Settings and tinkerings

Friday was a lovely day. I went to visit Sue for the evening, stopping off at Dunorlan Park as it's on the way. There was nothing much to see besides the usual parkland birds but I took the opportunity to play around with my camera settings and see if I could get sharper in-flight shots.

My models - lots of Black-headed Gulls, adults and juvs. I really should have checked back to see how the Common Terns got on in the summer, they have gone now. Anyway, I think my tweakings have paid off, but I'll need some more demanding subjects to be sure.

I also tried out some close-range stuff. I couldn't get a clear view of this Woodpigeon without actually getting into the lake with it.

 A sunlit Moorhen. I realised the other day that we don't have many nice Moorhen photos, a situation which is, frankly, unacceptable.

When the subject is practically at your feet and moving about a lot, getting any of it in focus can be tricky. I was aiming for this Greylag's eye, as the rule book says I should, but ended up with a load of bill instead. Still quite like the pic though.

Several of the young Black-headeds were passing the time by playing with fallen leaves in the water.

Another young 'blockhead' in flight. I just spent a while tinkering around with this shot to get a more blurred background, see below...

Not too bad for a quick job? Actually I think I prefer the original after all that, but it's fun to play around with editing techniques.