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So, can i give gil a run for his money? ;) (56k warning)

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Madcat207

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Probably not, but i wanted to share some birding pictures i have been taking with my new Sigma 300mm 2.8 (love the lens BTW; heavy beast, but nice and fast too). Comments are welcome of course, and bashing from gil encouraged. ;)











 
cadmus said:
I don't know about giving anyone a run for their money, but these are
great. The 1st one is my favourite, as although it isn't totally
sharp on the bird, the lines and composition are superb. Great stuff!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darylnaumann/

Click to expand...
Thanks!

Admittedly, I am still getting the hang of this lens. It is quite hard to hand-hold 5.5lb, and as such, I am prone to throwing the lens up and down while trying to tack a bird. Because of the a700's better AF sensor, it is quite quick to reacquire whatever new thing i managed to point at.. :) As you can see with the first pigeon shot though - when i do track right, the focus is bang on.
Ausgezeichnetcom said:
Is that an old Sigma or new? How much ?
Regards,
Bernd
Click to expand...
It is an EX, non DG (which are actually the same lenses, just the DG has better coatings). I got it on ebay for $900 USD (current retail on the EX DG is $2600). It is in mint condition too - the body and glass are like new..
 
with just a bit of adjustment on the egret's exposure. Given some time, a bit more practice and the joy of shooting birds; yes, I could only but expect interesting and wonderful pics from that combination. The angles on those doves foretells some great things to come.
cheers,
gil
--
**************
A700 testing in progress
I don't give opinions, just what I see : ).
Still 100% jpg and 100% hand held,
No baits, calls and tricks but will use luck.
 
Dan,

Ya know what?!??? Between you and Gil, the birds have GOTTA be loving you guys for shooting them with cameras instead of GUNS!! :) JK...

Excellent shoots, I especially LOVE the 4th picture (DOVE??!?), I think it's simply BEAUTIFUL the way it was captured! It also looks like the standard PEACE symbol, if ONLY it was carrying an OLIVE branch in it's beak!!!

Great job!!!

--
-Alex

From the minds of Minolta to the imagination of Sony, Alpha, like no other.

http://www.pbase.com/lonewolf69
 
gil said:
with just a bit of adjustment on the egret's exposure. Given some
time, a bit more practice and the joy of shooting birds; yes, I could
only but expect interesting and wonderful pics from that combination.
The angles on those doves foretells some great things to come.
cheers,
gil
--
Click to expand...
Gil, thanks! It has been your recent pictures that have been my encouragement. I enjoy birds in general, so photographing them seemed like a natural step. However, while the new lens has opened up my chances for better shots, it is not to say i haven't gotten lucky before:





Those two are some of my most prized shots, and really spurred me on to wanting to shoot birds. They were shot with an a100, and 75-300 (Big Beercan) down in Florida this past summer. Either way, I will keep posting more as i get better (and as time allows - being a student is pressing right now..)
lonewolf69 said:
Dan,

Ya know what?!??? Between you and Gil, the birds have GOTTA be
loving you guys for shooting them with cameras instead of GUNS!! :)
JK...

Excellent shoots, I especially LOVE the 4th picture (DOVE??!?), I
think it's simply BEAUTIFUL the way it was captured! It also looks
like the standard PEACE symbol, if ONLY it was carrying an OLIVE
branch in it's beak!!!

Great job!!!
Click to expand...
Lone -

Thanks! The 4th bird is actually a common pigeon (which of course, is a very close relative to the dove). It is beautiful though, and was so happy to see that i got that shot (though, i still wish i hadn't clipped the top of the wing..DOH).
Luis Villablanca said:
Love the detail of those pictures, in particular the ones of the
pigeons.
Did you use a TC?
--
Luis
Click to expand...
Luis -

The doves were shot without TC, and the Egrets with one (1.4x Tamron).
 
--
**************
I've minimized dreaming the Mark series with the A700
I don't give opinions, just what I see : ).
Still 100% jpg and 100% hand held,
No baits, calls and tricks but will use luck.
 
I like all the shots, however I think the first three are over exposed. I'd be interested in suggestions how to avoid this as they look like pretty challenging conditions for the camera's metering. A pure white bird on a dark background. The camera goes for 18% gray and we end up with blown highlights. I'm wondering if DRO would help here?
--
Shawn
 
imarollingstone said:
I like all the shots, however I think the first three are over
exposed. I'd be interested in suggestions how to avoid this as they
look like pretty challenging conditions for the camera's metering. A
pure white bird on a dark background. The camera goes for 18% gray
and we end up with blown highlights. I'm wondering if DRO would help
here?
--
Shawn
Click to expand...
Indeed, a good exposure for brids is something I have been struggling with. When you can get them into most of the frame, it is not bad. But, its when as you said, that you have this overwhelming background and a white bird that it becomes a problem...
 
I can't recall which published nature photographer I was reading (and I usually don't shoot birds, so I'm not going to say this is 100% consistent - but it seems to make sense), but their general rule for shooting against sky was: when shooting dark birds, crank the EV up by 1, when shooting light ones, down by 1.

For the OP, all nice shots; thanks for the post!

--
Rich

my budding galleries: http://philosurfer.zenfolio.com/
 
Do you have a filter on the lens? The first couple of shots seem to have weird linear bokeh that I've seen caused by some filters..

--
'I reject your reality and substitute my own' -Adam Savage
 
USACanuck said:
Do you have a filter on the lens? The first couple of shots seem to
have weird linear bokeh that I've seen caused by some filters..

--
'I reject your reality and substitute my own' -Adam Savage
Click to expand...
The lens has a standard internal filter, but nothing up front (not for lack of wanting to though, it just has no front threads!)
 
compensation or by increasing shutter speed (since I am mostly using shutter priority or manual) or lowering ISO. Samples from A100 below (from small and big beercans) as I don't have much egret shots yet from the A700.
cheers,
gil
BIg beercan



Beercan



Lots from KM5D test shots
http://art4less.smugmug.com/gallery/1037506#P-3-9

--
**************
I've minimized dreaming the Mark series with the A700
I don't give opinions, just what I see : ).
Still 100% jpg and 100% hand held,
No baits, calls and tricks but will use luck.
 
--
Shawn
 
Great pictures. I particularly like the first one's lighting. Through the wing and reflections from water. Great framing.

The only thing I found a bit distracting is the not quite smooth bokeh. From the water reflection, it showed sharp coners formed by the aperture ring and some colour fringing. I was expecting a bit better in this regard from a $2500 lens.

Biu
 
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