Horse & bird images taken with X-T2

Not long after purchasing the X-T2 I visited my family 'up north' as we say. By 'north' I am, of course, referring to the North-West of England; in this particular case, Lancashire and more specifically, Oldham. The main reason for the trip was to help our daughter pack up her belongings and find a flat in Harrogate, as she will be working there for a year.

So, for a week, I found myself commuting between Oldham and Harrogate, via Leeds. I enjoy driving but it can be a bit repetitive at times. However, as the M62 between Oldham and Leeds is the highest motorway in England, you do get some interesting weather!

During my time 'up north', I stayed at my sister's house (whilst she and her husband took their grandchildren on holiday). My other sister has a horse and so it was that I found myself visiting the stables with her one day. It presented an opportunity to try and get some shots of the swallows and great tits that were nesting in the stable buildings, as well as of the horses.

Here is a close-up head shot of one of the horses:

The image was taken with the 50-140mm F2.8 lens combined with the 1.4x T/C. Horses are pretty jittery animals at best of times but this one decided I was intrigued enough to remain still long enough for me to get some shots off. Settings were: Focal length 70mm (135mm equivalent), ISO 250, Shutter speed 1/500, Aperture F4.0, Exp. Compensation + 0.3 EV, Classic Chrome picture style.

The camera has had no post-processing done (other than RAW conversion in Silkypix). Despite hand-holding the camera (almost 2kgs with the lens, T/C and booster grip attached) the OIS has managed to keep things sharp. You can even make out the pattern on the fly's wings as well as individual hairs on the horse.

Here is the complete image, again with no post-processing:

Now for the birds! These proved to be a much more difficult subject to capture, even with the excellent tracking abilities of the X-T2. However, once I had identified where they were entering and leaving the stables, it was just a case of being patient.

Here is a screenshot of a Great Tit taking a meal into the nest:

The image has had some minor post-processing done in Silkypix 2.0 (+ 0.3 EV exposure compensation, Natural Fine sharpening and Velvia Picture Style).

Well, that's all for now folks. I will post more images and thoughts later today so make sure you revisit.


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