alex_smith13

<p>Night Blooming Cereus (<em>Peniocereus greggii</em> )<br>

D80, 50/1.8af @f5.6, 1/30, iso200, on camera flash+sb-600 in commander<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3647390815_fa82498fd1.jpg" alt="" width="345" height="500" /></p>

After travels in So. Am. I tend to minimize most signs of wealth. For day trips I use a top loading day pack. I cut up a foam camping pad and line the pack with it. It protects the gear and it would take allot of effort to cut through it.

 

I also use a pocket made by marmot called "dry rib". It is a zippered bag that attaches to the pack straps sits comfortably on your front by your ribs. It will fit a mid size dslr and standard zoom lens. It will fit my d80 and 24-120 vr. I can keep the camera out of sight in the bag and just take a second to unzip it when I want it.

 

If you are really concerned you and use the wire bags like pac safe but just line the inside of the pack instead of putting it on the outside.

Chihuly - Desert Wildflower Towers - 2008

Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens

D80 - 12/02/08 - f/8 -1/5s iso100 Tokina 11-16 at 16<div></div>

Here are a few ideas from a Phx resident if you have not left yet.

 

To sedona. If you choose this check these directions before you go this is off the top of my head.

 

Take I-10 west out of phx to I believe it is Wickenburg/Hassayampa road. If I remeber correct some of this is a good graded dirt road. Take that north to Vulture mine. Stop in at the ghost town at Vulture mine (check hours). Go though Wickenburg. Poss stop at Hassayampa River Preserve (better for birds than travel photos). Go north through Congress to Prescott. The direct route has windy road with views and pines. Or split off at Kirkland Juncition and take a shot or two at Skull Valley general Store. Stop by downtown Prescott/Whiskey row. Go north to Watson Lake/Granite dells area (lake with boulders/rocks coming out of it). Take road to Jerome and shoot mining town.

 

Head to Sedona. Most of tips here are good for sedona. Also drive schnebly hill road in sedona. If you are confident about your off road driving and get decent 4x4 then you could try the trail that splits off of schnebly hill road at the top just past the look out where everyone stops. This is rough and the going is slow, but a short drive is all that is needed. Explore some of the short side spurs off this rough road that go to the right. These take you to the top of a cliff that has good view over the valley that you just drove up. If you get up there and are confident about driving the road in the dark, sunset can be nice from this area with the sun setting and some of the lights in sedona below coming on.

 

Just a thought on a way up there or back

Think about what focal length you used most in the past and go toward that direction. I have a D80 and a 18-70 that I use as my primary combination for several reasons. If you like new you can get a gray version at adorama for 260, used is ~200. If fleabay is your thing then if you can get one for 250 that seems like a good thing also.

I have purchased new and used from Adorama for nearly 10 years and am more than satisfied.

 

 

Their used ratings seem right most of the time but not always. Sometimes I think that the grader must go over the item too quickly. This works in both directions. I got a used FM-2n from them about 7 years ago that was supposed to be "E-" but was nearly immaculate. On the other hand I have ordered 2 used lenses at one time one was "E" the other was a Demo lens. The Demo lens had more wear/brassing then "E" lens did. The Demo lens did come with the box. I returned the Demo lens without any problems.

Just to toss in and agree between Doug Harhai and Dick Arnold. I do not think that the questions in per se are objectionable. They seem to be legitimate questions to clarify terms of a contract. On the other hand what seems more important is what does your gut tell you? Not just by him asking the questions but how he asked the questions. Was it in a reasonable inquisitive manner or was it confrontational?

A little longer drive but nice packing would be the maze district of canyonlands.

Nice shot of the supers.

 

I will chime in on film bodies also. I have no experience with very long exposures and digital. For color film I usually used provia 400 and added a fl-d filter that seemed to help with the color shift. Regarding bodies I mainly used a fm-2n and it worked great. That was until I was at the bottom of the grand canyon with a N80 and decided to try it. I have used the N80 several times since. The shutter on it doesn't seem to draw enough power to worry much about. I have easily done several nights with the stutter open for 2-3 hours each in 15-40min increments without a battery problem. the 123a batteries are dirt cheap now days and you can even get rechargeable. I would just go for N80 if you don't have that many non-cpu lenses. That would be a cheap way to go.

