First shots of the New year

[chrisc]

Still practicing with the 1.4 extender on the 80-400. It's challenging shooting at 560mm handheld, f:/8 minimum aperture. On a really bright and sunny day I can still get good stop action at f:/11 or even 16 but surprisingly, the bokeh doesn't change much between those three stops.

Three of these are the same Ring-Billed Seagull shot as he cruised a favorite lake, then landed and the last, a Great Egret leaning into the wind just a smidgon before launching off the limb where he seemed to sit so precariously.

"Ring-Billed Cruiser"



"First Contact"



"I am not a Submarine, I am not a Submarine, I am not a submarine...."



"Ready for Takeoff"

[nickjohnson]

Very nice Chris. My favourite is #1 - I like the wing tip reflection. My understanding and experience is that with telephoto pictures the bokeh is more a function of the subject to background distance than the f stop.