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Equal Time
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Equal Time

by Bill Maile

Gallery: AvianPosted November 7, 201284 views5 comments
The Mallard hen in the snow flurries the other day, that was coupled up with the drake I previously posted. Surely a very common sight, but I still enjoy them. Wish I had gotten more wing color. D90, ISO-400, 1/125th, f-6.3, 500mm. Larger is posted, thank you for any comments.

Comments

5 comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on November 7, 2012 at 3:16 PM
Nice photo Bill. I think you could crop some off of the top and would have a stronger image. I would suggest keeping your aperature at F-8 if at all possible. I think you have the Sigma 150-500 as I do. It was suggested to me in a NPN post, and I have been getting sharper results when I stay at f-8 or smaller. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Maile on November 7, 2012 at 3:27 PM
Totally agree John, after I posted it, the crop looked obvious.

And you are also spot on about the aperture, it was recommended to me here too (by you??) for the Sigma. I keep at f-8 when possible, very low light and not a steady place to balance the camera for the longer shutter made me drop it down.
Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments
Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on November 7, 2012 at 3:30 PM
Well put together, Bill, if a little soft. I have not used the 150-500, but I use the 80-400 Nikkor with similar problems . I would also refrain from the full 500 except where necessary.
Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments
Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 7, 2012 at 4:59 PM
John's suggestion is one that I make for people using this lens as I have on NPN so I think you are probably both referencing my suggestion. You didn't have a lot of light to work with here but I do think you would be better off going up to iso 800 and F8 for this shot as I find this lens just isn't very sharp wide open, I do find I can get sharp images at 500mm (although not consistently as sharp as at 400mm). I do like the falling snow in the bg. :toast:
Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments
Comment posted by Jamie Douglas on November 7, 2012 at 11:54 PM
Hi Bill, some good advice so far and don't be sky about getting belly flat on the ground.

Keep it up

Jamie :toast:
Registered on July 16, 2012, 10 Posts, 87 Comments