Vacation Shots of the NC outer Banks

Got back from vacation from the North Carolina Outer Banks yesterday. Didn't get as much shoot time as I had hoped for with 10 family members to entertain, but I did manage to get out a little. My 150 Emails indicate that I missed a bunch of good stuff, sorry I could respond to all but I have been busy going through the 3000+ photos from the trip. I do have to give cudos to the HDR string----Wow, great stuff; Especially those of Rome. I did get lucky and found a nest with mother Osprey and 3 youngsters--- Anyway, here are a few I shot, more on my webpage at rwilliamsimaging.com .





http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/v1/p205222605-4.jpg


http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/v31/p29342910-4.jpg


http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/v1/p375036360-4.jpg


http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/v27/p168844015-4.jpg


http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/v1/p1020473219-4.jpg





Hope you like,





Bob

Bob....WOW......


Great pictures. The first and the last really stand out for me.


I hope the rest of the trip was as great.


Brant

Awesome, Bob. I like the second one the most, allthough it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pieter

Awesome, Bob. I like the second one the most, allthough it's a bit of pity that the bird doesn't look at you.(Or maybe it's better that he doesn't look at you, since he looks kind of hungry;))

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Thanks Pieter. I took about 1800 shots of these guys, but had some lighting and angle issues and of course, these birds just don't follow direction very well, but here is one that should suit your need for a bird "lookin at me"


http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/v31/p457053362-4.jpg

@ Brant, Thanks, These Birds were really a treat to shoot. I just wish I had thought a little more about exposure etc and I wish I had been able to get a CP filter for my 500--but....live and learn. I am still pretty happy with some of the shots.


Thanks again,


Bob

Awsome! The first and last shots are my favorite. They are so sharp and clear it looks like you walked up and stuck the lens right in their faces. Amazing. I wish I could take shots like these.

I like the flight ones and the "lookin atchoo" one the most.


There

@Ham. Thanks. I also like the ones where the animal is looking right at you. The background is actually the sky and pretty close to what I was seeing. The shot was taken very early in the AM and the sky was a little pinkish/orangish and I did light the bird with flash.


Thanks again for looking---and, if I haven

No problem. I guessed the background was natural, wouldn

Beautiful shots, Bob!! Welcome back & I hope you had a great vacation!

Great shots Bob, really like the in flight shots and that last eyeballin

Hey Bob,


Great shots! I really like #4 and #5 the best, but they

@Richard, Thanks for the comments and compliments.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Richard Lane

I'm wondering if #4 would look a little better with a small portion of the bottom of the nest cropped out, since the nest is competing a little bit for my attention? Just curious!

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I think your right on that, I had over 1500 to sort through and only made some minor edits and crops---I was rushing to get some of these posted. I think I'll play with the crop a little to see if I can improve--Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Richard Lane

How did you like the 500mm f/4? The images look nice and sharp. Did you you use the 1.4X much or was the naked 500mm enough focal length? I'm asking because eventually I will probably be deciding between the 500mm or 600mm.

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So your going to force me to "fess up"--ok, if I must. I did not use my extender for these shots, I was lucky enough to find a game ranger that pointed me in the right direction and I was able to get as close as 20 feet to the nest---actually it was too close for many of the shots, so most of the shots had only a little cropping for comp purposes---I still have a bad habit of shooting everything center frame and cropping to taste afterwords. So this may explain why many of the images are so sharp---they are very close to full frame.


As far as the performance of the lens---lets just say it is far better than I am ---This lens rocks when it comes to sharpness, contrast and color---I still have disappointing moments when I depend on autofocus so I think I need to tweak the AF micro adjust a little. In manual focus and live view x10 the sharpness of this lens is nothing less than impressive. However, If i would have had the money, I would have gone for the 600, It's more expensive, bigger and harder to handle, but it does what you buy these lenses for, ----TO GET CLOSE----, how close you get depends on your pocket book.


I can tell you that even with a 1.4 extender IQ is only slightly diminished and not perceptable to the average viewer if you have a well exposed well focused shot.





Hope this helps,





Bob

Yes, that helps a lot thanks! Yeah they looked like full frame shots, that

@Richard---Going to post more on the bird string in a little while.

Bob...... You are awesome... So are your pixs. [:D]


Keep posting your shots, as I love looking at them. [Y]


Wally

Thanks Wally, more on the bird string.


Bob