11 Low Light Raptor Portraits with NX1 and 50-150 f/2.8 S

As part of one of my current projects, creating a photographic portrait of the Teatown Lake Reservation, I often visit Teatown's Wildlife Rescue center. Here wildlife that has been injured in accidents or shot by hunters and who's injuries prevent them from surviving in the wild live as Ambassadors to Nature. It's part of Teatown's educational programs.

As the sun is going down each day, the beautiful raptors become very lively, so this is when I have been training my NX1 with the 50-150mm f/2.8 S lens on them for some very informal portraits. The lowering sun does make their habitats rather dark, and I do keep a distance so as not to alarm them. So creating the portraits is a dance of choosing ISOs and exposures and post processing techniques for the best consistent images. What I have found out is the NX1 sensor with 50/150 S is a beautiful combination for shooting way to the left to keep the ISO down ( 800 or less ) while still revealing all the deeper shadows in post (ISO invariant). How dark the original images are using this technique may surprise you. I did get one chance to use ISO 100 as a very friendly and inquisitive Black Vulture named Walter came right up to me in the lowering sunlight for a close-up portrait.

Here is the announcement on my website of the new Gallery, followed by the link:

And here is the link to all 11 images: Teatown's Wildlife Rescue

Clicking on any image will enlarge it into a manually controlled ( < and > ) slideshow. Underneath each image caption is a short story about the subject. Clicking the >Slideshow button will automate a full screen display without captions.

The portrait of Teatown Lake Reservation itself that I started a couple of weeks ago, now with 33 NX1 images (with 16-50mm f/2.0-2.8 S, 50-150mm f/2.8 S and 60mm f/2.8), continues as well. I have been hiking and climbing the miles of trails to determine the personality of the reservation and its many lakes, while recording images of early Spring as I go. And I still have plenty of ground yet to cover for a first time look. The focal lengths have mostly been sufficient so far, but I have missed wildlife opportunities due to not having a long lens. I will have to pack my Canon 100-400mm L once I start my second set of hikes over the previously traveled terrain.

If you would like to catch up with my emerging portrait of the Reservation, you can find it here: The Seasons at Teatown Lake Reservation .

This Gallery should be growing steadily over the next eight or nine months.

And a Note: My website is now one year old and in celebration I have completely re-designed my Homepage Slideshow. It now includes 19 image slides that take you on a three minute tour of selections from my entire Portfolio (or you can pause and run through at your own pace). If you have a moment, please click on my VisionLight logo at the upper left of any page to view the new Homepage (or enter from the link in my Signature below). I appreciate hearing from you on what you think of it, either commenting here or directly in my website. The slideshow will start automatically after about 12-14 seconds to give you time on the first page. Thank you for looking in.

Ed