Shot #17

I'm quite pleased with this shot, not sure why, but I'm pleased with it.  It's quite breezy presently and these catkins at the end of some twigs on my silver birch trees were moving about in a very lively fashion.  The wind would drop and I'd be in with a chance to get a shot, but it wasn't easy to focus on the lowest and closest catkin (which is the one I was after).  Click on the image for a larger view.

I thought the colours were quite lovely without the need for a polarizing filter or Photoshop.  Colour settings on my camera are "natural" which means the saturation levels are quite low.  Nevertheless, the blue of the sky, the odd white wispy cloud and the green of the leaves just before they turn their autumn colours have come out rather well.  I also liked the diagonal composition with the catkins ending in the lower part of the frame.  The distant out of focus leaves give a bit more depth to the image.

This time I used a larger depth of field really to protect myself against inaccurate focussing on the end catkins.  I felt 1/400 was sufficient to freeze the motion.  Let me know what you think.  I'd be intrigued to know if you're as enthusiastic about the image as I am ;-)

Hand held, 50mm, f8, 1/400, ISO 200.