Thanks, I took this last fall when the leaves were at peak color. Made for a nice background color. I usually run some noise reduction on the background as well to smooth out any high iso noise.
Joel
Printable View
Thanks, I took this last fall when the leaves were at peak color. Made for a nice background color. I usually run some noise reduction on the background as well to smooth out any high iso noise.
Joel
Brendan I like your edit and how you toned it down. I didn't have a whole lot of time for editing as the kids were tugging at my sleeves. Thanks. Joel, that is a great picture. I do love the background colors as it compliments the bird nicely.
Jayson
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.37.26/IMG_5F00_2439.JPG[/img]
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.37.26/IMG_5F00_2453.JPG[/img]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinh Nhut Nguyen
That's just wrong....
What? your're using a 40D. A 40D can't track AF like that..................LOLOLOLOL
Nate...your amazing dude!
I'm telling you, Nat Geo's gonna call.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel Eade
I love these little birds...awesome shot Joel.
Personally, I'd back down two notches on the sharpening. I will look more natural.
Caught this Black-crowned Night Heron building a nest last weekend.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2628/...2e9c28a4_o.jpg
50D 70-200L F4 IS @ F4 1/1250 iso 200
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2711/...bd9c8533_o.jpg
50D 70-200L F4 IS @ F4 1/2000 iso 200
-james
Taken Yesterday: Kind of my first attempt at birds, I give you the Acorn Woodpecker.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/...bb868174_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/letiger
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.37.26/IMG_5F00_2690.JPG[/img]
LeTiger, that's a beautiful bird. I believe they are found in Mexico? Maybe some cropping would be nice, but great colors in that one.
Denise....How is your experience with the 100-400 vs the 300? Could you give me a bit of feedback? Much appreciated.
brendan
Quote:
Originally Posted by bburns223
Unfortunately, that already is about a 60% crop
I wanted to capture the essence of the log that they put the Acorns into, as that in its self is amazing (and the bird with Acorn in mouth makes it perfect)
The family of woodpeckers featured are some of the only in Oregon, and make Pacific University their home. They are also the only ones of their kind to use White Oak exclusively for their food storage *(usually they use different variates of Oak, but that far north, there is only white oak)
Quote:
Originally Posted by bburns223
Hi Brendan,
Without getting into the 300mm vs. 100-400mm debate on this thread, I'll just say I LOVE the 100-400! Not sure if it is because I was using the 1.4 extender so much with the 300mm or if it just I have improved some but my photos seem to be sharper, catching more detail. It also could be its not 20 degrees outside anymore and I'm not shaking! Another thing to remember is, I'm using the 7D now and not a T1i. I do wish I could get AF on the 100-400 with using the 1.4.
They may not be perfect yet but overall, I am much more please with my results!
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.37.26/IMG_5F00_2447.JPG[/img]
pair of mute swans; f/8, 1/2500, ISO 400 at 375 w/7D and 100-400
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...ewingsback.jpg
Great Swans, Bill.
Stopped by a local water fowl park, so these are captive birds.... I
know I lose points there. Here are a few from my trip.
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.28.47/toco-toucan-small.jpg[/img]Canon 50D + 60mm 2.8 Macro @ 60mm f2.8 1/250" ISO-200
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.28.47/big-red-small.jpg[/img]Canon 50D + 70-200 f4 L @ 200mm f5 1/1600" ISO-200
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.28.47/mandarin-small.jpg[/img]Canon 50D + 70-200mm f4 L @ 200mm f4.5 1/2000" ISO-200
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.28.47/Crane-small.jpg[/img]Canon 50D + 70-200 f4 L @ 172mm f4.5 1/2000" ISO-250
I know... a lot of pics.... but I had fun today. Comments and critique are extremely welcome. Thanks all.
Cheers,
Dave.
Dave, I like the mandarin duck very much! 70-200mm/4.0 is a very good lens for the money.
