I'd be interested in anyone's comments on the following, please. I set out with the main aim of improving on what I was pretty chuffed with last year on the Farne Islands, but ended up disappointed. Started trying to get head-on puffin shots with K5 and Sigma 120-400 but found it too slow to auto-focus. Swapped to Pentax 18-135 with some improvement in focus speed, but the light wasn't great, so couldn't get a high enough shutter speed for a sharp image a lot of the time. Does that seem a reasonable explanation for the fairly mediocre quality? Recent posts using the DA* 300 seem far superior. I'm happier with a few other shots away from the Farnes that I'll post separately. Thanks for any comments!

1.Sigma


2. Pentax - big crop


3. Sigma - even bigger crop


4. Pentax - big crop from no.5


5. Pentax


6. Sigma


7. Pentax


8. Pentax


9. Pentax

Thanks, all, nothing like an owl to get the heart going when you're out birdwatching!
Alan, I don't mind at all - the difference is remarkable, though maybe a bit of texture has been lost in the name of brightness? Do you think Lightroom is better than Photoshop? I have Photoshop, but I'm sure I don't get the best out of it and don't find it easy to use.
Thanks again,

John

LEOs were showing regularly nearby in the evenings in May/June until the young fledged and didn't demand the same amount of feeding! Hope you'll like these.

1. I like this one because of the feeling of space that the bird needs to hunt over



2. Same one cropped



3. This one came out of the sun



And the pick of the rest:
4.



5.



6.



7.



8.



9.

Thanks for the comments! I realised most were "eyeless" but would not have thought of using flash on such a bright day, so that's a lesson to learn. Ditto the blown highlights - I'm not really confident about what's going to come out of the camera at any given setting, so good shots are as much a matter of luck as skill at the moment. Point taken too about the background blobs - I should have spent a bit longer on that to get rid of them, but was running out of patience a bit with so many images to wade through after a fantastic day on the islands.

Got some owls to post next which I hope you'll like!

Thanks again,

John

Fantastic definition in all of them! I go for no. 5 too, for being that bit different.

I'd welcome any technical advice on these tern shots, particularly camera settings. Do you think different settings could have produced a better image? I think they're generally OK, but I wonder if they could be enhanced a bit, too. Some were taken in sunlight, others (I think it's obvious which ones) when cloud cover had come over, making for a pretty boring white background. I've added a bit of vignetting to a couple to alleviate the whiteness. Thanks for ploughing through them if you do! If birds are not your thing and you can't be bothered, I don't blame you!
They're all taken with my K-5 and DA 18-135 lens
First group are all 1/1000 sec, f/6.3 and ISO 400

1.



2.



3.



4.



This group are all 1/2000 sec at f/7.1, ISO 400

5.



6.



7.



8.



And I've got one at 1/2000 sec, f6.3, ISO 800

9.



Finally, here's one that's massively cropped as the birds that caught my eye were having a mid-air scrap about a quarter of a mile away. I only had the 18-135mm lens with me and was amazed at the quality of the cropped picture. It's not meant to be a display image, just an example of what the lens can do (and the fantastic aerial ability of these birds!)
10.



Thanks,

Thanks for the kind words! I'm going to post some tern shots later, which I'd be grateful for technical comments on. I hope you'll have a look!

Blythman's recent post inspired these from my visit last weekend to Northumberland. I wouldn't dream of competing in terms of photo quality, but I was still pretty chuffed with how some came out. Most shot with K5+Sigma 120-400, but terns all with DA 18-135, which I think is a better lens than I make it seem! Hope you find something that makes you smile!
1. Feed me till I want no more!



2. Honest, Mum, he made me do it!



3. How the hell does this flying thing work!!



4. OK, I submit!



5. Right a bit ...aaah, heaven!



6 Puffin portrait



7. Typical tern



8. Where else would you rather be?

Hi, I have a K7 that I would maybe sell. Not used much and in really excellent condition. Message me if you'd like to discuss.

I've had the "freeze" problem a number of times with my still pretty new K-5, with both original and non-Pentax batteries. No suggestion of low power though - it can happen with a newly charged battery and with a depleted one. It does seem to happen when trying to take a number of shots while tracking moving objects (usually birds in flight)in single shot mode, not burst. I wondered if it was because auto focus couldn't keep up. Is that likely? It's certainly annoying! Disengage, then re-engage the battery and all's well again - but the bird has flown!