Critique Birds from Bosque. An abstract

[gchappel]

The state just closed down all the county and state parks. Circle B is closed. So I am stuck inside going through old images.
Just going through some stuff from Bosque earlier this year. I have been so busy I have not even looked at these.
Wow, Bosque is a beautiful place with so many opportunities.
Screw one up, that is ok. Another will fly by.
I was shooting slow shutter speeds for about an hour. Lots are unusable blurs, but every once in a while there is something different I like.
I am not sure how I am going to crop this, will look at it for a while.
Everyone be safe. Now is a good time to look through our old work.
Gary

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[Palouse]

WOW!!! That is a sure cure for the blahs!

 

[Mike Buckley]

Stunning!

I am not sure how I am going to crop this

We don't have the luxury of seeing what you've already cropped that you might want to include but based on this, I'd enthusiastically say leave it as is.

 

[Clix Pix]

Gorgeous colors, everything!!!

 

[gchappel]

Thanks for the supportive comments.
For cropping so far I just pulled down the upper margin to make it a little bit of a panorama.
Otherwise this is straight out of camera.
I have a couple of thousand images to look at, lots of wonderful stuff out there.
Gary

 

[bmell]

Wow. This is a great image.

 

[Commodorefirst]

Featured!

 

[gchappel]

Honored. I appreciate it.
Gary

 

[Bohdan]

Wow...for sure.

 

[andreasb]

That's real beautiful!!!

 

[rick_reno]

That is an awesome shot!

 

[Randy]

love the colors, got one with a faster SS ?

 

[wim hazenhoek]

Awesome picture Gary

 

[gchappel]

love the colors, got one with a faster SS ?

Thousands of them.
At times out there, I think I could drop my camera and get a sharp image of a bird.
I play with slow shutter speeds as they are just different. When they work I find them wonderful. Certainly not everyones cup of tea.
A couple of faster shutter speeds:
Gary

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[Randy]

that 1st one rocks !

 

[Clix Pix]

Wow, and wow again!!! LOVE that first one!

 

[Allan]

Very nice. The blurs are great.

We just arrived home. When Ft Desoto was closed we decided to leave a week earlier than planned.

Have you had any trouble with teh 200-600 on the A7r4? FM forums have many people complaining about that combo.

 

[gchappel]

Allan, sorry your trip was cut short. I have time off, and looking for somewhere to go shoot. Getting some leads on private lands in the area.
I moved over to the sony system last October. There is DEFINITELY a pretty steep learning curve. I have shot nikon for 40yrs. BIF easy peasy.
The first time out with the a7riv and the 200-600 I was ready to throw it in the lake. Nothing, and I mean nothing was in focus. Same thing 2nd outing.
3rd outing at least some stuff in focus. By the 10th outing I felt comfortable enough to take it to Bosque. I took the d850 and nikon 500mm f4 as a backup, and never got them out of the case.
By the first day at Bosque- everything is in focus. I mean right on the money, sharp as can be in focus. This is my 8th trip to Bosque, and I have detail I have never seen before. And I can handhold everything all day long. If I had rented the combo for a week or two I would have hated it. It took awhile for everything to work.
What changed? It wasn't the camera. I think focus acquisition is different, and a little slower. I had to relearn a little and unconsciously change how I shoot. But it now just works, everytime.
The only caveat I have is I try to shoot about 7.1 or 8, or smaller if have light. Sometimes eye acquisition is off a little and it grabs the front wing tip, 7.1+ keeps the eye in satisfactory focus.
I have over 8000 images from 5days at Bosque. I am just going through them, but I bet I haven't seen 10 truly out of focus images yet.
Very pleased with how it handles, and the large print detail is terrific.
The one thing I have seen recently is with still subjects, like a bird sitting on a stick, I have had a few series of out of focus shots. I have learned to use focus peaking to confirm focus, and occasionally tweak focus in manual. Not hard to do even handheld. But if the bird moves, focus sticks like glue.
Gary

 

[IDPhotos]

For the top image, I thought this is a Nikon forum, not a Sony forum. And, how can an image featured on the front page of this site be taken with a Sony camera?

 

[Palouse]

For the top image, I thought this is a Nikon forum, not a Sony forum. And, how can an image featured on the front page of this site be taken with a Sony camera?

We are open, agnostic and recognize skill no matter the tool. Welcome to our wonderful world. Many of our folks shoot with multiple systems.