Bill, nice pose! enjoying your 7D!
thanks Dave and JJ....Dave like the toucan shot, wouldlike tosee his perspective on the shot; great eyes. Also, IMO, no points lost for having a "captive" audience Dave, as long as you mention it.
JJ, re 7D; loving the AF and AIservo for birding and it has improved the 100-400 performance over the 40D. I've only had it for a week, so I'm still experimenting.
Denise...Don't use a 1.4x with your 100-400. On the 7D 400mm is already 640mm and with a 1.4 a lot of images will be soft, oof...I think the 100-400 was the best choice for you in the first place, when you bought the 300mm I thought you would use it bare (no TC), which is when the 300 actually has an advantage. The 7D with 100-400 is a great combination, IMO you could spoil it by keeping that 1.4x TC on there. Just my opinion.
Bill, Dave...
Those are fantastic. nuff said. especially that swan.
brendan
This a house finch (orange variant) taken in my backyard. A setup using a feeder and hide. Canon 40D, 300mm 2.8L + 1.4 TC. Just a comment on recent thread : If you look at MTF charts or any other comparison method the prime lenses are generally sharper than the zoom lenses and I would suspect adding the 1.4 TC would have more degrading effect on a zoom lens versus a prime lens. (probably why the 500mm f4 is considered by many to be the king of bird lenses) With good technique, however, excellent images can be produced with either lens. For birds on a perch and using a tripod I try to keep a shutter speed of 1/focal length. So with a 400mm lens on a 1.6 crop factor sensor that would be 1/640 sec. If you do that it will definitely help your images to be sharper. Of course to freeze birds in flight it requires much faster shutter speeds like 1/1600 to 1/3200. Push the ISO up to get the speed you need so that you get adequate enough exposure to minimize noise. Just my 2 centavos worth of advice.
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.32.28/_5F00_MG_5F00_6153.jpg[/img]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel Eade
Awesome photo, Joel!! Also, thanks for the info! [:)]
Denise
Amazing photo Joel. This is my favorite of all the photos you have posted.
About your technique; I wish it was that easy. No matter what I do I can't get results like yours. I'm not sure why....But really Denise, don't use your 100-400 with a TC. Recipe for soft pictures.
brendan
Thanks for the nice comments.
Brendan, you're right, it's not that easy, that's part of the fun. I've been reading/studying quite extensively for the last 2 years to learn about digital exposure. It boils down to having good light (get in the right position at the right time) and knowing about exposure theory (study and practice practice practice). Of course I've only shown you my better attempts, trust me, I've had hundreds of duds. It took me almost a year to learn how to use the 300mm 2.8L lens to get really sharp pictures. During that time I was learning and studying I also figued out that a really good tripod makes a BIG difference. Here's one I took today using fill flash from a 430ex and better beamer.
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.32.28/_5F00_MG_5F00_7692.jpg[/img]
Great shots all. Tucan is my fav of the 4 and Joel your stuff is fantastic. Met up with a Snowy Egret yesterday. Couldn't pick my favorite, you try [:D].
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/...79671146_o.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/...e756bbef_o.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/...91958cf5_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2708/...45e7806c_o.jpg
All were 50D 70-200L F4 IS @ F4 between 1/1000 to 1/2000 and iso 100-200.
-james
Bueller? Bueller? I sure hope this thread hasn't officially died... I was enjoying the C&C. I would esspicially like feedback on the Snowy Egret, as I want to learn all I can before encountering a GBH etc. Thanks for viewing.
Here are 4 photos shot from the same spot on the same day... I think I got about 750 there, a few have got to be good, right [;)]
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/...9181efed_o.jpg
50D 70-200L F4 IS @ F4 1/640 iso 100
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/...9a6c955f_o.jpg
50D 70-200L F4 IS @ F4 1/800 iso 100
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2725/...1666a45d_o.jpg
50D 70-200L F4 IS @ F4 1/1600 iso 200
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/...27a0482e_o.jpg
50D 70-200L F4 IS @ F4 1/2000 iso 200
-james
Quote:
Originally Posted by YellowJacket
Holy crap James! What's your keeper-rate if I might ask? I really like your last shot [Y]
Jan
James,
The last Snowy Egret is the best one of the series. I like the pose and head angle ans the background. To me though, they look a little underxposed and noisy. I don't know if you could tease more detail out without worsening the noise. I think you could crop a little off the bottom and add canvas to the top of the image and it would be better. I would try shooting with a higher ISO and make sure you push the histogram to the right a little, you'll get more detail and less noise.