For some it is brick walls and test targets ;-)

I would try keeping the camera in a sealed bag like you have but also spread it out on a table with some jam or something sweet in the corner of the bag. It may be a feeble attempt to draw them out with something sweeter. Just a thought. Good Luck

My vote is fly into Portland --> waterfalls on Columbia River --> Mt. St Helens --> Mt. Rainier --> Seattle

(pikes place market, old town) --> San Juan Islands --> Olympic National Park (both sides and beach) --> down the

coast of WA back to Portland. That should more than fully occupy your time. If you need more then coast of

Oregon and the Lighthouses. Other possibility in the area is to Redwoods in NOCA. Have Fun!

If anyone has not heard Supai Canyon on the Havasupai Reservation in the Grand Canyon has undergone significant

flooding in the last few days.

 

It sounds like everyone made it out okay, but the news might not be as good for the famed waterfalls. Gov.

Napolitano took a flight over the area yesterday and said that the river is now running around the travertine

pools and that the campsites are now gone.

 

Let's hope that the damage is in fact not that extensive. The area is beautiful and the tribe receives

significant revenue from the tourism. The damages to the travertine was extensive the last time it flooded, but

the area recovered.

 

Best video of the flooding I found -

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7233685&version=12&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

 

If you are not familiar with the area a search of photo.net posted images -

http://www.photo.net/gallery/caption-search/search?query_string=havasu+falls

Shun - Yes I agree that 5.6 is limiting but I don't think substituting it in the kit for a $1000+ 2.8 lens would make much sense either. The D700 should not really be a "kit" camera for anyone that is in the market for it. "Not bad at f5.6" does not cut it on a D700. IMHO "Not bad at f5.6" is OK for a $500 FF lens, with VR, designed for film, covering this range, and is about 5years old. Pairing it with a D700 was not a good, but it seems that Nikon's options for a moderate priced VR lens to pair with the D700 was somewhat limited by their current lineup. Just my thoughts. Shun - BTW thanks for your hard work around here!

Although Lex beats the same drum every time this question comes up I completely agree with him on this. There are a bunch of self-perpetuating opinions about the lens on the internet. It is no miracle lens by any stretch but it is a lens that just works. I have had one getting close to 5 years, first on F100 and N80, and more recently on a D80. True it is not the sharpest for pixel peepers, but still produces very pleasing useful images. My opinion on the short coming of the lens is that wide open the lens takes a bit more of a nose dive than other nikon lens. No this lens does not solve world hunger.

Just a few thoughts from a biologist that surveyed and nest monitored for endangered birds (mainly passerines) for ~10 years.

 

Illegal and unethical are two drastically different things. Illegal "is" (read as "should be") a fixed constant that only changes as laws or regulations change. Unethical is never a fixed constant and varies from person to person. My opinion is that the more open-minded discussion about the issue there is, the better.

 

Legal - As far as illegal I had a different impression of federal law than yours. (though I am not sure I am completely correct, and state law is obviously different). The ESA prohibits "take" of endangered species and threatened species via the CFR. "Take" as defined in the ESA to also include "harm" and "harass" which could easily include photography that disturbs. There has been little litigation of what exactly "harass" is defined to be, so the definition of "harass" is relatively open to interpretation. "Take" in the ESA on the other hand was defined by the supreme court as “an act which actually kills or injures wildlife..." "Take" as used in the MBTA I believe is interpreted differently to include more direct injuring or killing of migratory birds or removal of nests. Excluded from "take" under the MBTA is "harass." So basically the ESA is more expansive in the protections ans includes "harass" where the MBTA does not. (Sorry for the dense rambling paragraph, of little use.)

