As I was taking the dusk HDR set for the post below, I noticed a pelican in the last frame gulping down something at a great rate. It was fishing, and very successfully, so I quickly changed over to my telephoto lens. However the pelican was in the shadow and the light was failing, and the pelican moving so much it just became a white blur. I opened up the f-stop and cranked the ISO higher so I still had a exposure time of 1/60th second, but hand holding a long (lens 300mm) is a challenge. Back button focus (which usually helps when trying to pan on moving birds in flight at dusk) didn’t help, mainly because it was difficult to follow the pelicans movement (eg panning). How I wished I was closer (I could have walk around the lake but the pelican may have move on and I would be looking into the light) or had my tripod with me, or that it all happened a little earlier in better light. So I had to do the best I could (and accept that I would not get a perfect photo) just enjoy the moment, use my memory as inspiration and the blurry photos just as reference.
This is a prefect example of my constant message that “Being in the right place at the right time is difficult but being there with the right tools is more important to creativity”
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