# Cobra!



## Dave Spencer (3 Dec 2008)

Photographed this weekend in Marrakech. Not quite as cute as the Robin pics.  










Dave.


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## Dan Crawford (3 Dec 2008)

Sweet! i take it you used your biggest zoom lens for that shot LOL


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## Garuf (3 Dec 2008)

I love the picture but I was disappointed it wasn't the cool refreshing beer.
Well done mate, a really stunner of a picture.


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## Graeme Edwards (3 Dec 2008)

Great pictures Dave!

I remember reading about taking pictures of animals. They say the best way to frame an animal is to give empty space in the direction it is looking, it gives a sense of movement and energy etc, doesn't block the animal in a box so to speak. So if you have the original shots, it might be worth adding/leaving some negative space in the pic to give a better impact. 
I like your blah mate.


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## LondonDragon (3 Dec 2008)

Great shots, but as mentioned they are too centered unless you cropped them, weel done


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## ceg4048 (3 Dec 2008)

Nice one mate. The open mouth is dramatic. Hope that was taken with the tele  

Cheers,


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## Stu Worrall (4 Dec 2008)

nice one dave, hope it didnt bite your ass


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## Behold (4 Dec 2008)

What camera are you using????


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## Dave Spencer (4 Dec 2008)

You could be right about the cropping, Graeme. These pics were just saved for the internet quickly. I still have the uncropped RAW images to play with.

The snake charmer insisted on holding the snake in the air, so I had to keep moving about to avoid a distracting background. I was pretty chuffed with how sharp the images came out.

The pics were taken with a cowardly 70-200mm.  

Dave.

EDIT: Sorry Behold.....camera was a Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8. Most of the pics I took of the snake were at around 100mm.


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## Behold (4 Dec 2008)

They are clear..... 

I still can't get my head round F-Stops..... I keep trying!!!


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## Tom (5 Dec 2008)

Nice 

I half expected to see a bottle of Cobra beer


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## aaronnorth (5 Dec 2008)

Nice pictures.

Behold, this may help a bit -> viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2459


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## Goodygumdrops (5 Dec 2008)

I thought it was going to be a guppy   


I think it's a great photo.


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## Behold (5 Dec 2008)

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> Nice pictures.
> 
> Behold, this may help a bit -> http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2459



Thanks for that. i need to play a bit more i think.

why on a zoom do i loose fstops????


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## aaronnorth (6 Dec 2008)

Behold said:
			
		

> aaronnorth said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I am not sure, i have only just started to learn about photography.


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## Dave Spencer (6 Dec 2008)

Behold said:
			
		

> why on a zoom do i loose fstops????



The f stop is the ratio of size of the aperture diameter and focal length. On the less expensive zooms _ie_ Nikon 70-300mm you have a maximum aperture of f4.5 at 70mm and f5.6 at 300mm.

More expensive zooms such as the 70-200mm f2.8 have a maximum aperture of f2.8 throughout the focal range. This requires a lot more glass to achieve and, therefore, more weight and more money. This would be termed a fast lens, and you can rest assured that the light they let in gives a lovely bright view finder.

I use a 50mm f1.4 which will let in four times as much light as a standard f2.8, making it fantastic for indoor photography of the kids without having to use a flash gun.

Dave.


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