Monday in Nature, April 24, 2017

It's Sunday on the U.S. west coast but as Shun pointed out, it's probably Monday elsewhere in the world. I just got back from the wetlands, entranced by small clover blossoms in the sunshine.

Sally, thanks for starting the thread again.

 

Here is another hummingbird image, from Costa Rica.

 

Sea Lio n

Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks seen in Austin, Texas.

This one is from my rainy Presidents' Day weekend in Zion Canyon.

"Duck!" I said, and they did.

(Green-winged teals foraging at the Arcata Marsh)

To me grape hyacinths are both a joy and a nuisance in early spring. A joy because they bring one of the first colors to the landscape after the drab winter and also provide a food source for the insects when there aren't many things in bloom yet. It can be a nuisance because they grow in clusters of untidy messes. The flowers are so tiny and I never had a good look at them. Now, thanks to the macro magnification, I can see the intricacies. Nature is full of design miracles.

 

Cycling in Central Park I saw this female Raccoon climbing a few trees, maybe looking for a new den. They usually come out at night and I have to careful not to run over one.

Wood frogs in amplexus

Green Anole (from somewhere on the Florida panhandle)

 

http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/6-apr-2017-2/dsc9723.jpg

Love Affair is a great movie for photographers. Imagery of swans as example of lifelong commitment. The shot of the two in the back of a boat wearing white shirt or dress with short collars, lengthening the necks Shadows representing a person's soul in the deck dancing scene. But Kate Hepburn in this, her final film discusses swans as faithful for life but ducks, not only promiscuous, but highly indiscreet.

 

 

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Hummingbird Portrait

 

Profile Portrait by David Stephens, on Flickr

 

No comparison to Shun's stunning, feeding hummingbird shot. ;-)

random spring shot (oregon).

Sally, thanks for starting the thread again.

 

Here is another hummingbird image, from Costa Rica.

 

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Shun, that's a beauty but can you tell me what the white spots are? Is it rain?

I now spend a lot more time looking down while climbing through the underbrush. I have this weekly forum thread to thank for that.

 

I was using a Canon Elph that didn't give me much control in the DOF department but the colours are very accurate.

 

 

I also may have solved my Photo.net access problem, at least temporarily. We'll see...

Three busloads of school children walking by and no one noticed this little wild bunny at the Cosumnes River Preserve

Shun, that's a beauty but can you tell me what the white spots are? Is it rain?

 

Thanks Gup, I captured that image last week at the Costa Rica highlands, elevation is around 8000 feet/2400 meters. There was some drizzle when I captured that image.

bob_bill, I only lurk out here, but wanted to mention that I really like the processing on your shot. Subtle enough that it doesn't look overdone, but definitely adds some interest, for me anyway.

Jordan, thanks. Like black and white can help with bad or mixed light color, a painterly edit can help cover for soft focus. I am new to this nature stuff and have been struggling to get sharp images with longer glass that I have rarely used. I am a portrait photographer, so my favorite tele lens is the 135 mm 2.0 dc and am usually within 9 feet of my subject. Was using a 70-200 with 1.7 tc on a crop camera, 510 equivalent and wasn't sure if the softness was lens or not using a tripod. Was shooting it resting on the arm of a rolling camera stand. I just experimented with a newly purchased lens a 400 mm 2.8 /camera again with the 1.7 tc setting it on a posing table and got tack sharp images. My sharpness issue is obviously operator error probably from not using a tripod. Will see how much difference a gimbal and appropriate tripod makes- my current tripod isn't even rated for the weight of the 400 mm lens-nearly 10 lbs, much less a body and gimbal head. I am always looking for transferable skills between photo genres and wildlife really makes you pay close attention to any physical clues that the subject is about to do something. Will help in anticipating the decisive moment in portraits. And the long glass work open up the kind of tight, in your face, people shots I like to take in things like sports.

Jordan, thanks. Like black and white can help with bad or mixed light color, a painterly edit can help cover for soft focus. I am new to this nature stuff and have been struggling to get sharp images with longer glass that I have rarely used. I am a portrait photographer, so my favorite tele lens is the 135 mm 2.0 dc and am usually within 9 feet of my subject. Was using a 70-200 with 1.7 tc on a crop camera, 510 equivalent and wasn't sure if the softness was lens or not using a tripod. Was shooting it resting on the arm of a rolling camera stand. I just experimented with a newly purchased lens a 400 mm 2.8 /camera again with the 1.7 tc setting it on a posing table and got tack sharp images. My sharpness issue is obviously operator error probably from not using a tripod. Will see how much difference a gimbal and appropriate tripod makes- my current tripod isn't even rated for the weight of the 400 mm lens-nearly 10 lbs, much less a body and gimbal head. I am always looking for transferable skills between photo genres and wildlife really makes you pay close attention to any physical clues that the subject is about to do something. Will help in anticipating the decisive moment in portraits. And the long glass work open up the kind of tight, in your face, people shots I like to take in things like sports.

 

We're a little off topic for this thread, so if I stimulate new questions, you might want to start a new thread under the Nature banner. (I'm open for PM also, but these advice session are probably valuable to more when we put them in threads).

 

Your instinct to hand hold is correct, for most birds and wildlife. 99% of my shooting is birds, including birds-in-flight, where you'll miss way too many shots with a tripod. Soft images are common for newbies. There are two likely causes. First is using the AF system of your camera is not as easy as the makers would have you believe. The DOF is often razor-thin, so you need precise focus on the head of the bird. Even then and at f/8, part of the bird will likely be OOF. The fault is likely using too many AF points. I'll typically use single-point, or single-pointed expanded (Canon terminology). When you use more AF points, you run a high risk of the one of the AF points grabbing focus on the tail of a bird, then leaving the head OOF.

 

The other common fault I see is too low a shutter speed. Even for perched birds, you want 1/1000-sec. Their micro movements often require SS more like 1/2000. My default setting for a bright sunny day, is ISO 800, f/8 and 1/2500-sec. For a white bird, I go up to 1/3200-sec. For overcast skies, I go down to 1/1250-sec.. If I need even more light, then it's f/4 at 1/1000-sec. and then I start raising ISO. For a perched bird in deep woods, you might luck out at 1/500-sec., but take plenty of shots, because some will have motion blur.

 

If you don't already have a gimbal and heavy tripod, try hand holding, incorporating my guidelines, before you pull out your plastic. I pull out the tripod only in those cases where I'm camped under a nest, taking shots at almost the same target for hours. Hand held, that'll build some muscles, and I often do that, but a tripod is welcome as opposed to holding the rig for several minutes at a time.

 

Happy shooting. Birds are addictive subjects.