kelly_cw

Bruce, LG and Barry:

Thank you all SO much! Your specific responses really help out. There is so much that I still need to learn!

I thought manual focus would be more successful as the auto focus was seeming to pick up the closer foreground (grass)

rather than the cat's face. But I think I'll let the auto do its job. I could've sworn I was holding the shutter half down and

settling the focus on the right subject but the factors you guys noted didn't even enter my mind. Hell, I didn't even know

about VR til I got home and kicked myself.

I think motion blur could be a factor too as I got quite excited when she started to move!

I'm very fortunate that this cat makes an appearance almost daily so I'll head back out this evening and pay close

attention to my aperture, shutter speed and VR. I don't have a tripod but have a monopod on the way. I'm also just using

the non-flash setting as it's generally given me the strongest results. Would you recommend any of the other settings

(action/portrait/etc)?

Hi all!

I'm brand new to this forum and am very passionate, very amateur "photorapher" mostly interested in wildlife. I have a Nikon D3000 and

just got a Nikkor 55-300mm lens. I took it out yesterday to a spot I've been seeing a bobcat hunt for her dinner every day. I'm bad with

distances but guesstimate I was about 80 feet or so away from my subject. At full, automatic zoom (300mm) I got OK shots but found that

when I thought I was focused right at the cat's face, the end result would be a blurry cat and perfectly focused grass in the foreground.

I don't know how to use the manual focus at all and was hoping I could get some good shots with the automatic setting while I learn more.

I'm surprised with how different/difficult this lens is compared with my 18-55mm.

If anyone has ANY tips regarding the issue I mentioned above, or any general tips for this camera model/this lens and wildlife

photography, it would be really appreciated! Thank you thank you thank you!