Joel
James,
Of your second series the sparrow is best. Sharp, well exposed, good pose and head angle. The background could cleaned up to make this a really good shot. You could clone out some of the branches especially that curled one and it would make a big improvement.
The goose is well exposed and I like the colors and the foot underwater but don't like thatthe bird is angled away from you.
The last seagull has problems in that the head is overexposed and not in focus. It looks like the tail was the focus point. The gull with wings spread also looks underexposed IMHO.
Just my 2 cents...(worth what ya' pay for e'em)
Joel
This is most popular Wildlife/Nature thread we have during this time so I post this link here.
A lot of good reads with great information to learn.
Have fun!
http://www.bbcwildlifemagazine.com/masterclasses.asp
True Nate. This thread sure has come a long way since it was started!
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.37.26/IMG_5F00_3618a.jpg[/img]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinh Nhut Nguyen
Thanks, Nate, That site has some cool articles.
Thanks Nate, Good stuff here.
Hi John:
Beautiful picture! Looks nothing like the house sparrows we have in NH. Not even close. The House Sparrow we have here is shades of brown on the back, black face grayish white on breast. It has no blue, orange/red on it at all. So if that is a house sparrow Passer Dometicus that has a lot of color saturation...........
<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"]</input><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden" />
<div id="refHTML"]</div>
Hi Nate:
Your photos you have posted here are VERY IMPRESSIVE, to me anyway. Outstanding quality. Where are you located?
<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"]</input><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden" />
<div id="refHTML"]</div>
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.22.26/der.jpg[/img]
http://www.pscvn.org/members/308/3-2...5-43-22_PM.jpg
Canon 7D + 500f/4L IS, f/4, 1/1250, ISO 250, manual exposure and handheld
Comment, critique and question are all welcome
Nate,
Larger Version here http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=10846822&size=lg
another nice picture! I wish i can handhold the 500mm lens and still get sharp image like this. and the larger version looks even better.
Nate, I have some question for the composition: is the location of this bird too centered? seems like there is a little too much space on the right side?
Very awesome, Nate.
I love hummingbird pictures... and I love them even more with natural flowers instead of feeders.
Dave.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinh Nhut Nguyen
Getting your workout at the same time is also nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iguide
It was taken in broad daylight and was only using ISO 100, when it is that bright the light penetrates the feathers and reveals more color. I didn't do THAT much saturation increase, about 30%. It is indeed a Passer Dometicus House Sparrow.
John.
Hi John:
Not trying to get in an argument here, but, I am a professional outdoor guide. One of the many different things that I do is lead bird trips for watchers. I have seen house sparrows, White throated sparrows, thrushes and many different birds when the the sun is high. The only birds that change color like what you are telling me happened to the house sparrow in this thread, are birds that have incandescent feathers like the turkey and a male mallard ducks, head. Never in the fifty years I have been working in the outdoors have I ever seen a bird change colors like what you are telling me that sparrows changed. So I am a bit confused on the color of the bird since you did not saturate the color very much. Please understand that I believe what you have said and having never seen the phenomenon personally in my fifty years of working in the out of doors I'm just trying to figure out why the camera captured that bird that way.
Perhaps it was be something in the camera to make the bird appear like that. It certainly does not appear that way in real life when you are looking at it with the human eye. Or maybe that one bird has some genetic morph tendencies that would make it show up that way.
Wayne
<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"]</input><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden" />
<div id="refHTML"]</div>
Here's another sparrow, I think this is a Song Sparrow but they can be tricky to identify.
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.32.28/_5F00_MG_5F00_6912.jpg[/img]