pingflood wrote:
Some of you guys have been a real inspiration. I *just* got my 400/5.6 so need to learn a lot, but here's one for starters! (Cropped the hell out of it, I love having almost 17MP to choose from.)
edit: ok, two!
WELCOME!! Hopefully you will stick around and not EGRET it..... hahahah!!
Welcome back! My congratulations on your awards! But you know what that means, don't you? Awards usually translate to more (paying!) work, which usually means more $$, which means this time next year, you'll be showing off all the pics taken with your new 500mm f4 and your new Mark III!!
Welcome back! My congratulations on your awards! But you know what that means, don't you? Awards usually translate to more (paying!) work, which usually means more $$, which means this time next year, you'll be showing off all the pics taken with your new 500mm f4 and your new Mark III!!
Noelle, congratulations on your award. You are a great portrait photographer.
A few years back the Canine Society of Stephenville, Newfoundland gave me a little award for my photograph "Jake the Squirrel Hunter", shot with 400 f/5.6.
Have to describe it as a new "tool", not a new "toy" 'cause the phrase "men and their toys" holds no water in this house! However, my new "tool" is awesome... I have not even cracked the surface of what it can do, and I'm still getting adjusted to the multitude of menus. I haven't shot with it much the last few days, and the weather around here is supposed to be lousy until Tuesday. Of course, it is weather-sealed (but I'm not!)
noelle wrote:
I'm here!! Thanks for missing me guys! I feel the love!
I will try to catch up on what has been posted while I was not here
Yes, I did get more involved than I thought I would be and I did not get to go to the nature reserve My business has kept me busy over the past few days so no time to play for me.
I have some nice news to share..... Portrait of the Year, Kodak Gallery award and a court of honor!!
wow, we'll dealing with royalty here, guys! We're not worthy!
Welcome back Noelle! We were all wondering if you were ok. Congratulations on the Portrait of the Year, Kodak Gallery award and a Court of Honor! I am very happy for you! As Wing said, we're not worthy! But you can't rest on your laurels now... this thread has been running and you've got lots of catching up to do! Hehe... Nice setup Wing is making eh? I'll be building one too this summer. Sometimes I get tired running around out in the woods! That photo of Frida is great! Even your pets have that "studio" look! Haha! Also we're waiting for more contributions from pingflood and his egrets. Reading his comments make me so happy to have inspired someone else to get out there and master the 400. And what is Chris B's new "tool"? 500mm? 600mm? 800mm? Anyway, hope to see some stuff from you soon. Have a great weekend and again congrats and welcome back!
Loving it so far... what a wonderful lens. Even when not used for birds! The Bigma is about to be sold, it just can't compete with this (though it's a great lens on its own!).
pingflood wrote:
Loving it so far... what a wonderful lens. Even when not used for birds! The Bigma is about to be sold, it just can't compete with this (though it's a great lens on its own!).
Thank you! I just yesterday decided to try out back button focus and wow, I can't believe I've spent years not using it. Makes everything SO much easier -- especially when watching and waiting for a bird to make a move.
Of course, I had a senior moment (I'm 34, but they do happen) yesterday evening. Was going to shoot a crow taking off, and the lens wouldn't focus. I tried switching back and forth between servo and one shot mode. Nothing. Tried flicking to manual then back to auto. Nothing. I started going "oh crap, I just bought this and now it's dead" and wondering about cleaning the contacts on the lens...when I realized I was trying to focus with the shutter button. Oopsie on that one...
PS: Congratulations to Noelle! This thread has been hugely inspirational to me and she's one of the culprits who made me fork out this much cash for a lens that WON'T EVEN ZOOM.
Conrad Tan wrote:
NO!! Technique is not the key. It's all luck! Everyone here is just lucky! Except me. hahaha!! (just kidding)
I have to say, access is the key! Access to good cooperative birds on a daily basis within a stone's throw away will make any 400 shooter an expert in a short time.
wing tong wrote:
I have to say, access is the key! Access to good cooperative birds on a daily basis within a stone's throw away will make any 400 shooter an expert in a short time.
Aww... Thanks Wing! I've never been called an expert before! Hehe....
n0b0 wrote:
Was it a cloudy day Conrad? The blown sky in some of the images looks relatively easy to replace in PS.
It was actually cloudy AND raining. Sucked! How how how do I fix it n0b0? I am a PS super-amateur. I tried but ended up introducing noise I could not clean up without losing detail on the bird. Well the pair is nesting there so I'll try again next week when it stops raining.
You are a great portrait photographer.
However, my new "tool" is awesome... I have not even cracked the surface of what it can do, and I'm still getting adjusted to the multitude of menus. I haven't shot with it much the last few days, and the weather around here is supposed to be lousy until Tuesday. Of course, it is weather-sealed (but I'm not!)
My business has kept me busy over the past few days so no time to play for me.