Closing In

<p>I've finally taken a few decent pictures with my current equipment, but still find myself wanting in that almost all of them are only good at 80-100% crops. I would perfer to have a lesser degree of crop required. I have two solutions.</p>

<p>1: I am getting a 300mm/4 (or given proper circumstances, a faster (or longer) lens, as soon as Pentax starts making one and it gets thuorughly circulated into the used market)lens of some kind at some point (within the decade)</p>

<p>2: I am coming here with this question: How can I improve my technique for approaching animals? I have read "The Tracker," and really I want book and practice exercise information from those who don't have the kind of time required by the task of actual direct advice.</p>

<p>You didn't say what type of animals. But in general, the best plan is to find locations where they are easily approached. Either because they are accustomed to people or there is a natural or un-natural barrier that makes them seem safe.</p>

<p>@M. M. Birds, for the most part, but also squirrels. There is no place near here where animals (in their natural habitat) are accustomed to people, but what do you mean by barrier?</p>

<p>One of the many tips I've picked up while traveling, sometimes in remote places, with a friend of mine who is a wildlife photographer specializing in birds: study the habits of the wildlife before attempting to shoot; you're likely to find places that they habitually return to and thus, in effect, they will be coming to you.</p>

<p>Some animals are going to be very difficult to approach, but many, including many birds, regularly ignore us primates. This is less likely to be the case in areas where hunting is common. Animals know which species carries the guns.</p>

<p>I shoot egrets and herons. A barrier could be water or boardwalk through a swamp. Something where the bird senses that you can't get to them.</p>

<p>Your best bet for birds and squirrels near your house is to build a "blind". A simple way is to put a feeder a short distance from a window. Your house is the "blind". You could put a hole in a curtain, but that probably isn't necessary. Since it will be much darker in the house, you will hardly be noticeable.</p>

<p>Open the window, window glass will hurt your images. Put a natural looking perch, like a stick from a tree, near the feeder.</p>

<p>Matthew's reply reminds me that cars also make good blinds. Birds that will flee at the approach of a human can be remarkably tolerant of--virtually "blind" to--vehicles.</p>

<p>and dolphins (which I need help with. A boat is an option, but not a practical one (it does not do well in surf, and I do not want to loose my gear to a large wave.)<br>

On the other hand, I also do (but do not need help with. Need macro equipment such as FD 50mm 1:1 with glassless adapter or a set of tubes or a Pentax DFA* 100mm Macro) bugs, humming birds, small reptiles etc.</p>

<p>One tip: don't wear bright clothing, like reds or yellows. Muted blues, tans, camouflage help you blend in. Birds especially don't like bright colours, think about the brightly coloured males competing with each other, and how bright colours signal danger. Watch out for tags or zip pulls or anything shiny hanging off your gear as well. Big white lens? Wrap some kind of light cloth around it with elastic bands. although with some lenses may be a pain in the butt for focusing.</p>

<p>Smell: leave off the cologne and perfumed soaps. Bug sprays are also quite pungent, although you may need to use them in tick country or simply to survive in mosquito infested areas. Try to stay downwind if possible.</p>

<p>Cloth: soft cloth that doesn't rub and swish and squeak, like corderoy and some of these high-tech raingear fabrics. You want to chase things away just rip a strip of velcro. Every critter within a mile will stampede away from you.</p>

<p>Learn how to stalk like a heron, and how to place your feet so you can keep an eye on the subject and not have to constantly watch where you're walking. Takes a little practise. Slip foot toe first slowly, feel for your foothold, slowly bring the center of your body forward, weight shifts from back to front foot, can be reversed if necessary. Pull up hind leg, slide to forward. Just watch a heron or egret in action, you'll get the idea. If in a field after butterflies and dragonflies and other insects, try to stay low, and not loom over them.<br>

Don't stare at your quarry, keep in the overall sightline, but eyes staring means "predator coming at me". When stalking insects, be aware that your lens can look like a big eye.</p>

