A Thank You to the real photographers out there

[DCM1024]

A few weeks ago, I asked for camera settings help as the Wedding I was on the way to photograph would feature a Dove Release, and I had never photographed birds in flight before. neuroanatomist and Mt Spokane Photography were kind enough to lend their guidance, and you'll find here one of my favorite photos from that shoot. Do I consider it to be perfert? No, not at all. I think of myself as a perpetual student, always seeking to learn from those who know more than I do.

Imperfect though it may be, I love the peacefulness and diversity embodied by this photo. Thank you both for your assistance.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

At first, I thought I was seeing a crib, then I saw the dove.  Nice capture.

[revup67]

Nice photo and the lighting is quote good as well.  It appears you are using the 7D.  What lens are you typically using for BIFs (birds in flight) ?

[DCM1024]

The only telephoto lens I have at the moment is the EF-S 55-250 and that is what I used. I had never photographed bif before. Will upgrade my telephoto once I get my new 5d2 paid off! My bf was kind enough to order and finance it for me.

[RLPhoto]

There is plenty of honest helpful photographers on this forum. Its nothing like DPreview forums, which seems to be chalked full of flamers, trolls, and arm-chair elitists.

Good to see you've learned something new in photography. We're all always learning.

[revup67]

The only telephoto lens I have at the moment is the EF-S 55-250 and that is what I used. I had never photographed bif before. Will upgrade my telephoto once I get my new 5d2 paid off! My bf was kind enough to order and finance it for me.

If you opt to photograph BIFs further (didn't see what the others wrote..missed that thread and hope this is not a repeat).   On that 7D, I typically overexpose my birds shots by +1.  Some other settings I use are AI Servo, AF Point Expansion or Zone AF depending on bird size, about 1/1600 and 5.6 or 6.3 should work fine.

Here's my photostream if you wish to view some samples:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/revup67

Enjoy that 5D..you will instantly see the difference in IQ between 7D and 5D especially when zooming in on photo.

[Tammy]

it's great how you captured the bridesmaid's reaction on the right!

[TAF]

That is a really nice photo - one I believe you can be proud of.

However, peacefulness is not really the term I would use to describe the scene you've captured.

To me, it looks like the one on the left is thinking "ooh, cute, let me pet one"; the next one over is thinking either "yumm, fricassee" or "I must find the one with the secret message"; the third one is letting them out so they can escape becoming dinner for the second gal (or so the message can the through); and the fourth one is terrified of birds.

Which is one of the joys of photography...capturing fleeting expressions and then guessing at what they mean.

I wonder, perhaps, if in some situations such as this it might be better to shot a video and then do a frame capture?  Thoughts?

[DCM1024]

I had a video camera running at the same time :-) Yes the fleeting emotions are quite evident and interesting. I showed you this photo instead of the ones with the bride and groom because they were absolutely terrified of the birds. Every photo shows the bride screaming and the groom dodging as though they expect to be pecked to death. I owned large parrots for years, so wasn't frightened of the birds personally.

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. This was a fun, beautiful wedding. They treated me like family. A charming little girl came up to me at the recption and asked why I wasn't dancing with them. The bridal party invited me to dine with them at their table.

I fought my bf tooth and nail when he insisted that I do wedding photography to help him recoup the cost of equipment. I had visions of bridezillas dancing in my head. I've now done about 15 weddings and have been blessed with happy, appreciative brides.

[wickidwombat]

I had a video camera running at the same time :-) Yes the fleeting emotions are quite evident and interesting. I showed you this photo instead of the ones with the bride and groom because they were absolutely terrified of the birds. Every photo shows the bride screaming and the groom dodging as though they expect to be pecked to death. I owned large parrots for years, so wasn't frightened of the birds personally.

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. This was a fun, beautiful wedding. They treated me like family. A charming little girl came up to me at the recption and asked why I wasn't dancing with them. The bridal party invited me to dine with them at their table.

I fought my bf tooth and nail when he insisted that I do wedding photography to help him recoup the cost of equipment. I had visions of bridezillas dancing in my head. I've now done about 15 weddings and have been blessed with happy, appreciative brides.

LOL so if both the bride and groom were scared of birds, who's idea was the dove release as part of the ceremony?

people do such wierd stuff dont they?

[sandymandy]

There is plenty of honest helpful photographers on this forum. Its nothing like DPreview forums, which seems to be chalked full of flamers, trolls, and arm-chair elitists.

Probably cuz its clear in this board which brand we all love

took me a little moment to notice the flying dove in your photo.