 |
| Emerging from the Water |
I was observing the Gulls catching fish yesterday. They're so impressive when they dive full body into the water, to emerge a few seconds later with a fish. This photo shows a Gull that was not successful, but the exit scene from the water still impressed me.
What did I do right? I used a fast shutter speed (1/2500 seconds) to freeze the action. That's why you can see the individual water drops in mid-air, and the wings without any movement. A slower shutter speed would have caused a "smearing" of anything that moves (water, wings, etc.) in the frame. I also used a relatively open shutter (f/6.3, the maximum my lens provides), to draw focus to the main subject by creating a shallow depth of field. That's why the other gulls in the background are out of focus.
What would I want to improve? The gulls in the background do provide some distraction - the photo would have been more impressive without them. I also would have loved to have more open space to the right (the direction the gull is looking at). Unfortunately, in fast-action photography, I'm sometimes left with less than perfect results, as I don't have the time to carefully "arrange" the composition like I'd do for stiller subjects.