<p>Relax. Animals that rely on sharp senses for survival can sense when you're excited or tense. Just kind of mosey along like a deer grazing.<br>

Time of day: animals, especially birds, tend to disappear during the middle part of the day. Bright sun and wind tend to make them scarce as well. Mornings and afternoon/evenings are usually the best time to find critters.<br>

The blind has been mentioned. Studying tracks and trails and finding a spot to sit and wait often works far better than wandering around trying to find stuff. Check out habitats, for example, wetlands and swamps. Where land meets the water is where most things come by. Look for game trails, a lot of animals follow traditional paths. <br>

Probably a lot of this covered in your tracker book, but I never assume.</p>

<p>Right approach with same equipment about half and other half ability to wait.I even try new to me micro 4/3, what give me about 600mm @ f 6.3 <br>

Look how this little Cassin's Finch posing from 50 yards away in the tall grass.Very unusual for Georgia ,most migration to Arizona and Mexico -from Canada(sure thing image crop)<br>

I do have Pentax DA*300- best glass in class ,but more handy for sports for me.</p><div></div>

<p>Peter,<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/13091153-lg.jpg" alt="" width="586" height="394" /><br>

As a Pentax user myself I would first suggest that there are longer options. 1) Sigma 400mm f5.6 APO (look for version 2). I get outstanding photos with this setup even with a 1.4X TC (I use Pentax's 1.4X-S and Tamron 1.4X) 2) Sigma 150-500mm f6. No, it's not as sharp as the 400mm but it is pretty good. And it is autofocus, although it tends to hunt. 3) 500mm f4.5 Takumar or Pentax lens. I have the Takumar and use it with a 1.4X-L TC. This is a steal of a lens although it does not focus very closely and has some color aberrations. And you MUST use a tripod. But considering people modify this $400 lens and then sell it with a Nikon mount for $2,000 I don't see why more people don't see this as a Pentax option.<br>

Since I've gone digital, I shoot a lot of birds. A little patients goes a long way. I have shot from blinds, but I don't always have to for good photos. Sometimes you just can't beat dumb luck though. This morning I was out, got a photo of a Summer Tanager 60 feet up in a tree, not much of an image. As I approached my car there was some commotion in the bushes. There were two Baltimore Orioles that were either interested in each other or just a s possibly with a snake (I find snakes are a bird photographers best friend). It stayed long enough that I was able to get in a couple of shots with my 400 (no TC).<br>

Ok, it could have been sharper though.<br>

Getting up early is always helpful too. Better light, more activity.</p>

<p>That is just the thing (who ever said big white lens). I have been looking everywhere and cannot find one. Do you know where? To the best of my knowlege, all Pentax REALLY long/longish fast (silver or white (which ever one) have been discontinued, and they can only be had for rediculous prices that no sane man should pay for a Porsche.</p>

<p>Off-topic, but I can't help but ask: Yury, are you <em>sure</em> that that's a Cassin's Finch and not a House Finch or a Purple Finch? Georgia is awfully far off the range map for a Cassin's!</p>

<p>Peter, is there really no affordable 300mm lens for Pentax? (I really don't know, being a Nikon user; my friend shoots Canon and I am contemplating making the switch.) Without 300mm or longer, the animals you're after will be, in a word, challenging--but obviously you already know that! :)</p><div></div>

<p>House finch has not as much red on chest (male) ,for Purple Finch beak is to small .</p>

<p>I've seen some quite spectacularly-colored House Finches, which is what made me think of it, besides the fact that the Cassin's would be, what, 1500+ miles out of its range. :) (Hm... if that photo is recent, given the storms...!)</p>

<p>Take a look at this: <a href="http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/finchIDtable.html">Tricky Bird IDs: House, Purple, and Cassin's Finch</a></p>

