Critique required Kell's 52 4 24 - WK 45 SNAPPERS CHOICE ADDED

Kell

Kell

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Kell
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Week 01 - Close to home.

Can you get much closer than directly overhead? Took these while stood in my garden.

We're very lucky in High Wycombe that Kites are a very common sight. But no matter how many times I see one, they still make me smile.

(Unless you're trying to take a shot of one and it refuses to soar into your viewfinder.)

Preferred the last one as the light was better.

TP52 2024- Week 01 - Close to home- by Kell, on Flickr

TP52 2024- Week 01 - Close to home--3 by Kell, on Flickr

TP52 2024- Week 01 - Close to home--4 by Kell, on Flickr
 
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Three lovely pics, I like the second pic overall, but the tail of the first one and body and sky of the third.

Not much we can do with the light source tho' or ask the subject to move a little. :)
 
I love kites too. Didn't used to see them round here - or many anyway - (just outside Cardiff) but seen a few lately. Must be migrating down the M4 corridor. Shots 2 and 3 for me.
 
Impressive stuff Kell. Can I ask what focal length you were at for this? Are these sort of images possible with 200-300mm (35mm equiv) or do you really need longer (or heavy cropping)? Just trying to get a sense of how close they were, and how many photos ended up in the bin. You make it look easy :)
 
That’s very kind.

These were all shot at/around 400mm on a FF.

They are cropped, but not excessively so.

In Wycombe at least, they circle fairly low as they’re always on the lookout for scraps.

In this instance I took less than 10. In the past I might have taken 50-60 and not got a single good one.
 
Kell said:
In Wycombe at least, they circle fairly low as they’re always on the lookout for scraps.
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Thanks for that Kell. I suppose that's why MFT is popular for birding as a 200mm lens is far more reasonable (affordable). I'm guessing you're up in the hills somewhere like Booker or Downley, or on the outskirts? (I used to work as a BT engineer in Wycombe many years ago)
 
Harlequin565 said:
Thanks for that Kell. I suppose that's why MFT is popular for birding as a 200mm lens is far more reasonable (affordable). I'm guessing you're up in the hills somewhere like Booker or Downley, or on the outskirts? (I used to work as a BT engineer in Wycombe many years ago)
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About 200 yards from the airstrip at Booker. Not quite enough on the outskirts to claim we live in Marlow. ;-)
 
That's really interesting - thanks. Longest lens I have is 300mm (FF) and I can just about get decent images of the birds on the bird table across the garden. The lack of cropping here is pretty impressive. Low flying + 400mm + skill = results by the look of it. (y)
 
Good set, would be happy with any of them. Think I will go with the others and agree no2 for me
 
Very nice Kell. I really like the second one. The light on the Kite brings out its beautiful markings.
 
Great shot of a gorgeous bird. I'm with you - the light on the body is fabulous.
 
WEEK 02 - HARD.

A few to choose from again this week.

1.

When you realise how HARD these are to spot, it's HARD to work out how come our cat manages to catch as many as he does.

TP522024: WEEK 02 - HARD 01 by Kell, on Flickr

2.

Talking of our cat, he's getting on a bit now, so I built him this ladder to get up and down from the garage to the side of the house. It's HARD to be angry at the squirrels for taking advantage of it.

TP522024: WEEK 02 - HARD 03 by Kell, on Flickr

3.

It's tough for animals in the winter: "All I wanted was a drink but this water's gone all HARD"

TP522024: WEEK 02 - HARD 02 by Kell, on Flickr
 
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Close to home, going for the second image although you cannot argue they are all nice, love a red kite image, they are so gracefull.

Loving your take on the hard theme, the third shot does it for me, poor thing even if it is a grey.
 
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Good stuff Kell ;)
 
Love the squirrel shots!! The first especially, maybe for the light and how it stands out against the blurred background.
 
Great set of pictures, I often wonder too how our cat manages to find such a wide variety of wildlife. Your chosen shot works really well and I feel so sorry for him not getting his drink, I do wonder in my opinion if it would benefit from a slightly tighter crop?
 
Great pics of the squirrels! I like the first best, but agree with you that the second works best for the theme due to the ice imo
 
Some lovely shots of the local wildlife. That is very hard water indeed
 
Week 03 - Soft

Used this subject before, but not this shot.

I used to work almost directly opposite Harrods. So when my daughter was born in 2005, I bought her that year's Christmas teddy.

One of the things about the Harrod's bears is they have the year embroidered on their feet.

While it was never meant to be a 'tradition', it's something I've done every year since and she now has 18 of them from 2005-2023. In fact, she got rather upset at the idea I might stop.

Shot one SOOC Shot on a Sigma 12-24mm at 12mm

TP52 2024- Week 03 - SOFT-4243-2 by Kell, on Flickr

Shot two is how I would have presented it if not for the Tech.

TP52 2024- Week 03 - SOFT-4243 by Kell, on Flickr
 
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That's quite a collection! I think I'll go with the tighter crop, it appears to be brighter and the colours look better.
 
BobBCN said:
That's quite a collection! I think I'll go with the tighter crop, it appears to be brighter and the colours look better.
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Thanks Bob - as I say, I would almost never post a SOOC image - if it wasn't for the current tech. Especially as my camera is set up to give neutral RAW images.

I don't think it's a stunning image either way. Didn't work out quite how I wanted. So figured I'd get the tech out the way now.
 
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I think the cropped one does work better but it's worth getting the SOOC out of the way. I don't think I've ever posted anything SOOC, so it's going to be a challenge for me in the next few weeks.
 
Cloudforest said:
I think the cropped one does work better but it's worth getting the SOOC out of the way. I don't think I've ever posted anything SOOC, so it's going to be a challenge for me in the next few weeks.
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Agreed - and my thinking exactly.
 
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