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11 hours ago by throwanem

Okay, but the real question here: What'd he shoot it with?

(Old photographer joke: You're shooting by a lake on a cloudy day and you happen on someone drowning, and have to choose between dropping your gear to run to the rescue and getting a shot to sell the local paper. So - what f-stop do you use?)

11 hours ago by dylan604

f/8.

I'd be more concerned about shutter speed. If the drownee is flailing their arms, dragging the shutter slower might yield a more dramatic look with the motion blur. Too high of shutter speed so the action is frozen might look more like someone rehearsing their part in a synchronized routine.

Keeping the subject in focus is more important as a decent telephoto will get you an out of focus background. Unless you're just a dick and use a wide angle but wade out into the water to get a decent framing.

11 hours ago by lmilcin

With f/8 on a cloudy day you might get problem getting sharp image of the arms or have to settle on grainy image, regardless of the lens.

I would use fastest aperture I can that is still sharp and just shot a bunch of frames very quickly in hopes I can get arms in just the right, dramatic position.

As to whether to shoot wide or tele, if you feel you have enough time try to get subject to fill the frame first, while he still looks lively, and then quickly change the lens to get some additional shots with the background.

10 hours ago by mpnordland

You're both wrong. There won't be much motion at all because drowning people don't splash.

10 hours ago by dylan604

dragging the shutter slow enough to get motion blur would also make up for any difference in light loss. would require some sort of stabilization though. if you don't have a tri/monopod, you can set it on the ground and use some rocks or sticks (you're near a lake) to prop up the lens. also, i'd suggest using a 1 second shutter release delay to not have any bounce from you pressing the buttons on such a slow shutter.

also, digital cameras could just compensate slower f-stop with higher ISO if necessary

10 hours ago by benjiweber

Apparently people drowning don't actually flail their arms (never seen anyone drowning though).

7 hours ago by dylan604

Apparently, some people will take the fun out of anyone joking around on an internet forum

10 hours ago by __s

There's videos of lifeguards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0KTqPloUiU&list=PLgqwWmjSsN...

Can be pretty hard to see, but no absolute about flailing

9 hours ago by mey

And this is why I carry a GoPro around in my bag.

8 hours ago by dylan604

With the lensing of a GoPro, you might as well use a CameraPhone. Otherwise, anything further than 20' away will only be a few pixels in the GoPro image.

10 hours ago by robocat

As always, do your refresher: http://spotthedrowningchild.com/

(On iPad I had to stop loading before page would show the random video, YMMV).

4 hours ago by KMnO4

“f/8 and be there” is a common expression that describes these situations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ƒ/8_and_be_there

7 hours ago by phoenix3200

This was my dad. This very last weekend.

Though to be fair, he would not have been able to rescue the said individual.

11 hours ago by CommonGuy

What is this kind of annoying cookie consent dialog? Takes over a minute to disable advertisment cookies, probably just to coerce users into accepting all cookies

11 hours ago by Shank

This is why I really suggest using uBlock Origin, blocking all of the trackers, and then removing the cookie popups. That would have been blocked by the "EasyList Cookie" and "Fanboy's Annoyances" list(s), with the other default filters in place for trackers.

4 hours ago by sundvor

I didn't see any of them, page loaded instantly.

Browser is Samsung Internet on my mobile, which has a built in section for ad blocking. I've enabled Adblock for Samsung Internet and Adblock Plus, can't quite remember why I enabled both, but there's a few more too. (Sadly no Ublock Origin, which I run on my desktops).

I am actually quite happy with this, it's very impressive out of the box.

7 hours ago by dharmaturtle

For the lazy (works for me with uBlock Origin & Chrome):

1. https://easylist.to/

2. Click "add it to your ad blocker" on the relevant list.

3. Click subscribe in the upper right corner

11 hours ago by timdaub

I closed the page when it popped up. I didn't end up reading anything on the site.

11 hours ago by mngnt

> This may take up to a few minutes to process.

It did for me. When it got to "applying settings", I scrolled down and started reading. Then, as I was half way through, it scrolled all the way up just to proudly announce that the Sisyphean task of NOT tracking me is done.

> You have successfully updated your Cookie settings.

10 hours ago by opheliate

At this point, seeing the TrustArc dialogue evokes a visceral urge to exit whatever page I'm on ASAP. I can't believe they're able to get away with this kind of behaviour.

9 hours ago by anigbrowl

I'd be quite happy if CA sued them. Or you could add up the 10-20 second time wasted and multiply it by several million californians to get a sense of how many person-years of attention they're stealing to try to trick people into waiving their privacy rights.

5 hours ago by chrismorgan

One moderately windy day when cycling, I encountered a bird that I concluded was practising precision soaring and simply enjoying itself. It was constantly adjusting its posture as necessary so that it could hover roughly in-place, with just the occasional flap needed. Then after maybe a minute it’d abruptly change position by a few metres in any direction, and start hovering again. I watched it for more than five minutes before it flew away.

I also remember another time watching a sparrow land on a wire fence backwards in a fairly strong wind: it flew with the wind towards the fence, then turned around in mid-air a metre or two before it reached the fence, was blown the rest of the way and landed neatly.

5 hours ago by Swenrekcah

Your story reminds me of this video of a snowboarding crow: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3dWw9GLcOeA

4 hours ago by quercusa

Mature red-tailed hawks can hover or soar with only the slightest movements but the juveniles are comically bad at it.

4 hours ago by mc32

And more geese flying upside down one-upping or me tooing each other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amhgFdyW1Q8

9 hours ago by blunte

I saw this exact thing a couple of months ago not so far from Arhnem. (I thought it might be a crane, but it was moving very fast... so I could be mistaken.)

This bird was diving at about 30-45 degrees from fairly high, and it suddenly inverted, stayed inverted for a second or so, and then righted itself. It was moving very fast, and you could actually hear the sound (and the changes of sound) of the air as it was moving through it.

There were no other airborne birds of that size that I could see anywhere near it, so I initially thought it was dying or otherwise out of control. But then it descended below view, and I never heard a thump.

I searched for inverted bird flight immediately after and learned that there are a number of observed cases where birds may do that. One theory is that they sometimes do it because they enjoy it. Other theories of course involve chasing prey, observing things, showing off, etc. But I like the idea that a bird might just be having fun. I mean, if I could fly, I think I would screw around all the time just because I could. After all, children will just run around wildly just because they can run.

9 hours ago by brundolf

We often assume non-human animals are totally focused on the logical business of survival. But we aren't, and I don't see why they would be any different

7 hours ago by Darvokis

Watch any number of animal documentaries. Animals (particularly mammals) of all kinds engage in play, whether children or adults. I find it odd that anybody questions the idea.

7 hours ago by thaumasiotes

That's more evidence that playing is part of the logical business of survival than evidence that animals aren't spending their time in the logical business of survival.

8 hours ago by jon_richards

7 hours ago by emi2k01

There's an interesting comment in that video that says the bird thinks it's an egg and it's trying to break it open.

I don't know if that's true but I wanted to point it out to hopefully get some answers here.

6 hours ago by BeefWellington

This is one of my favorite ted talks, on animal behaviour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcJxRqTs5nk

The examples of animals doing things the way they do are both funny and entertaining.

11 hours ago by ambirex

say experts who are flightless and honestly a little jealous ;)

11 hours ago by ProAm

This usually results in a flat spin and death heading out to sea.

11 hours ago by dylan604

Talk to me Goose!

5 hours ago by soheil

But the birdie makes it worth it.

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