RickDB

<p>I've been busy restoring scanned photos of my family from the nineteenth century - none taken with an EOS camera! So here is a picture of a yellow-bellied sapsucker taken today - focusing at f/8 with the 7D2 works very well. EOS 7D2 / EF 500mm f/4 IS II + EF 2.0x TC-II; 1/500s at F/8.0 ISO 800 (tripod)</p><div></div>

<p>For a trip to Antarctica I found I didn't always have enough reach at 300mm on a crop frame camera. I would suggest you would be better served with a telephoto zoom lens, such as the EF 100-400, or a Tamron 150-600mm. The old adage to "zoom with your feet" doesn't always apply in Antarctica because of restrictions on where you can walk, and shots from a zodiac are even more difficult with a prime lens.</p>

<p>Nice shot Mary! Vulchuh culchuh indeed - but I can't resist submitting a recent shot of 5 Griffon vultures and a white-backed vulture taken in The Taragire National Park in Tanzania. Of course, they are all resting and giving thanks for the bounty of nature. EOS 7D + Tamron 150-600mm at 375mm; 1/640s at f/8 ISO 400.</p><div></div>

<p>"Wouldn't I see flares in Live View?"<br> Probably not easily - however, if you can set it up in live view and detect a strong flare you could then shade the lens from strong light sources to see if changes. </p>

<p>Had my old EOS 40D converted to IR - now I can get wintery scenes here in Florida without suffering 6', or even just 6", of snow!</p><div></div>

<p>I've used the EF-S 10-22mm lens for years and it is remarkably good at controlling flare when the light source is in front of the lens. In my experience, it is more prone to flare with light sources off to the sides. The Canon lens hood (EW-83E) is designed to work at the widest angle and does not cause significant vignetting - and even if it did, it is much easier to correct than the flare you are experiencing. I would suggest you try taking some shots with and without the hood to see it you notice a difference.</p>

<p>"<em>Photography in general but nature photography in particular is all about lighting. You win some and you lose some</em>."<br> So right Shun! My dawn over the Serengeti was beautiful and seemed like a good omen - but once airborne in a hot air balloon the sun rose above the cloud layer and the light was diffuse and there were no long shadows. I hardly took any worthwhile shots. In the words of Chas Glatzer "Light illuminates, shadow defines".</p>

<p>Sunrise over the Serengeti - made it worth getting out of bed at 3:40am! 7D + EF 70-200mm f/4L IS at 138mm; 1/30s at f/5.6 ISO 400.</p><div></div>

<p>My second flight in this B-17. The last time was back in the days of film, and my "documentation" was lost at the processors (the only time I ever lost a film that way). Laura, I thought the monochrome suited the subject well. Well spotted Robin, that is indeed a B-24 - I needed something for the pilots to be looking at and what better than the B-24 also owned by the Collings Foundation!</p>

<p>B17 "Nine-0-Nine" taking off from Ocala airport, Florida.</p><div></div>

<p>View of starboard wing from top turret.</p><div></div>

<p>Took a flight in Collings Foundation "Nine-0-Nine" B-17 Flying Fortress at the weekend.</p><div></div>

<p>The Camranger is an excellent way to add wi-fi capability to your 7D and at $299 much cheaper than the Canon alternative.</p>

<p>White-headed buffalo weaver, native to east Africa. 5D2 / Tamron 150-600 at 600mm; 1/250s at f/8 ISO 400, handheld.</p><div></div>

<p>A quick test to see how the new 7D2 performs under extreme conditions. Deliberately underexposed (almost a silhouette) and then "recovered" in Photoshop (raw file opened in DPP and transferred to PS CC). Result showed no banding and was much better than it would have been with either 7D or 5D2.<br> Handheld with EOS 7D2 / Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 at 600mm; 1/1000s at f/8 ISO 1600.</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks Siegfried. In my haste I forgot to mention that November 2-8 is polar bear week - for more information visit http://polarbearscience.com/</p>

<p>Earth shattering change as the polar bears world of ice melts away; I had to travel more than 82 degrees north to reach their icy habitat. Polar bears have survived global warming in previous eons, but they were not being hunted then. From a population of around 20,000 about 1,000 are hunted and killed every year. Hunting of polar bears in Russia has been banned for decades, but Canada is the only nation that allows sport or trophy hunting by non-natives and non-citizens. There seems to be a lot of spin about how the polar bear population is changing as a result of climate change but until we have conclusive data shouldn't there be worldwide ban on hunting? <br> EOS 5D2 + EF 70-200 f/4L IS at 155mm; 1/640s at f/8 ISO 400</p><div></div>

<p>Spooky Verreaux's eagle owl, Serengeti. EOS 7D / EF 70-200 f/4L IS at 200mm; 1/250s at f/8 ISO 400; Speedlight 580 EXII / Betterbeamer fill flash.</p> <div></div>

<p>Trust me Bill, the leopards are much scarier than the cheetahs; at least I had a fence between me and the leopard. They say if you approach a cheetah on foot it will more than likely back off; on the other hand, the leopard will put its front paws together, raise its eyes to heaven and say "thank you god" ;^) Cheers, RickDB</p>

<p>Good question Bill - actually, I did very little to this photo. It was shot in RAW under cloudy conditions, so the lighting was nice and soft. In ACR I adjusted the color temp. to daylight (cloudy was too yellow), clarity to +9, Vibrance to +16, and saturation to +3. I also applied lens correction. In PS I adjusted the levels (black 9, mid-tones 0.93 and white 223), and then de-noised with Nik Dfine2 and then sharpened for output. I'll post a larger copy to my Tanzania folder. Cheers, RickDB</p>

<p>Thanks Robert - perhaps we will see your dragonfly shot in the Nature on Monday forum? Cheers, RickDB</p>

<p>As nature photographers we love to capture our subjects in close up, revealing in sharp detail every hair, feather, or scale. However, it is also worthwhile to step back a bit and place our subject in its environment. Here's what was happening in the Ngorongoro crater woods. 5D2 / Tamron 150-600mm at 213mm; 1/200s at f/8 ISO 200.</p><div></div>