The flock of White-faced Ibis flies low over Lake Estes.
[Apr. 28th, 2012 06:30:41 AM]
Hey, it's okay. I'm sure you hold the same opinion as many viewing that image. It is not well understood. People are jumping to the wrong conclusion. That is my fault. I shouldn't have entered a sophisticated shot. Should have dumbed down a shot for the challenge.
In the short time of 1/800s, the flock would move forward more than 2 inches. The only reason the subjects are detailed and sharp is because I was panning motion their flight.
Had I been on a fixed tripod, the 1/800s shutter speed would have blurred the birds. To freeze fast birds in flight, the shutter speed would have to be 1/3000s or faster. Some people did not understand what technical effort went into this image. If the subjects have to be blurred (or the background a complete blur) to indicate a panning motion shot, then voters do not understand the technique. It is certainly possible to come up with a sharp image if one is panning smoothly with a smoothly moving subject.
As far as the background is concerned, it is blurred by the panning motion... not a smooth bokeh.
Oh, I don't really care. The score doesn't matter to me. It's just very frustrating to have a good nature image receive a lot of really low votes when I used the technique in good faith. I should have panned a bicycle in motion. Very easy and very boring that would have been... but it would have scored high because the voters understand bicycles in motion.
[Apr. 30th, 2012 12:37:14 PM]
Of course this is a panning motion shot. Who thinks it is possible to set up a fixed tripod in order to capture a fast flying flock as they pass by? That would never happen.
Great shot of these Ibis. They look so much like the Glossy Ibis that I see here. It's a shame that not everybody gets the concept of 'panning' the same way. Most people want to be knocked over the head with blur for it to meet what they think panning should look like.
While I'm sure you panned to capture this, the resulting image appears to just have a shallow depth of field and high shutter speed. The background should be more blurred conveying the motion...
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