The Photographers' Corner - 2021 to ?

[Ronstar]

The leaves are falling, but fall colors are not as good as in years past. This leaf was suspended by a fine strand of spider web, making it look like I caught the leaf falling

 

[skyking1]

That was a fun subject

 

[Ronstar]

^ It was. Except the wind kept blowing the leaf around. Took about 100 shots of it, but needed to wait until the wind stopped to get it.

 

[f35phixer]

very cool Ron, right place at right time...........

 

[Ronstar]

Went for a hike and ran into this guy.

 

[Freedom56]

Went for a hike and ran into this guy.

Nice shot

 

[f35phixer]

Went for a hike and ran into this guy.

Couple things, had hoped to find your focal length you use for your wonderful pics. Saved eagle down to see camera / focal length etc that you see in details, compared to mine pics, yours didn't have that info and only then did I see the remove properties from image in details tab...

I guess I can see some reasons to do that, guess i will too

So I have been trying to justify a 100 - 400 mm ($1000ish) lens for my Sony A6000, only have a 55-200 right now. Our creek has eagles, osprey, blue herons, river otters etc etc and i can see how a 100-400 would make much better pics. That is what a birding sites suggest.

can you talk to your normal birding camera setup please...

 

[street]

Excellent photos again Ronstar!! I always enjoy your work. Thanks!

 

[kcowan]

We had a bald eagle wrestling a huge seagull for lunch. He won. The seagull was his lunch!
It was just off the West Van pier. We needed Ron!

 

[Ronstar]

Couple things, had hoped to find your focal length you use for your wonderful pics. Saved eagle down to see camera / focal length etc that you see in details, compared to mine pics, yours didn't have that info and only then did I see the remove properties from image in details tab...

I guess I can see some reasons to do that, guess i will too

So I have been trying to justify a 100 - 400 mm ($1000ish) lens for my Sony A6000, only have a 55-200 right now. Our creek has eagles, osprey, blue herons, river otters etc etc and i can see how a 100-400 would make much better pics. That is what a birding sites suggest.

can you talk to your normal birding camera setup please...

Didn't know that the details were not in exif. I didn't do it - Lightroom did. I'll see if I can change the settings so that the exif has the info in the future.

I use a Nikon D850 and Tamron 150-600m F/5-6.3 G2. For sitting birds, etc, I have camera set in Aperture priority. Usually F10 or F11 when it's sunny. That's about the sweet spot of my lens. I'll go down to F7.1 when it's cloudy. Shooting mode is continuous high.

I have my camera set with back button focus. I use the AF-on button to focus. So I get focus first. Then it is set for all shots as long as the bird doesn't move much. Back button focus prevents the camera from trying to refocus itself for every shot.

I like to keep the shutter speed around 1/400 or faster. (experts say to have a shutter speed meet or exceed focal length). And ISO as low as it can be for that shutter speed and aperture. A good way to do this is to set the camera to auto ISO and set ISO sensitivity settings in the menu to a minimum shutter speed of 1/640. This eagle shot was ISO 400, 600mm, F/10 1/1000 sec.

I almost always shoot handheld. And take a burst of photos when the bird is sitting with a good pose. Yesterday I brought my monopod and had time to screw it on to take the eagle shots. Same thing with a monopod - burst of photos.

When I'm shooting birds in flight I have auto ISO on with a minimum shutter speed of 1/1600 for eagles, herons, egrets, etc and 1/2000 for faster birds. I will have the aperture at 6.3 or 7.1 for birds in flight because it takes more light to shoot them at 1/1600 or 1/2000. Always handheld in continuous high.

Because of different menu setting for whether birds are sitting or flying, I rarely get a good shot of a bird that decides to fly when I have my camera set for sitting birds.

Hope this makes sense. Sounds like to you have a target rich environment in your creek. I would suggest a lens up to least 600 mm though. I usually have to crop even at 600 mm. Birds are never close enough as they should be. Good luck and have fun! The thrill of the hunt is more fun than getting a good photo IMO.

 

[Ronstar]

We had a bald eagle wrestling a huge seagull for lunch. He won. The seagull was his lunch!
It was just off the West Van pier. We needed Ron!

Wow! That fight would have made for a great photo op.

 

[f35phixer]

Thank You Ron, Makes sense. guess I buy a lens. BTD !

You don't need to make extra effort to keep details in.

 

[Ronstar]

Thank You Ron, Makes sense. guess I buy a lens. BTD !

You don't need to make extra effort to keep details in.

You're welcome. Photography is definitely a BTD hobby. I think Tamron makes a 150-600 for Sony, but I don't know if it fits your model.

 

[Ronstar]

Yesterday's hike at Starved Rock State Park. The canyons usually have waterfalls, but it's been dry lately.

 

[street]

Ronstar, that is an interesting photo and very creative as usual. The picture subject makes me want to explore.

 

[Ronstar]

Ronstar, that is an interesting photo and very creative as usual. The picture subject makes me want to explore.

Thanks - the exploring is the fun part. But I need to cut back on exploring some places for a while because bow season is going on.

 

[TOOLMAN]

Something different
Earwig 2X Macro, Focus Stacked

 

[TOOLMAN]

Black Ant 4X Macro, Focus Stacked

 

[TOOLMAN]

Bic Pen, macro 5X, focus stacked

 

[TOOLMAN]

Macro

 

[braumeister]

Awesome shots, Toolman. That ant is incredible!

 

[TOOLMAN]

FLY, macro, stacked

 

[TOOLMAN]

Last one.


Thought I would post something different

 

[BubbaChris]

Ronstar and TOOLMAN thanks for getting my BTD juices warmed up. Seven years ago I bought a Sony Alpha on Black Friday. It was a deal because it was a 2-3 year old model at the time. I took some classes so I could refresh and build on my understanding of how the settings would play off each other.

However, since the camera lacks an EVF and the screen does very poorly in daylight, I never grew to love the camera and remain proficient. I retired in July of this year and a better camera is on the top of my celebration BTD list (leaning towards a Sony A7 IV). I just need to be patient so I can buy it with one really good lens on top of the two I have.

Best regards,
Chris

 

[Ronstar]

Great shots Toolman and BubbaChris!