Steve'sDigicams

snostorm · Apr 30, 2008, 12:48 AM

Hi All,

Wasn't planning on any serious shooting today, it was cold and overcast, but I had the stuff in the car. . .

I was driving my mom back from a Dr's appt and pulled into a condo apt complex driveway to turn the car around when I spotted this guy in a one of the ponds on the grounds.
I stopped the car, grabbed the K20 from the bag -- it already had the FA*300/4.5 and the F 1.7x AFA on it, and crouching in front of the car, got a few head shots off before it took off towards the other end of the pond.

I got back in the car, drove closer, then using a tree for cover, crept as close as possible, which wasn't that close, and got a couple of shots from behind the tree. . .

Mom is now convinced that I'm nuts.:-) She likes to look at the pics, but has never seen me take any before.

After dropping her off, I spotted a grey blob in a tree over one of the little local lakes. Looking closer, I saw it was a big Black-Crowned Night Heron, so I parked the car and swapped the FA* for the Tam 300/2.8 with the 1.4x TC to give me more reach, then walked back to the spot where I saw the BCNH. It was pretty dark overcast, so I bumped up the ISO to 1250, sat down on the cold wet ground (it rained and actually snowed a little yesterday), and got some shots handheld, bracing my elbows on my knees. The camera was going all over the place, so I just ran off a bunch of shots in continuous, hoping that a few would come out both reasonably composed and reasonably sharp.
I didn't do as well as I hoped, but a couple were pretty good. This is about the best of the bunch. This shot is pretty heavily processed.

None of them are great, but it's a start. . .

Scott

Rodney9 · Apr 30, 2008, 1:43 AM

Well I disagree, I think they are great especially the last two.

rhermans · Apr 30, 2008, 2:18 AM

I completely agree with Rodney, last two are great in my book.

And that the last one is heavily processed doesn't matter. Looking at the feather detail the shot must have been great, or did you clone those from another bird (don't think so)

Ronny

danielchtong · Apr 30, 2008, 5:38 AM

snostorm wrote:

Quote:

.

Scott

Wow I would love the same encounter. But this morning we are still having sub-freezing temp. It started hunting already for fish already?

Great shots from your tele compos. You will have more opportunities later on in the season.

Daniel

mtngal · Apr 30, 2008, 8:03 AM

I'm impressed! I love the framing on the second one, and the third one doesn't show horrible artifacts from whatever PP you did - it looks really good. Can't wait to see what you do with that combination in better light.

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Apr 30, 2008, 12:48 AM	#1
snostorm Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Chicago Suburb, IL, USA Posts: 2,770	Hi All, Wasn't planning on any serious shooting today, it was cold and overcast, but I had the stuff in the car. . . I was driving my mom back from a Dr's appt and pulled into a condo apt complex driveway to turn the car around when I spotted this guy in a one of the ponds on the grounds. I stopped the car, grabbed the K20 from the bag -- it already had the FA300/4.5 and the F 1.7x AFA on it, and crouching in front of the car, got a few head shots off before it took off towards the other end of the pond. I got back in the car, drove closer, then using a tree for cover, crept as close as possible, which wasn't that close, and got a couple of shots from behind the tree. . . Mom is now convinced that I'm nuts.:-) She likes to look at the pics, but has never seen me take any before. After dropping her off, I spotted a grey blob in a tree over one of the little local lakes. Looking closer, I saw it was a big Black-Crowned Night Heron, so I parked the car and swapped the FA for the Tam 300/2.8 with the 1.4x TC to give me more reach, then walked back to the spot where I saw the BCNH. It was pretty dark overcast, so I bumped up the ISO to 1250, sat down on the cold wet ground (it rained and actually snowed a little yesterday), and got some shots handheld, bracing my elbows on my knees. The camera was going all over the place, so I just ran off a bunch of shots in continuous, hoping that a few would come out both reasonably composed and reasonably sharp. I didn't do as well as I hoped, but a couple were pretty good. This is about the best of the bunch. This shot is pretty heavily processed. None of them are great, but it's a start. . . Scott

Apr 30, 2008, 1:43 AM	#2
Rodney9 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Yeronga, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Posts: 3,518	Well I disagree, I think they are great especially the last two.

Apr 30, 2008, 2:18 AM	#3
rhermans Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Antwerp - Belgium Posts: 3,454	I completely agree with Rodney, last two are great in my book. And that the last one is heavily processed doesn't matter. Looking at the feather detail the shot must have been great, or did you clone those from another bird (don't think so) Ronny

Apr 30, 2008, 8:03 AM	#5
mtngal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Frazier Park, CA Posts: 16,177	I'm impressed! I love the framing on the second one, and the third one doesn't show horrible artifacts from whatever PP you did - it looks really good. Can't wait to see what you do with that combination in better light.