I've only tried it with a zoom (50-500) locating a fast moving plane is relatively easy, then it's a (fairly) simple matter of keeping it in the frame while zooming in and keeping the focus locked on, I used centre point focus and AF-C.

My biggest problem was not having enough experience at panning which resulted in a lot of half planes

Wasn't that the one copied from a Scalextric model?

Sharp as a pin Barrie and congrats on the win, not easy with a club your size.

Sorry don't have a name for you either.

You chaps will have to have your own forum, pentaxuser.och.i



PS: will us Sassenachs need passports to visit and are you going to rebuild that big wall for a borderline.

Rarely had that from a Judge, comments are usually "its a competent shot and the childs parents must love it" just goes to show how varied judges can be.

I wouldn't buy any especially for the purpose, I've tried extension tubes on my Pentax A*300mm and just can't get used to the limited focus range, it's OK for stuff that doesn't move but trying to capture something that's there one minute and gone the next is nigh on impossible.

Obviously someone horsing around.

Quite possibly depending on the Judge, but regardless of what judges think or what method they use you shouldn't take pictures to please them, take what you like yourself and if other people (and judges) like them too then that's an added bonus.

It is a fact that some judges will take into account how difficult an image was to take, especially if it comes to making a decision on the best of several shots with equal merit, there are also judges who will ignore technical skill or artistic flair and simply choose the image they would like to see hung on their wall, I've had one judge award not only best colour pictorial to a shot but also choose it as best overall image in the exhibition, other judges have given the same image very poor comments and dismissed it as "average"

On the subject of lenses, the 55-300 would be a good starting point but for something the size of garden birds you'll need to get within around 3-4 metres to get the subject well into the frame, for bigger birds like gulls it should be fine, the birds are bigger and also far less timid at approaching, although anyone who's been to the seaside and eaten a bag of chips will know that.

Your Judges obviously like Birds, try visiting a few YPU clubs, the attitude many YPU judges is as previously said "bird on a stick" and I have seen many superb images dismissed simply because the bird was simply sat in a tree.

Birds are very difficult subjects to master, they don't stay in one place very long, they tend to move about unpredictably and they rarely turn to face the direction you want them to, even more so when your trying to get a good shot, add to that the fact they like to sit in trees with all manner of branches and leaves either in the way or casting unwanted shadows or forming distracting backgrounds. I say Bravo that the Judges in your area still recognise this.

It could be argued that other types of photography are easy by comparison, with still life and studio work the photographer has full control of lighting and subject and has unlimited chances to get the right shot, similar can be said of landscape photography, all the photographer has to do is compose the shot and wait for the light, that barn in the middle of the field isn't going anywhere and it's certainly not going to turn it's arse on him or move further up the field

Open category competitions are extremely difficult as the judge has to determine which image deserves the most merit, does he go for the landscape sunrise knowing that the photographer had to be up at 3am and travel 100 miles to be in the right place at the right time, or does he commend the wildlife shot knowing the photographer had spent hours upon hours in a bird hide freezing his bits off, or even the studio shot where the photographer has had the patience to coax an unwilling child or teenager into posing for the shot the parents want. You pay the Judge and he make his choice.

Images of "birds on sticks" as some judges like to refer to them, aren't really intended to be "artistic" Most are presented as Natural History shots and comparing them to other types of photography is like comparing chalk to cheese, but at the end of the day everything is subjective to ones own tastes and often the judges, personally I would soon rather look at a mediocre shot of a bird on a stick that some over manipulated arty-farty image.

As for your search for a lens, if you wan't to capture birds doing something (flying?) then your going to need the fastest and longest lens you can afford, although many of us tend to manage quite well with the Sigma zooms, the 150-500 or 50-500

Having said that and not wanting to put you off but you need to master taking shots of birds doing nothing before progressing further