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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 15: Love (Hosted By Tim Sayer aka Paper Tiger) >> Challenge 15 Eligible > Come Hither*
by Victor Engel
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12-MAY-2004

Come Hither*
by Victor Engel

Every year at about this time the neighborhood toads converge on my fish pond to sing their love songs and/or be serenaded. I couldn't get my tripod in the position I wanted without scaring off the toads, so I handheld this shot in a prone position.

Canon EOS 10D ,Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
6s f/5.6 at 135.0mm iso400 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time12-May-2004 21:56:36
MakeCanon
ModelEOS 10D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length135 mm
Exposure Time6.00 sec
Aperturef/5.6
ISO Equivalent400
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Program
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Guest 15-May-2004 09:38
Yeah, I think you're right. I thought about cropping on the top. If you look at my other entry, you'll see that it is cropped more at the top. On the other hand, the other picture has more subject below the toad in the uncropped original, so there's more to work with. -- Victor
Anna Yu15-May-2004 05:13
Wow that prone position sounds really useful if you can get such a sharp picture at 6 sec!! I'm going to try it out today if I can find a dry spot outside. I think if you cropped a bit off the top it would be better.
Guest 13-May-2004 21:58
By prone I mean that I was lying down on my stomach with the camera firmly held in both hands which were supported by my elbows touching the ground. This is the most stable position in rifelry. It's been a long time since I've done any shooting with a gun, but I could consistently hit a bullseye in a prone position. I mentally concentrate on controlling my breathing and my heart rate. And, not being able to see through the camera, I mentally freeze my head and my arms. The two arms and head/neck together form a tripod that's actually quite stable.

Regarding the crop -- you said you'd change it, but you didn't say specifically how. I played with several ideas, and the one I settled on put the toad on the left and gave as much water as possible below the toad. Unfortunately, I ran out of subject at the bottom because the toad was below center in the original (pictured):


Hmmm. I just rechecked my work and I realized I uploaded the wrong picture. The one pictured here is the one taken with tripod. I've uploaded the handheld one separately and named it Come Hither 2. Note the lower perspective, which was impossible with my tripod. -- Victor
Olaf.dk 13-May-2004 20:43
You handheld this for six seconds??? [Me not understanding "in a prone position".] From the aspect ratio, I can see you've done some cropping already, but from what I see here, I think I would crop slightly differently to get the toad a little more off the central horizontal axis. --Olaf