Scratching the surface...

It can be all too easy, especially after the acquisition of a new bit of equipment (February 19, 2010 post), to tend to use it to the exclusion of everything else, typically if it is a new lens. Although this is not strictly the case, the 24-70 mm AF-S f/2.8 Nikkor has seen more use than my other lenses over the past seven weeks. As good as this lens is (and it truly is) it's time to select another lens for a bit of variation.

This afternoon, I spend some time photographing Black-headed gulls feeding from the water near the Sandbanks to Studland chain ferry. Because of the agility of these birds, it can be quite a challenge to follow them with a long lens during this activity, and success is proportionate to the amount of frames shot. There are two techniques open to me: blast away at 8 frames per second (machine-gunning), or attempting to get the timing right and shoot single frames (the sniper approach). I opt for the latter.

The picture here is the most successful from the session, although I would have preferred to get the whole bird in the frame, but this gull is captured just as its feet touch the surface of the water while still remaining airborne, as it picks at food floating just below the surface.

300 mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor. 1/5000 second at f/2.8. +0.33 EV compensation. ISO 200

© 2010