Playm wrote in post #5935850
Nice shots! .. To me, they all look 14.2 H or less.. so maybe that's the criteria for 'pony'. (I know it is here). .. it almost looks like some of them are welsh. .. but geesh, the clarity is outstanding. When you've got those 'coming toward you' shots, like the first one (love the dof!), what aperature are you shooting on? .. You shoot on M, don't you?
Today is the first time that I noticed in your avatar that you use a monopod. .. May I ask: (hope it's not a stupid question) Do you leave the mounting ring loose so you can swivel for vert shots? (I just got my new 70-200 f2.8L lens yesterday.. and will be getting a monopod today cuz that lens in heavy!) (I've got a cutting to try it out on tomorrow).
Congrats on the 70-200, you'll love it! Worth every penny. I've got a manfrotto monopod, not sure what the head is on it, was a midrange one though and it allows me to either shoot portrait or landscape, and tilt whatever way I want. I keep the ring tight on the lens. Too much heart failure if I feel something slip
I still keep the strap around my neck too, just in case.
I usually only use the monopod if I'm going to be on my feet shooting for hours on end with that lens. If I'm just playing around or doing something quick I'm usually up and down on my knees, lying down, so much it just gets in the way. My husband laughs at me cause I have this swivel and roll thing I do with my camera rather than standing up to move. He always asks me if that's what they taught me in school. My avatar was taken at the Cdn Gymanstics Championships where I shot 12 hours a day for 6 days straight. That was the reason I bought the monopod in the first place!!
I went backed and double checked to be sure, and these were all taken done at 2.8 with shutter between 1/1000 and 1/1600. Looking at the barrels I was looking straight into a nasty storm so it was actually quite dark, and coming up the track to the finish line was much brighter, so I just did a quick adjustment on the shutter to compensate. Yup, I shoot in manual all the time - don't even know how to use the other modes