And a couple of shots from the zoo :)

Hi again! Sorry to post twice in a row, but... they didn't really go with the last post! Here I was out trying to work with my new 75-300mm non-USM, which I figured was a good enough buy for me because I would want manual focus anyway. How did I do?

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I absolutely adore the monkey shot! LOVE it! They are so cute..

Second pic - the tree grabbed your focus so the lions look soft to me.

love the monkeys too! Great shot.

The lions are cut off. I am distracted by not seeing their tails. I would either of cropped in to only show their heads, or tried to get the whole body.

Hmm, thanks for the comments! Those monkeys are adorable, aren't they?

As to the soft lions, I was shooting at f/6.7 and manual focus. Is it possible that they are in focus but a bit overexposed, causing them to look a little out of focus? I ask because the both tree on my side of them and the wall behind them were in focus (or so look to be, through my eyes), which leads me to believe the lions would be in focus too... But I do see what you are talking about so I'm curious what caused this.

randy.wick wrote in post #7004822
...both tree on my side of them and the wall behind them were in focus (or so look to be, through my eyes), which leads me to believe the lions would be in focus too... But I do see what you are talking about so I'm curious what caused this.

I'd suggest it's movement blur. You'll need at least 1/250s ~ 1/500s to guarantee no movement...which is the point at which we all realise we need faster glass...which costs more...and will probably have an L on it somewhere...oh dear - the obsession begins!

But apart from this, great shots!

Ah, quite likely! These were only at 1/180... I have been eyeballing that 70-200 F/4L (here I was at f/6.7), wondering what I can sell to raise the $5xx for it... Then I had to come back to Earth for a while because I've bought four lenses, a tripod, a 40D, two light stands with umbrellas, a third pocketwizard, a 285HV, and plenty of little accessories all in the last month... Back to Earth, Randy!

... and besides, I promised myself the next lens I bought would be a prime L. Oh look, the 300mm f/2.8L IS fits the description!

Fully agree with your reply...

Me...? I'm eyeing up the 70-200L, but the 2.8 not the f/4 cos I love fast glass and feel it would fit in nicely around my 100 f/2.8 macro and 100-400L.

We can but dream.....

Tighter crop on the monkeys, just faces, arms to elbows and feet. Crop in portrait instead of landscape, darken the backround.

dkord wrote in post #7006658
Tighter crop on the monkeys, just faces, arms to elbows and feet. Crop in portrait instead of landscape, darken the backround.

Can you demonstrate how you would do it?

I am not a pro at PS, but is this what you mean?

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Nice! I was a little hesitant but tried it myself and liked it with the tight crop... That might be a competition entry for me...!

randy.wick wrote in post #7011325
Nice! I was a little hesitant but tried it myself and liked it with the tight crop... That might be a competition entry for me...!

I thought I'd share with you a tight crop I took of a monkey the other day...my feeling is that our lenses allow us to really capture expressions that perhaps show what these caged beasties are really thinking.

I'm not a fan of zoos (especially in Japan!) but they have their place, and are great for practicing technique...just wish they were a LOT bigger, for the sake of the animals.

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Yeah, i agree. i think the tighter crop adds drama.
as for

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Robbierob wrote in post #7012052
Yeah, i agree. i think the tighter crop adds drama.
as for his eyes and hand tell such a story. He looks sad to me....great shot

Thanks. That's what I thought. Made me feel almost guilty about taking the shot. But I just wanted to illustrate to the OP that with a chunky zoom, we can try to take a picture that's to be presented, pretty-much, as is. This shot was just trimmed a little and straightened a tad, all thanks to my 100-400 giving me the reach. I sooooo love that lens.

So sad! I am learning a lot about tighter crops in this thread! Thanks so much for your input.