both produce equally interesting images.

With these little guys, they move so much in and out and behind twigs, etc. that a bunch will be out of focus. With the light behind you you'll get the best feather detail and good possibility of an eye light. Anyway, with wildlife the "keeper ratio" is important. Don't shoot like you're doing scenics or family portraits and try to make each one perfect. Realize that the perfect pose will likely be something that you can't see with the naked eye.

Keep trying.

Dave

[Weebl]

Dave, Cornell is quite an achievement. That is my "go to" site for certain information on cats and I am sure their ornithology dept. is comparable. Since I will shoot from 6-10 feet away my DOF is very thin so I will have to shoot fast to get a couple with different focus points per hover.
The ones I like the most are when you can see their tongues hanging out

[ArtistikD]

Originally Posted by Litos

hope you don't mind

haha i don't mind at all but just might be a little over saturated for my taste
and DAVE! MAGNIFICENT SHOT BROHAM!

[ArtistikD]

[Weebl]

Originally Posted by ArtistikD

haha i don't mind at all but just might be a little over saturated for my taste
and DAVE! MAGNIFICENT SHOT BROHAM!

Are you PP your photos? The two photos you have posted are kind of flat, like they were taken with print film and converted. Have you calibrated your monitor, if not that is probably why they will look over saturated. The rolling shot does not look over saturated.
The second on if you have it, her fingers would be nice to have there also and maybe clone out that tag/bathing suit bright blue. A real cute photo, good one for an ad.

[The1]

Originally Posted by Weebl

Are you PP your photos? The two photos you have posted are kind of flat, like they were taken with print film and converted. Have you calibrated your monitor, if not that is probably why they will look over saturated. The rolling shot does not look over saturated.
The second on if you have it, her fingers would be nice to have there also and maybe clone out that tag/bathing suit bright blue. A real cute photo, good one for an ad.

I'm wondering the same.... Litos does tend towards high saturation, but i think he restrained himself quite a bit when he redid yours. are you photo editing on a TV? if so go to the colour function and see how high the level is.

it could all be down to your monitor.

[ArtistikD]

I'm using a macbook pro 13 and yea i noticed it did seem like my picture was a little dull but the one that lito redid was just over saturated for my taste,
and i see what you mean with the bright blue bathing suit

[The1]

Originally Posted by ArtistikD

I'm using a macbook pro 13 and yea i noticed it did seem like my picture was a little dull but the one that lito redid was just over saturated for my taste,
and i see what you mean with the bright blue bathing suit

cool, just gotta find a happy medium. It's a great shot.

so is the bathing suit girl.

Can't believe Weebl caught the tag!!! he must have been staring at the picture for a while i guess.

[Chewy734]

nice photo of the woman, but I think it would've been nicer if she was looking up towards us?

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Weebl

Dave, Cornell is quite an achievement. That is my "go to" site for certain information on cats and I am sure their ornithology dept. is comparable. Since I will shoot from 6-10 feet away my DOF is very thin so I will have to shoot fast to get a couple with different focus points per hover.
The ones I like the most are when you can see their tongues hanging out

Yeah, Cornell is the Bomb. I love that they've got images and the bird's vocalizations. They used a butterfly image of mine to illustrate back yard environments to attract birds. I took the image in the wild, but they liked it. They used another in a newletter that came and went.

When you're lucky enough to get that close, then you need to shoot at f/8 or f/11 and push the ISO up to maintain a decent shutter speed.

My example above was about 20-feet away with the 500mm. If you look at the back wing in the Original size, you can see that it's OOF. IF, big if, you can get the eye in focus and, better yet, with a light in it, all else is forgiven.

I keep shooting even when they're on the other side of the flower, knowing that they'll soon move and I may get a lucky shot during the move. I click off one at a time and keep the focus on them by "bumping" the AF and then shoot a burst when they move or approach a flower in my clear view. You can use a tripod, but I find that hand held gives me the highest keeper rate.

