Snowy Egret in Mallorca by MikeRC

Hi Mike, whether the image works or not is down to does it represent what you wanted to capture?

For me personally I would go for a slower shutter speed, but that is because I like some movement in the wings if possible on a shot. Why? Well for me I never like my images to look like I could cut and paste the bird on to another background. Blurring the wings for me appears to "anchor" the bird in to the image. I suppose it is comparable to taking pictures of prop driven planes and showing the props as completely static. The dynamic aspect of the image is lost. Or motorsport images where the wheels and spokes are completely frozen.

Of course the slower the shutter speed the harder the shot as you will need to match your panning of the bird to the effect that you are striving for.

That said, of course, the initial aim has to be a sharp shot. From there your technique can be adapted to achieve different results such as the wing blur.

HTH
Cheryl

Students' Down Time by Aggers

A good people study here.

For me there are two separate images created by the way the people are looking.

Cropping at the column's left hand side leaves the three guys all looking right. Meanwhile to the left of the image are the two sat together. For me the two separate images are stronger than the whole.

Not easy with multiple people in the frame to find the strongest composition and I do like the image as is, but like all photography sometimes the image taken is not the one that appeals to the viewer.

Merlin by khump3

Hi Keith, having attended a very similar session if I may I will add some critique.

The idea with the shot is to use the heather to obscure the perch on which the merlin is sitting. I have not uploaded one from this year, but LeeFisher who has voted on this has, so if you follow this link you can see the difference that this makes to the final shot. Clearly the light on the two days was different, but you get the idea.

Here's a link to one from last year where the perch is just about visible.

I know when there are 10-12 people taking a similar shot that finding a good line can be difficult, but I am not sure if you were aware of the intended result or not.

If there were a little more heather in the bottom left then the image would work better, but as it is at the moment the eye is drawn down and out of the bottom left of the shot.

HTH
Cheryl