guinea fowl, people still raise 'em around here.

[macronaut]

The Tawny Frogmouths have two chicks this year. Here is the family photo

[Arjay Bee]

Not quite back yard but not quite Pentax gear either



Darter at the South Mole Fremantle - Samsung S9 - (Perhaps we need a thread for Mobile/Cell phone photos or is there one already.)

[Larrymc]

K-3, Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 II DC HSM, f/6.3, 75mm, 1/200sec, 100iso
Hurried shot through patio door glass

Yard Bird by Larry Mc, on Flickr

[Larrymc]

The Tawny Frogmouths have two chicks this year. Here is the family photo

Great capture, those owls have some great camouflage, especially the adult on the right. It looks almost like a big chunk of wood lodged on the limb.

Branta canadensis. Virginia is their winter get-away destination - they think this is the warm climate; in contrast to the frozen North, I reckon it is.

The bluebird of happiness, no doubt - a female watching for the return of her mate bearing food - this was in the spring, and she's got eggs in the nest.

[smf]

These cropped images of a red-bellied woodpecker were captured through the glass of a sliding door with my handheld K-S2 and an older smc Pentax-F 1:4.5-5.6100-300mm.
In the final image, the bird is leaving with some suet on its beak. I wish my shutter speed's setting had been higher, but I am pleased the blur isn't more severe.
Happy new year to all, and thanks for posting your images and comments.

[Des]

These cropped images of a red-bellied woodpecker were captured through the glass of a sliding door with my handheld K-S2 and an older smc Pentax-F 1:4.5-5.6100-300mm.
In the final image, the bird is leaving with some suet on its beak. I wish my shutter speed's setting had been higher, but I am pleased the blur isn't more severe.

This is always such a difficult compromise, especially with a slowish zoom. So often we have to shoot in mediocre light. Here the light allowed 1/200th, f5.6 and ISO800. To be sure of freezing the motion, you'd need to go to something like 1/640th second. That's more than 1.5 stops. Ideally with an xx-300 zoom at the long end you'd use f8. That's another stop. So are you going to push the ISO by 2.5 or 3 stops? You'd be at 5000 or 6400. I've got a K-S2 as well, and I'd say you'd lose so much detail and contrast that it would hardly be worth it. Even sticking with f5.6, you'd still be pushing the ISO to about 3200 to get the required shutter speed - and that would be a pretty compromised image too. (3200 is OK with the K-S2 in bright light, but not dull light.) You could add flash, but that has it's own issues and it isn't practical when shooting through glass (unless you've already set up a remote-controlled flash outside). So we come back to the Norm strategy: a slow shutter, keep the ISO down as much as possible, shoot bursts and get a lot of throw-aways in the hope of one really good one.

I agree that these ones came out quite well.

Happy new year to all, and thanks for posting your images and comments.

A happy new year to you too, and to all our Pentaxian wildlife photographers. I've also greatly enjoyed all the interesting images and stories this year.

[smf]

This is always such a difficult compromise, especially with a slowish zoom. So often we have to shoot in mediocre light. Here the light allowed 1/200th, f5.6 and ISO800. To be sure of freezing the motion, you'd need to go to something like 1/640th second. That's more than 1.5 stops. Ideally with an xx-300 zoom at the long end you'd use f8. That's another stop. So are you going to push the ISO by 2.5 or 3 stops? You'd be at 5000 or 6400. I've got a K-S2 as well, and I'd say you'd lose so much detail and contrast that it would hardly be worth it. Even sticking with f5.6, you'd still be pushing the ISO to about 3200 to get the required shutter speed - and that would be a pretty compromised image too. (3200 is OK with the K-S2 in bright light, but not dull light.) You could add flash, but that has it's own issues and it isn't practical when shooting through glass (unless you've already set up a remote-controlled flash outside). So we come back to the Norm strategy: a slow shutter, keep the ISO down as much as possible, shoot bursts and get a lot of throw-aways in the hope of one really good one.

I agree that these ones came out quite well.



A happy new year to you too, and to all our Pentaxian wildlife photographers. I've also greatly enjoyed all the interesting images and stories this year.

Thanks very much for your thoughtful and detailed response to my post!
Best wishes,
Stu

[DW58]

New camera and editing software. The three of us are all a work in progress. Comments are welcome.

[dbs]

G'Day DW

Looks like a promising start...........now carry on and don't worry adout it...


Dave

[DW58]

G'Day DW

Looks like a promising start...........now carry on and don't worry adout it...


Dave

Thanks. Mostly worried about my PP skills.

[dbs]

Thanks. Mostly worried about my PP skills.

G'Day DW

PP and skills don't go together with me at all...your miles ahead..

Dave

[jabobby]

Stuart & Des, thank you both and I also wish a very happy new year to all. This forum is positive time spent for me thanks to the wonderful participation by folks.
Best Regards, Bob