single photos (Correct me if I'm wrong:) Immature Little Blue Heron

This is my second BiF picture that is (close to) sharp (I wouldn't mind a

critique on my first one, entitled, not-very-creatively "Egret" ). I was

approaching it, when it flew to the other side of the pond after a baby catfish

(the other side of the pond wasn't too far away). I caught this, still at

300mm, as it passed closest.

Hi Peter,

This is a nice scene capture.

It is not tack sharp, but then again, the low lighting, 300mm F/5.6 lens shot at 1/350 second are not easy factors to expect much more.

The blur of the wings is quite nice, as it expresses the action of the bird in flight. The head is in relatively good focus.

You could try panning or leading the bird with your lens when you take the shot. Also, try shooting several images in succession. Another option is to reduce the zoom factor and shot at F/4 rather than F/5.6. This would make the exposure much faster with a shorter focal length lens, resulting in a sharper image. The size difference can be made up with a crop and enlargement factor.

Best Regards,  Mike

Hello. Thank you, but again, it was a shot of opportunity, so I had to be panning to even catch it, and I didn't have time to zoom, or even refocus, thus the takeoff and landing shots were out of focus (as was the entire sequence of it fishing, but that's for the Pentax equipment forum). However, I have established it's territories, and will keep that in mind next time I go out looking for it.

nice shot Peter. Care to check it out against an immature snowy egret. Legs and bill and yellow eye lores? Please accept my apologies if wrong ... long shot from uk! dont get them here as residents. regards miken