First try at a BIF..

[cakanode]

Caught this duck flying over the lake at the school I work at one day. He was perched on the swimming dock but flew when one of the kids made a loud noise. I wasn't exactly ready to "shoot" him while flying but caught up to him with my lens and started "firing" away with my D70s. Of the entire sequence, this was the best composed one, albeit not very focused. However, some of my friends think that the blurriness adds to the value. What do you guys think??

http://cakanode.smugmug.com/photos/24175274-M.jpg


--CK

[davev]

Good try CK. The BIF's are tough to get right. The easier ones are when
the birds fly across in front of you, not flying away or towards you.

Sometimes a bit of wing blur looks good in the picture, (or at least I think so)
but this one has a bit to much.

Only one way to get better at it, and that's to practice, practice, practice.

BTW, Welcome to Dgrin.

[Harryb]

Its a good start. BIFs take a bit of practice. Ducks are not the easiest subject for a BIF because they fly in a straight line (usually away from you) and are very fast. The larger birds that circle and soar are easier to track and to lock on to.

A bit of motion blur on the wings can be a dramatic effect and a psoitive on a shot. Thanks for sharing your shot.

[jwear]

like Harry said good start -culls and ducks we all start with them and ducks are a good panning practice -very hard to get a shot that is not a db from a duck :D

[cakanode]

Thanks for the advice guys. I hope to get more chances to practice as time goes by. Good to know that ducks aren't necessarily the easiest to shoot. He was of course quite swift in moving out of my sight once he left his perch.

---CK