Shooting Like Liberty Valence

Liberty Valence was a gun slinger, and according to lyrics to the song made famous by Gene Pitney (writers: Hal David, Burt F. Bachrach, Burt Bachrach): “…the point of the gun was the only law that Liberty understood.  When it came to shooting straight and fast, he was mighty good.”

I’m finding that in sports and wildlife photography “straight and fast” are especially rewarding. So far in using my new Canon Eos 5 Ds, it was in game practice at the Patriots summer training camp, and more recently in following the pursuits of Ospreys in catching fish in my neighborhood (Occupessatuxet Cove, RI). Verily, I must say that the 5 Ds was quite responsive, i.e., fast. Since all shooting so far has been by hand held method (not tripod), I’d also have to say the 5 Ds was “straight” (i.e., steady).

The photo of this post was taken after the Osprey was perched a while on a branch back-lit by the sun on an overcast day. The camera was able to catch the energy released by the osprey, most easily seen in the wings and powerful talons. However, something was missing, and the easiest fix was to frame the subject and this “energy release”. This was done in Perfect Photo Suite 9 Borders (specifically, Russel). Oh yes, prior to the Borders being added, I tranformed the photo to b & w in PPS9 Black & White module (Rugged).