Thank you so very much! Maybe I'm just being my own worst critic but Ill have to try stepping down a bit and see what I can come up with.
Thanks!

Thank you very much for the wonderful encouragement and comments. I will have to see what I can do with them. Thanks for taking the time to look!

Thank you so very much for your wonderful comments and taking the time to look.

Thank you very much for your time and encouragement! I'll keep your suggestion in mind the next time I'm out. See if maybe that will help.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to answer my question. It just seemed that this series was a little soft to me. I was getting better results believe it or not with this same lens and a T2i! I was hoping for a little better sharpness with this camera. But as I stated before this is a new camera for me and I'm still working out all the bells and whistles it has and I also haven't been out shooting BIF's for quite some time so I'm probably very rusty!
Again thank you very much for your time and encouragement. It means a lot!

I apologize for putting this in this section but I was hoping you BIF photog's would know the answer for me. If not I will have this put into the technical area.
I had the wonderful blessing of having this GBH fly very close to me yesterday and I was able to track him all the way down the canal as he flew. But when I got home and downloaded I was a bit depressed about the quality of the shots. I have put in a series of three in a row for you to see what I'm asking about. These are straight out of the camera with nothing done to them. Equipment used is a Canon 70D (new camera - still learning all it's little quirks) with a 100-400L IS. Hand held. Focal length is 120 at 1/1600 & f/5.6. ISO was set to auto but was working at 250. I did however forget to turn the IS off.
My question is this, did I have the f/stop wrong? Do you think they would have come out better with an f/stop of 7or 8? I have noticed that this lens works better in the f/7-8 range. Was the IS slowing down the focus? Or is this just the result of my very rusty panning abilities?

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

Thank you so very much!

I know exactly how you are feeling and where your coming from. I was researching Florida natives not only to attract different butterflies but I wanted a garden that was LOW maintenance. Not only didn't I not want to be out babying plants all the time but I'm kinda lazy when it comes to yard work. I would much rather be out with the camera on some sort of adventure then tending the garden. I ran across an article that said the best plants for butterflies were native "weeds / wildflowers". I thought "Hummm!" So I left the part of the yard that does not see a lot of use to run wild for the first year. Didn't see a whole lot of action. But the second year it took off. This is probably the fifth year of not mowing the back and every year I see more and more species of butterflies. Not only do I have the Spanish Needle that I have seen every species of butterfly feed off but the Lantana and the Virginia Pepperweed seem like a must for these guys. Also oaks with mistletoe bring in the Hairstreaks as that is a host plant for them.
Good luck with your garden! Can't wait to see your butterflies!

Thank you so very much! People always want me to cut my yard but the same people always marvel at all the different butterflies I have. I tell them you can't have one without the other.

Thank you so very much carlysue! I LOVE my back yard but I get the same ol' thing every time someone comes over...."When are you gonna cut that yard?" And I answer the same way all the time..."As soon as the flowers stop blooming!" I spend hours out there some times with a camera and others time w/o but I always marvel at the butterflies.

Thank you so much!

Thank you very much! I was thinking that #5 was a bug as well :lol:

Thank you so very much for the wonderful comments and thanks for taking the time to look.

Thank you for taking the time to look and comment!

Thank you!