Show Your Snaps...February 11, 2013

This past Saturday I was able to take pictures at our local Polar Plunge in Portland, Oregon.  Fortunately, we didn't have any rain.  But it was very cloudy.  With cloudy weather, it provided for us a consistent level of lighting, so that I was able to use the M mode on my camera most of the time.  I preset the ISO level, aperture and shutter speed, so that the exposure was more or less what I wanted for the entire event.  As a result, my keeper rate was extremely high.

I took over three hundred pictures.  With so many good ones to choose, it was hard to pick which ones to show.  But I limited it to these ten images; I hope you like them.

Photo No. 1 - This photo shows the entrance and also depicts the kind of lighting conditions we had on this cloudy day.

Photo No. 2 - Before the event started I had a chance to take photos of some of the participants.

Photo No. 3 - Later I saw her waving her sword, so I had to take another picture.

Photo No. 4 - This shows the scene for the photographers that were limited by the barrier (that you all can see in the first photo).  The boats and other safety personnel were there, in case there was an emergency.  The participants were asked to not go more than a few feet in this very cold water.

Photo No. 5 - Many of them dressed up in costumes.  Despite the cold, most seemed to have a good time.

Photo No. 6 - There was a race to get to the towels quickly.

Photo No. 7 - As cold as it was, some continued to smile.

Photo No. 8 - The groups that went into the water seemed larger this year.

Photo No. 9 - Quickly they came and went.

Photo No. 10 - As they moved around quickly I made an effort to take as many pictures as I could in the few seconds that they were there.  I was impressed how well the Canon T2i (550D) camera did in such gloomy conditions with my kit lenses.  I had enough shutter speed to freeze the action and enough depth of field to keep most things in focus.  The image quality is very nice in limited lighting.  This is important to me, so much that it was a major reason why I was upgraded to this Canon system last year.

Following the Polar Plunge on Saturday, I had to take a few more pictures on Sunday (before another week of work). I was standing at my usual place near some feeders at our wetlands preserve. To my surprise, a hummingbird landed on a branch in front of me, without any other nearby distracting elements. When I took this photo in late afternoon under cloudy skies, it was getting dark, so dark that my shutter speed was 1/15th of a second at 250mm focal length. I managed to keep the camera and lens steady, and got this...little bit of noise and softness, but I was a happy with it in such darkness...it's a good kind of noise.

I cropped it some to get closer. These birds are rather small. Since the bird moved around quite a bit, I had to take many pictures until I got the right one (a little pray & spray technique).

So these are high ISO pictures straight out of the camera, but with lots of color resolution, low noise, sharp focus and action stopping shutter speed. This is a very usable camera, you would say.

Thank you for the invitation

Same trip in December:

WOW, i love the agitation, the movement, the colors, everything

You take lovely pictures and their composition is really nice.

Thank you for sharing them

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeegee/

Funny!:-D

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeegee/

Thanks.  I had fun taking these pictures.  This is my third or fourth time, so I knew what to expect.  I was a little late with all the car traffic, but got there just before they made their plunge into the river.

Thanks for the reply; I'm glad you liked them.  I do like taking photos at events like this, where people are having a good time.  From now until early autumn, I should be able to attend at least one outdoor event each month.  I hope this gives you all good ideas, so that you can find similar events in your area and be able to share your photos.

Yes, I find this camera very usable, considering that it was getting darker and darker as time passed on Sunday.  It's hard for me to stop taking pictures and go home.

Now, I know a place to stand where the hummingbird might come back to that branch.  So, I'll find a brighter day for that.

Seeing the water fall down in your pictures reminds me of all the rain we've had in our area.  But lately it's been a little drier.  Next weekend (or possibly some other time) I may visit more waterfalls that we have in our region.  Where were your photos taken?

I like seeing your panorama. You all have reminded me to do the same at times, so after the Polar Plunge I snapped a few by the river. Now, I'll have to play around with the two images to see how I do with them.

It's also good to see your snow. We've had warmer weather and very little snow (in the valleys). We are now seeing crocus flowers (which surprised me some). I'll have to take pictures of them in about a week or two (when more are blooming together).

Not nearly as good as the eagle pics from a couple weeks ago, but you make due with what you can...

No 1 juvenile bald eagle chasingdown a seagull with a fish with US flag in the background

f/6.3 1/1600 ISO 400 280mm

No 2 Similar theme, tighter crop

f/6/3 1/100 ISO 400 280mm

Thanks for viewing.

Dave

I like #5, it looks like they were having a lot of fun.

Dave

Thanks.  They did seem to have a lot of fun.  This year, the event organizers limited them to more shallow waters.  They had them in and out very fast.  So, I didn't have a lot of time to take pictures of each group.  I waited for them to turn around and then started snapping.

Here's another picture of the same group of people, when they were further towards the deeper part of the river.

That must have been exciting watching the juvenile bald eagle chase the seagull.  It's nice to see your pictures of them.  So what was the outcome?  Did the seagull get away or was the eagle able to catch its prey?  Was the eagle mainly after the fish or seagull or both?

The seagull escaped with the fish.  I think the eagle was definitely after the food.

It was a lot of fun, but even though it was as warm at 33F it was freezing cold due to the wind chill!  The light didn't cooperate either, but we still had fun and came away with some decent shots.

Dave

The best moment if you ask me

Thank you for your time :). The same area: Rucar, Romania! It is in the country side and it was a small stream. It is a very beautiful area. Waiting for your pictures next time of the river