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Weekly Wildlife Thread dec 2 2007

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Yeah, the color is cranked up a little, but not much. ;-)

I wish I would have shot the entire day in manual expo mode. Being that the camera is new for me I've been using/testing shutter priority and various metering modes. Same old same old (a few blown highlights more often than not), but the 40D is closer at good exposure than some other cameras I've used.

Did you get that close range small target issue with your 40D/300 F4 combo figured out? I tried a couple of close swallow shots today and no cigar. Gotta wonder what the thing thinks it's focused on. Looks like just a hair of back focus, which might make sense if I was out of bounds (too close). Who knows.

Thanks
 
Thanks for the ids Tom and Steve.

I was thinking a Merganser, but I would never had guessed a red-breasted because I don't see the crest that is in the picture in my book.

I had no idea on the Vireo.
 
Thanks for the generous comments everyone.

I admit, I was quite gratified with the Harrier shots. I was fortunate that the harrier was doing these banked turns and was quite close providing me with a great opportunity, and for once I didn't screw it up.

Elkhorn Slough is just a beautiful place. I would recommend it to anyone that is considering visiting (and this is from someone that is spoiled by living 5 minutes from Palo Alto Baylands).
 
I love the last one ...

How close were you for the first two or three shots of the red-tail?
 
300f4 +1.4xtele for 420mm. He wasn't that close. Maybe 75+ ft.

Actually, I took maybe 40 shots of him in air, and only a few were in focus. One of my frustrations with the 40D. I took it in today for calibration and firmware upgrade. [I live near Canon] When it focuses its wonderful, but it misfocuses and over saturates alot in bright light surrounding a small target. I did lighten and sharpen this one, but it was one of the few decent ones.
--



Linda's space~ http://soulswithin.u.yuku.com/
You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it. Author Unknown
 
I brought both the 40D and my 300f4 in to have calibrated.[to the camera]

I'm hoping it was just a little off. Yes, it seemed to jump focus more than the 20D. The interesting part is when shooting it shows a focus beep on the correct spot, but then in editing you see it has not chosen that spot after all. [confusion understood if mixed colors are involved]. But It sure shouldn't jump off of a lg. non moving spider in a web. I had to finally manual focus. I think the focus points seem more sensitive than the 20D. Works fabulous for larger targets. I'm going to miss my 40D this week during the big waves tomorrow. It does alot better than the 20D with one third frame targets. However I did not try all the custom functions for birding. Maybe there is a solution...I hope. ; ) Should have them back in a week, including the firmware update done. I'll post a post if anything good happens.
--



Linda's space~ http://soulswithin.u.yuku.com/
You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it. Author Unknown
 
I've never sent anything in, so I'd be interested in hearing how this goes. I feel for ya on the big waves.

The custom functions scare me. I've disabled my 300 F4L more times than I care to remember with them. I think that's a total of twice. ;^) Seriously though I just leave those alone if I can't tell what they do without reading the manual.

I saw some of your high dynamic range seascape shots, very impressive. Thanks again for the info.
netgarden said:
I brought both the 40D and my 300f4 in to have calibrated.[to the
camera]
I'm hoping it was just a little off. Yes, it seemed to jump focus
more than the 20D. The interesting part is when shooting it shows a
focus beep on the correct spot, but then in editing you see it has
not chosen that spot after all. [confusion understood if mixed colors
are involved]. But It sure shouldn't jump off of a lg. non moving
spider in a web. I had to finally manual focus. I think the focus
points seem more sensitive than the 20D. Works fabulous for larger
targets. I'm going to miss my 40D this week during the big waves
tomorrow. It does alot better than the 20D with one third frame
targets. However I did not try all the custom functions for birding.
Maybe there is a solution...I hope. ; ) Should have them back in a
week, including the firmware update done. I'll post a post if
anything good happens.
--



Linda's space~ http://soulswithin.u.yuku.com/
You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it. Author Unknown
Click to expand...
 
Well, just had my driveway plowed and my van would not start, had to buy a new battery. The good news is I built a bunch of bird feeders and starting to see many birds in my front lawn. A bunch of pesky squirrels also. The deer in my neck of the woods are still skittish from the deer hunt which is thankfully over now. My daughter has 17 wild turkeys and some deer in her backyard so I will have to get up there an get some snaps.

You have some priceless photos of deer. Fantastic. Snow makes it pretty but I don't want any more.
Gerry
Daniella said:
yep..lots of snow and a record for this region...but fun to take the
deers in it.





















--



http://www.pbase.com/zylen
'Never argue with an idiot, they drag you down to their level and
beat you with experience'
Click to expand...
 
I didn't get out this past week, but here are some shots from the previous week (around Thanksgiving).

Wild Turkey



Great Blue Heron at sunset



Great Egret with fish



Double-crested Cormorants



Song Sparrow singing



All photos were taken in the South Bay with a 1D Mark III and 100-400.

--Garrett
http://www.pbase.com/garrettlau
 
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