Been having technical difficulties...

[Elfin Yeti]

...with my "vintage" lens which isn't so sharp all of a sudden. So I resort to PhotoShop to create art from my soft focus shots that would otherwise be trashed. This is of the current US Show Jumping World Champion, Rich Fellers riding his horse, Flexible to another win at the $50,000 Surfside Grand Prix at the Del Mar National Horse Show.

[Celebration]

1. I like it

You made some mighty good lemonade from the lemons!

[Elfin Yeti]

7. Smiling now!

I'm going to start a lemonade stand at this rate! Should make a killing!

[Major Nikon]

2. Is it an autofocus lens?

I see from the exif it's a Nikon 300mm.

[Elfin Yeti]

5. Yes

I've used this lens many times under the same circumstances and achieved much better results. The light was too low to go with a faster shutter which I think was the real problem.

[Major Nikon]

9. OK, I was thinking if it was a technical problem with the focus, you might be able to fix it

Some of the Nikon bodies are able to make small focus error adjustments also.

[ManiacJoe]

3. It might not be the lens.

The D200 at 1600 ISO is going to bring in some noise which after reducing will leave things a little soft. When shooting the D200 at ISO 800 and above, I tend to give the auto-exposure a +0.3 EV to help with the noise. You shutter speed of 1/320 might also be a little low depending on how fast the horses are moving.

[Elfin Yeti]

6. Thanks!

I'll give that a try!

[Mira]

4. That's not a technical difficulty

that's the place where Leroy Neiman starts out. You could be a team mate setting up his work. Awesome.

[Elfin Yeti]

8. Aw Mira...

...I can always count on you to make my day!