Nearly a good one

[RobinP]

That's one more Otter shot than I've ever got, must have been fantastic to see!

[camo]

Originally Posted by RobSutton

My worst (or best?) was this one:



I was sitting on a lovely beach in the Outer Hebrides taking landscapes. Camera on the tripod as all good books say you should with a wide angle lens on, dog asleep at my feet - pretty idyllic really. Then these appeared just to my right. No chance at all of getting a better lens onto the camera so just turned and clicked at the setting the camera was already on, small aperture for best depth of field and slow shutter great for landscapes but not for fast moving otters. Only had time for one shot before they disappeared into the sea. Could have been the best otter shot ever - the dog didn't even notice!

Wow Rob what a treat, I bet you remember it like yesterday!

Roy

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by RobinP

That's one more Otter shot than I've ever got, must have been fantastic to see!

It was - but just a little frustrating.

Originally Posted by camo

Wow Rob what a treat, I bet you remember it like yesterday!

Roy

It's one of those moments that I'll remember for a long, long time. A reward for all the hours spent outside wandering around looking at stuff.

[solus]

Originally Posted by Phoebe

This photo reminds me of a bird I saw last week - it was in flight and I only saw the open wings from above as it flew by my bird table. I have not been able to identify it yet as it was so fast but the colours were just like this. I thought at first it was a Kestrel, but Buzzardlike colours and too small for Buzzard. I'm wondering if it could have been a Cuckoo!

Sounds much more like a female Sparrowhawk! Far more common whizzing past people's birdtables in gardens than Cuckoos, I'm afraid. Cuckoos are only just beginning to arrive in any numbers now and by all accounts fewer numbers than we once enjoyed.

[camo]

Here is a shot from last year that didn't quite make a perfect shot. I found all the signs of a Vixen feeding cubs; bones, crushed grass and feathers, was looking around when I peered into a ditch to have three cubs staring back. I had one shot before they disappeared but it was worth it to catch those eyes even though the surrounding nettles spoilt the shot. I then made the mistake of telling somone about them as after leaving them undisturbed for a week when I returned I found a guy with a tripod within 3 metres of the earth and no attempt to disguise himself. No wonder I only saw the cub once.

Roy

[pressld2]

Here's a sequence from yesterday in the Wyre Forest with John. These shots were taken consecutively, one second apart. So why are only the first and last shots in focus...?



My theory is telekinesis. Wood warblers can alter the focus of an 80-400mm lens using the power of their minds!

Dave P.

[zan]

What an ace thread! I was thinking about just this problem the other day while I was looking through my photos of gannets diving (and not a single one worth keeping except to torment myself with!). I have ever so many 'nearly brilliant' shots I'll put some up later on when I'm back at my home computer.