Dave

[ArtistikD]

Originally Posted by The1

cool, just gotta find a happy medium. It's a great shot.

so is the bathing suit girl.

Can't believe Weebl caught the tag!!! he must have been staring at the picture for a while i guess.

lol it wasn't really a tag but a design in her bikini

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

nice photo of the woman, but I think it would've been nicer if she was looking up towards us?

or at least the frame was leading out on her gaze instead of closing in on it

[Weebl]

Originally Posted by The1

Can't believe Weebl caught the tag!!! he must have been staring at the picture for a while i guess.

If I find a shot that technical comments have been raised and I like the shot, I will study it for a bit before posting.
and I do like how that looks.

Originally Posted by dcstep

...
My example above was about 20-feet away with the 500mm. If you look at the back wing in the Original size, you can see that it's OOF. IF, big if, you can get the eye in focus and, better yet, with a light in it, all else is forgiven.

I keep shooting even when they're on the other side of the flower, knowing that they'll soon move and I may get a lucky shot during the move. I click off one at a time and keep the focus on them by "bumping" the AF and then shoot a burst when they move or approach a flower in my clear view. You can use a tripod, but I find that hand held gives me the highest keeper rate.

Dave

I noticed that and figured you were using the 500. I have the "DOF" but the pixel peeping "zone of sharp" up close tends to be ~ 1/4" at best.

I will shoot like this also. I have noticed that if I press halfway down and then shoot vs bumping then shooting the focus keeper is better. Hopefully that isn't the way with the 5/7D.
I think I'll try the high ISO, thank you.

[oneintheory]

Jamie by jsophoto, on Flickr

[Litos]

i woulda cloned that infant that she has sleeping on her face HAHA !!!!

rest of the shotlooks great.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Weebl

...
I noticed that and figured you were using the 500. I have the "DOF" but the pixel peeping "zone of sharp" up close tends to be ~ 1/4" at best.

I will shoot like this also. I have noticed that if I press halfway down and then shoot vs bumping then shooting the focus keeper is better. Hopefully that isn't the way with the 5/7D.
I think I'll try the high ISO, thank you.

The 7D is quick, so you "bump" only when you're certain you're on target, olest it very quickly grabs onto some BG. If you hold the shutter down and the bird moves away, which hummers do quite often, then the camera will grab focus on the BG. When I do finally release the shutter I'll always initially stop at half way down to make sure both the AF and IS are up to speed. If you just push through half-way fast enough, you'll catch the IS spinning up and that'll cause shake and OOF condition.

With my 70-200mm at 200mm, with the 1.4x TC and the 25ET I'll still have a 1/4 to 1/2" at f/8. That's enough IF you get the eye in focus. Anyway, if you're at f/8 or f/11 and still only have a 1/4", then you might move back a foot and plan on cropping in post. That'll give you more DOF and still result in decent IQ after processing.

Remember, most viewers don't pixel-peep. I Preview full screen. If there's going to be cropping, then I zoom into the approximate crop to make sure I have enough pixels on the subject so that the most important element will be sharp, even after the image is viewed full-screen. If the eye, for instance, is super sharp, then everyone forgives the OOF area.

The gold standard is to get 90% or more of the animal in focus, along with ancillary things, like the flower in the case of my hummingbird shot. When you get that, then it's the ideal that we all strive for.

Dave

[oneintheory]

Originally Posted by Litos

i woulda cloned that infant that she has sleeping on her face HAHA !!!!

rest of the shotlooks great.

if you're referring to the bubble, then I'm a bit lost.

if you're referring to the mole under her right eye...i don't and will never clone out a distinctive beauty mark like that.

[UdubBadger]

I like it as is

[Weebl]

Sorry, not a fan of the shot. Technically really nice but not the shot.

[M_Six]

[UdubBadger]

I love toy trains

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

I love toy trains

Then you'd love this guy's back yard. Major 1/28th scale train set up. I'll post more later.