 

Ethics - Since as above, I stated that ethics are a personal thing I can only tell you where my ethics rest. I have no problem with knowledgeable photography at the nest of most birds whose population is sustainable and stable. I consider it unethical to photographic nests in a way that violates the laws and regulations of where you are. I consider it unethical to remove vegetation that would conceal the nest from predators. I consider it unethical to leave a dead end scent trail to a nest. I consider it unethical for multiple photographers or birders to hammer a nest day in and day out because it is an unusual bird. Birds need a break. Most importantly I consider it unethical to photograph a nest when you do not know what the alarm calls of the birds are and/or you do not know how to tell if the bird is disturbed by its behavior. In fact I consider this irresponsible and will happily and publicly chastise anyone doing this.

 

Biologically - After personally or via a field crew monitoring thousands of nests I can tell you there are many variables that enter into the equation determining if a nest fledges or fails. I will only post a few of the more accepted trends. Some species are more prone to abandoning a nest because of human activity than others. Within a single species, within a single population, some individuals will be more likely to abandon a nest than others. Generally a bird is more likely to abandon a nest early in the nesting cycle then when their are nestlings. That said if one gets to close to older nestlings they can be forced fledged and end up on the ground before they can fly. Predation or parasitism by cowbirds tends to increase with length and intensity of disturbance. All of these are generalizations and do not hold true for all species.

 

Just a few thoughts

Keep in mid that I was there about 9 years ago so things may change from what I had.

 

The area where the bench is at the top of the upstream end of the colpa. It is basically around a corner and the colpa is out of sight. One of the places that the birds staged at was in view of this bench. It was too far for good shots of them in the trees but they regularly in mid to late mornings flew back and forth within a reasonable distance to the bench. If you hung out at the bench when the birds were going by you should be able to grab a few frame filling shots at 400mm given some time.

 

Check out the trees at the bench passerines of many different species seemed to like to hang out. Just generally keep you eyes open for movement as you hike around. A good rule of thumb in the rain forest is if you hear 1 thing fall it is noting, if you hear a 2nd thing take a look around there is a fair chance that an animal caused it to fall.

 

When are you going? Is your main goal to see birds or the whole experience including the cultural tours? If the goal is birds/wildlife and you booked through rain forest expeditions try contacting them. Mention that you are an avid "birder" and if possible would like a guide that knows birds. The impression that I got was they used to send some of the more experienced guides with people they knew were birders. With the bird diversity there was allot of birds to learn.

Are you staying at TRC or going up on an overnight trip from Explorers? You are usually a good distance from the colpa on a sand bar so even with big lens not the best. From what I remeber the smaller parrots are generally there first light and the macaws come in later in the morning. I think as you leave to go back to the lodge you can sometimes convince the boatman to hold a bit near the cliff for you to grab a few handheld shots. If you are looking for close up shots they probably still have some of the "chicos" or the hand reared ones coming into the lodge so that will give better shots.

 

If you are staying at TRC look for the trail that head along the top of the colpa. When you get back from the observing the colpa follow the trail out and at the upstream end of the colpa the trail will popout at an overlook with a bench. Set up a tripod there. It is good for tracking the macaws flying in and out of colpa.

 

If the blue and gold are breeding go to the palm swamp and if you are lucky there will be an active nest near the observation platform.

 

Take a night hike to look for frogs. There are some brilliant ones but very small. Off camera flash helps with these.

 

See if there are any oropendolas or caciques nesting around they are relatively easy to get good pictures of.

 

If you are spending some time at Posada spend some time in the tower. It is good for grabbing birds that travel in the treetops.

 

Wear long pants, long sleeves, and DEET. There is leishmaniasis that occurs in the area and the treatment is no fun.

Sorry for mash up with the URL's. I am not thinking yet this morning<div></div>

I have used this lens for about 6 years now and it just works. I have used it on fm-2n, n80, f100, D80 and it

was excellent on any of these. It is one lens that turns out pleasing images. I do use it hand held without any

problems. As far as I am concerned it is very hand holdable. I have a tc-14eII and tc-20eII. It works

perfectly with the tc-14. The tc-20 is basically manual focus, in super bright light auto focus may work on high

contrast subject. The overall results with the TC-20 are no way near as good though. I would have no hesitation

about recommending it. As far as VR is concerned, anything else would be nice but lack of it is not much of a

hindrance to this lens.

