Conrad, you've sqeezed all you could out of those eagles at the distance you were at and it looks real good. Is there a way to get closer to them ?
Also, as you said yourself, good control of our shots takes a fair amount effort to develop and maintain. For example, I constantly shoot anything that moves at any time in order to maintain my reflex as well as the control of the camera and the situation.
If I was waiting for eagles to show up in my neck o' the woods to practice my control, I'd be shooting basically nothing.
These are my BIF control shots from this evening. Almost like a "calibration" of the whole system....camera, lens and myself.
See if you can show us some of your control shots. Obviously, the target you choose has to be common and readily accessible to ya.
PetKal wrote:
Conrad, you've sqeezed all you could out of those eagles at the distance you were at and it looks real good. Is there a way to get closer to them ?
Also, as you said yourself, good control of our shots takes a fair amount effort to develop and maintain. For example, I constantly shoot anything that moves at any time in order to maintain my reflex as well as the control of the camera and the situation.
If I was waiting for eagles to show up in my neck o' the woods to practice my control, I'd be shooting basically nothing.
These are my BIF control shots from this evening. Almost like a "calibration" of the whole system....camera, lens and myself.
See if you can show us some of your control shots. Obviously, the target you choose has to be common and readily accessible to ya....Show more →
Wow... are these shot with your fatty lens? Very nice detail Peter. As far as getting closer to the eagles, that would involve hopping a fence and trespassing on some farmland so I'm not too sure if I'm up for a trespassing charge on my record. Hehe.... As far as control shots, I'll head to the local duck pond and see if I can get some gulls or something. I humbly thank you again for all your advice!
Conrad, what I think is also helpful to keep in mind is that one is doing those "control" shots as their own technical exercise, and not to impress any audiences.
The priorities are focus, exposure and framing, in that order.
Any time a shot fails, gotta try to understand the reason for it and then devise some sorta remedy. Sometimes that remedy is a better camera/lens, but there's usually more than one way to skin a cat.
Just new... wait till a low -light issue shows up. I could have used a monopod and gotten more DOF with the dragonfly 1/250 at f/8(with the 300mm and IS) would have worked well. I had to shoot at 1/000 f/5.6 with the 400mm. The lens(400mm) is sharp that is a fact.........Rich
Had to go back to 400 f/5.6......the terns are not coming within the 200mm range this year, even with 400mm I end up having to crop too much.
I may have to try the 500mm tomorrow.
PetKal wrote:
Had to go back to 400 f/5.6......the terns are not coming within the 200mm range this year, even with 400mm I end up having to crop too much.
I may have to try the 500mm tomorrow.
HOLY SMOKES! I can't pick a favorite from these three. They are all top notch! Great shooting Peter!
Thank you Conrad, you are very generous with your praise.
However, we have two problems to solve here. One, need to get closer or try a longer lens so that cropping may be reduced, and IQ improved. Two, we need to try to get them against some interesting background like the one below, and not that empty sky. That one is more difficult as those birds don't follow flight directions very well.
PetKal wrote:
Either way, Canrad, they did not stop me from getting an image today that I am rather pleased with.
Did you say Canard?
Striking image. There is so much about it. That eye alone is something, but also the movement, contrast and unusual background for a gull that really sets it apart.
Striking image. There is so much about it. That eye alone is something, but also the movement, contrast and unusual background for a gull that really sets it apart.
Fun thread
I think Peter meant Conrad. Haha! Wow Alundeb did you read the WHOLE thread?
Willamette wrote:
I've had positive and negative reactions to dough-heads.
On the positive side I've had dough-heads spook shy birds to fly right past me to capture them in flight (green and blue herons usually [image below with my 400 f/5.6]).
On the negative side, two days back, I had patiently approached a family of wood ducks (mother and eight ducklings) at the edge of a pond and managed a couple of shots when a dough-head with dog came by and spooked the whole family back into the water. Sadly one of the ducklings managed to scramble into a chicken-wire wrap around a tree but couldn't get out, needless to say panic ensued. I had to perform a rescue but I'm sure the mother duck did not discern my aid as helpful as she will no longer permit me to approach them. (Still need to download pics from my cards and no shots of the duckling stuck, I'm not that cruel to permit it to suffer just to get a shot). On the positive side of this event the female wood duck moved to a log in the pond and mantled the little ones under her wings for a nap, something I have not witnessed very often with a camera at hand. ...Show more →
Great story man! Good shot as well. Like PetKal said it could stand a little brightening.
alundeb wrote:
Oops, I thought Peter was moving towards the french language...
I only read the pages according to Fibonacci Numbers: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55
but it was too long to wait for 89, so I popped in here.
Cool images by everyone!
Haha! Well you know PetKal IS from Canada so maybe he IS thinking in French! Haha! Fibonacci numbers... Reminds me of my days in college. I'm getting linear algebra flashbacks!
