cliffb

The Cone Mansion, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, in North

Carolina, shot from Bass Lake. All critiques will be appreciated.

Thank you.

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful comments.

It may help the shutter speed discussion to know that this was shot at 1/125 sec.  Personally, I prefer 1/30 to 1/60 for side shots of passing bikers, for a heavy blur.  For quarter riders, like this shot, I like 1/125 to keep a bit of blur in the tires, while getting good detail on the lead rider.  Remember that the more the rider is coming toward the camera, the less blur will be seen in the spokes, unless the shutter is so slow as to make the rider, who is largely moving toward the camera, unlikely to be sharp.  For riders coming straight at me, I like 1/250.

Though many of us like the look of blurred wheels, I have often noticed that shots in magazines and ads rarely have even the slightest blur.  I have discussed this with several pros, who shoot for magazines and advertisers, who have told me that their clients care nothiing about blur and would rather have sharp details and, most critically, balanced light.  These shooters have told me that, to them, well balanced lighting is the most important thing.  I was happy with the amount of fill that I used on this shot.

As we all know, amount of blur is a matter of taste.  Though I have used 1/30 on quarting riders, for me, 1/125 gives a comfort zone of balance between some tire blur and sharp lead rider.

I have taken many butterfly photos from within inches, or at least a

few feet of the butterfly; however, this guy was in a marsh 50' away.

I shot it with a 70-200 and a 1.7 converter (total 340mm), and did

some cropping for this composition.

A zoo shot through thick glass. All critiques will be greatly

appreciated.

All critiques will be greatly appreciated. In order to avoid a barrier,

that was getting in the way of shooting, I took this shot while lying on

my back.

Thank you, Museeb, Gail and Rejith.  Yes, that is a flamingo.