 

Here are a couple hand held. I just switched to digital so most of my stuff is still on slides. These are a few

quick shots I took the other day.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/2494264369_6483eaaf02.jpg?v=0

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2310/2495085466_3e56e7e631.jpg?v=0

My first advice is try a day hike or two with your set up to see how it works for you.

 

The three systems that I have seen in use most are a waist belt pack shifted forward, a top loader style bag in the front (off the d rings or separate harness), or a marmot dry rib.

 

I use a marmot dry rib and an additional lens pouch off the pack waist belt. The dry rib will fit my d80 and a 24-120 vr lens with the shade reversed on it, but nothing else. It does not have padding so you have to be a bit careful setting the pack down. I like it because it attaches to the pack straps and rides better for me than the other systems. It is not waterproof but I often carry one of the newer laminated pack cloth dry bags to stow my gear in in the event of rain.

 

Dry rib example - http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/product/product.asp/imanf/Marmot/idesc/Dry+Rib/Store/MG/item/206253/N/0

but the "left" is accessed with the left hand and mounts on your right side.

 

Dry bag example - http://www.rei.com/product/768369

I have used a better beamer (FX-1) with my sb-28 for a number of years. I

recently got a sb-600 and was considering the fx-4 better beamer for use with

it. The fx-1 that I have does work on the sb-600 with some shims otherwise the

screen bows. The elastic band is a little too wide also.

 

Has anyone used both the better beamers with these flashes? I am contemplating

buying a fx-4 and would like any opinions on how well it fits on the sb-600. Is

worth me buying a new better beamer or just rigging my current one?

 

Thanks

Another vote for the 50. It is an excellent way improve you images. I may be biased because a 50 is what I learned on. Slap it on the camera and walk around town with a single intent in you mind. (shallow DOF, motion, reflections, etc.) It forces you to think about composition and helped me move away from snapshots.

 

I will also put in a vote for you to not buy a d300. Step away from the camera body race. The D60 is nearly brand new. Work it for a while. Make your next camera purchase in a couple of years the successor to the d300. IMHO a d60 with a good variety of quality lenses and good flash or two is a much better investment than a d300 with an 18-200.

 

In the meantime do as another poster mentioned think about what you can't with your current setup and work in that direction.

As far as ethics and flash with animals I consider it the same as any other part of my photography. This is what I do:

 

Pay close attention to what the animal is telling you. Most of the time the flash does not seem to bother them any more than my presence there. If the animal is being skittish acting nervously back off. If any time you move, or any time the flash fires the birds reacts then there is a problem. If the problem is the flash then I try without the flash. If the problem is my presence in an area and not the flash I will sit motionless and see if the behavior returns to normal in 10min or so. If the bird is still concerned then I will leave my camera in position on the tripod and leave the area. I will return as quietly as possible in 20min. My camera is up and I know exactly where to go quietly.

 

Be extra careful if there is sensitive biology going on. i.e. mating display, area where predator may be more likely, etc. Then limit your time near the bird's area and back off if the bird bird is agitated.

 

Birding and bird photography is allot like general photography. The more you know the better the photos will be, the quicker you can get in and out, and the less disturbed the subject will be.

 

I don't know much about the sigma lens and I cannot really comment on the quality of the minox zooms v. the nikons.

If you are planning on hiking much I would consider the 300/4 afs. It gives great images and is much lighter then a 2.8.

 

I would seriously consider a sb-600 or 800 with a better beamer. Not only will this help a slower lens but will even out some extreme contrast between the dark of a forest and where light filters in.

 

As far as bins fixed are light years ahead of zooms. For specific ones look at

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird/Winter2005/Age_Binos.html

or

http://birdforum.net/ - for a discussion

 

Look at the vortex vipers for a good set of bins for around 500. Not quite as nice as 1,000+ bins but very nice for the price.