Helena: Beautiful images (no surprise) from Norway; very dream-like in a good way. And thank you for the kind words...
I trekked out to the "wildlife zone" on my woodlands, waiting for the deer herd to show up, but they must of had a better offer (or met a 50 cal. blackpowder ball on the way ). I did find two critters to entertain me during my 4 hour "ExLax for the mind" adventure.
Hey Edd, great squirrels. I tried to get a shot of one on my deck, it was literally as fat as a soccer ball.
Excuse my ignorance but what's an R.B.? We'll see how it does. This is the first winter my brother is going to be driving it. Subaru AWD and snow tires should definitely help!!
I keep coming back for visits here and the variety is wonderful, too many to single out really but I will say to gxgn, your 3rd shot of the hanging icicles is magical! I feel like I can reach in and grasp them in my hand and the deep blue tone speaks winter to me! As for our city, it continues to be a bit strange with +3c temps today and rain (!!) followed by daytime highs of -18c tomorrow; should be a good skating rink on the roads...
Just one from today, showing what little winter we are having. I used my recent find (FD 400mm f2.8 L) with the 7D hand-held. At nearly 14 lbs, I will drag my tripod out next time...
Hey, were have all those beautiful shots come from ?
All unique and original in their own right.
Edd, for crying out loud, you are not using that behemoth handheld
You gonna hurt yourself real bad some day.
The lens looks new indeed, and the first results look very promising. What a find.
Here is a shot (#1) with 1DsMkII + 800L handheld, and I am happy with its technical side.
If there was some nice background as opposed to the vacant sky, then I would like it better overall.
The #2 tandem BIF shot and #3 Trumpeter were also done with 1DsMkII + 800L.
Generally speaking, once we have a fast approaching smallish target against some sort of a patterned background, I am having a real hard time getting a viable shot with 800L.
However, a large slow target particularly a fly-by, particularly against a vacant background, that becomes relatively easy even with 800L.
PetKal wrote:
Edd, for crying out loud, you are not using that behemoth handheld
Hmm, yes, guilty as charged and the combination of the cold wind did not help the sharpness (DOF is razor thin - all shot wide open). I did a few zonal-plate tests in the lab (vibration-free) for resolution and centering checks, and it looks pretty good all around. The I.Q. edge still goes to the FD 300mm f2.8 L and FD 500 f4.5L (nearly identical), but it is up there, so I'm very pleased. I might try it on a decent C-F mono pod that can handle the weight combination.
Peter: The BIF's look great here, eyes/detail really stand out.
Edd, that is a darn nice water reflection where those ducks fool around.
The goose shot also has pleasant light and atmosphere about it.
400 f/2.8 lenses are not easy to master and incorporate to our photography, unless one shoots things like football where they are just about a standard piece of gear. However, not many nature photographers or portrait shooters use 400 f/2.8......there are some good reasons for that, I presume, however, those superfast lenses also have a huge potential.
I still have 400 f/2.8 IS MkI which I just can not make myself to sell yet, although the MkII is in the gear closet as well.
Awesome lenses, IMO the best Canon has made so far ( 500 II and 600 II remain to be seen).
Some more handheld 1DsMkII + 800L in BIF action.
One exhibitionist shot with a stinker of a background, and one OK shot of a distant winter duck.
^ Nice! Wish I were there. I love sea and coastlines at winter.
Like 15Bit has mentioned the weather has been foul over here, so I haven't been out with the camera lately, but here's one from our trip to Sweden for Christmas (5D + 17-40L):
). I did find two critters to entertain me during my 4 hour "ExLax for the mind" adventure.
