Whatbird.com

Taken 9-29-09 in Southwestern New Mexico.

Nikon D200, Nikon 70-300mm Vr lens, 1/500, f10, ISO 200

 

---

Southwestern New Mexico

WOW!!! Great shot, raptrlvr!!

---

We did not inherit Mother Earth from our ancestors...... we have borrowed Her from our descendants.
Chief Seattle (paraphrased)

Thanks Bird Brain. This kestrel was chasing the goshawk today when I was flying her.

---

Southwestern New Mexico

Very nice shot!  Some day I'll get to see one of those...

I'm always impressed how sharp your photos are with the smaller lens.  I'm sure the narrow aperture helped, but what focal length were you at for that shot?  Did you crop it much?

This photo was shot with a Nikon 70-300mm VR lens at the full extension. On my camera {Nikon D200} that makes it a 450mm because of the crop factor. Here is the picture before I cropped it.

 

---

Southwestern New Mexico

Yeah, I've got a D300 with the same lens.  I almost always get fuzzy pictures at max zoom, though.  If I back off even a little (280mm or 260mm) and shoot at f/8, they get noticeably sharper.  Maybe not all 70-300mm ED AF-S VR's are created equal 

My VR is always on and I set the focus to the 51 points setting. That works out great for me.

---

Southwestern New Mexico

I use 51-point for in-flight shots (it's awesome for this), but I always seem to have to flip back to 9-point or 1-point for anything close to the ground where there is any vegetation involved.  I guess that's less of a concern in the desert, though  :-)