<p>If possible, I'll steer my ornithologist here to take a look at the photo. He's giving a tour now and is out of Internet contact for a few days. He would be very much intrigued by a Cassin's on the East Coast.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>2: I am coming here with this question: How can I improve my technique for approaching animals? I have read "The Tracker," and really I want book and practice exercise information from those who don't have the kind of time required by the task of actual direct advice.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Where are you based Peter, and are you sure there are no good locations nearby where animals are more accustomed (or at least: less disturbed by) people? Sometimes the best spots are not deep in the wilderness, but in parking lots or along fenced access roads to parks or reserves. Fenced roads can work especially well for shooting from your car if there are no taller lampposts or cable posts nearby for birds to use as higher viewpoints.</p>

<p>Aside from location, a lot changes with time of day as well as time of the seasons. Around now most birds have hungry chicks or fledglings to be fed, so the parents tend to be less wary as they're too occupied with catching bugs or chasing off nosy rivals. If you observe an individual bird for a while then you may be able to figure out its foraging/delivery pattern, potentially giving you an opportunity to position yourself close to a favorite perch in their current hunting ground, before they come back from the latest delivery to the nest. Another good place to hang out by is a waterfall or water drip, where they may come by fairly predictably every so often for a drink or a bath.</p>

<p>Outside nesting/fledging season and away from locations where birds are more people accustomed, sometimes a trick that works well is to keep your ears open for a "mixed species flock", where a number of different smaller birds are foraging in a loose group that gradually follows a relatively predictable path through scrub or forest. If you can figure out which direction they're collectively headed for, then you can sometimes position yourself ahead and downstream and then just wait quietly for them to pass by. A similar "sit and wait" tactic often works especially well along shorelines where foraging sandpipers and other waders may not be disturbed at all by your presence, provided you keep noise and movement to an absolute minimum while you wait for them to aproach.</p>

<p>I've found that most wildlife is difficult to impossible to approach, so you must let them come to you. I have full camo and try to find promising locations where the particular animal might congregate or frequent. Then just sit still and wait.</p>

<p>I am photographically based where my parents live: Edisto Beach, SC. Population: approximately 950 registered voters. I've photographed around my house <em>too</em> many times, and I take pictures around where my parents live, where I go almost always daily.</p>

<p>By the way: I have a 500/8 refractor, and one stop (even on sigma glass over bower) is not that attractive to me. You can find a 300/2.8 FF for the same as the DA* if you look right. More commonly you will find the 300/4.5 F* and 300/4.5 FA* on the internet, and it would be off topic to ask for a local spot.</p>

<p>I haven't visited SC yet but from the satellite images on google maps Edisto Beach looks like an interesting area with quite a bit of ocean shoreline as well as estuarine creeks and wetlands. EB State Park and Hunting island State Park look like they would have a fair number of spots where you could position yourself at dawn, face west and wait for shorebirds to walk past or for ducks & grebes etc to swim by with early sunlight. If you find a sheltered spot in the shade of a shrub or tree then that might also allow you to catch smaller birds in your viewfinder as they pass by (warblers, sparrows, finches etc). And if you have a single or 2-seater canoe or rowboat, or know someone who has one, then you could try approaching wildlife from the water instead of from land.</p>

<p>In my own as yet budding experience there isn't <em>that</em> much you can learn about closing-in tricks and skills by talking to other people - although they can be very good sources for telling you about a type of bird in a particular place where it happens to allow closer approach than usual. But as far as improving your ears, eyes, aim and luck go, it's mostly a matter of taking plenty of time out on a regular basis to go and explore different trails & corners in an area, see which animals tend to hang out where at what time of the day or season, experiment with different spots where you can wait for them to come closer, or if you're on the move then avoid walking in a straight line directly towards any feathered or furry onlookers, etc etc.</p>

<p>In the greater area around Edisto there are several other places worth checking out besides Hunting Island according to "Where the Birds Are" (a bargain book written by Robert Dolezal that I picked up a while ago in a local Borders before they imploded). Some of those closest to you include Pinckney NWR, Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel, Folly Beach County Park and Audubon Swamp Garden. Even if the wildlife tends to be similar, a good selection of nearby sites can bring enough diversity and different opportunities at different times, to keep you pleasantly challenged and bring rewards - often when you least expect them.</p>