A day at the beach

Excellent shots Keith.

Thanks again, all.

Hi Justin,

I only ever handhold - I Iike the mobility I get from not using a tripod.

With decent handholding tehnique and IS, I feel that I manage well enough for my purposes - this is 1/60 and sharp enough for me (and it could probably stand a bit more USM, to be honest - I prefer things not to look sharpened though...)

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Excellent picture series Keith. I particularly like the kittiwakes and the solo dunlin - well done!

Thanks, Phreddie - I called those two pics "Bickerwakes" and "Punky Dunlin", for obvious reasons!

Excellent collection

The first one is very nicely composed and great interaction with nice BG....great. The second is quite nice,,,just bit more DOF to have the entire bird in focus and it would be special. All the images have great light and I like the eye level angle you have managed in all shots. The added image of the starling pops nicely too against that whitish BG......great work!

Very nice series, enjoyed these shots alot, especially the last two.

Superb set of pics but the 1st one realy stands out from the rest.

really lovely photos keith, but i love the attached photo you added for justin.

Thanks all - you're very generous.

Hey Gary,

I hear what you say about the OOF bird on the left - you're certainly right that it would be better if both of the "flanking" birds were in focus.

In fact, there's more of a difference between the distances of the two birds than is apparent, so I'm not sure my lens would stop down far enough to deal with that and still let enough light in to take the picture!



Hi Tina,

I like the later picture too - those birds (starlings) are generally considered by the public to be dull, unintersting things... 't'aint so!



I'd have been happier it was actually doing something, but beggars can't be choosers...

Great captures Keith, the Dunlan and the tern shots are my favorites.

Great shots all, Keith. What what Punky shot against? That maroonish background is really sweet. Love your work!

Thanks guys,

What's behind Punky is just the beach sand near where I live (the North East coast of England).

The slight maroon tinge (which I'd never really picked up on before, but I see it now) possibly comes from the fact that the wet sand was picking up something of the reflection of a wooden pier behind the bird - the way the light was hitting the pier at the time it did have a slightly reddish cast to it...