John Bennett
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Nice to hear Mike.
Re Birds.
100 yards would be too far. For birds I like to atleast fill 20-25% of the frame. Depending on the size of the bird that then means getting fairly close. Thats why birders will always say you can never have enough reach, no matter how much you have..Birds are small 🙂 . With Turkeys and when using my 400mm I like to get about 30-50feet away for frame filling images. If I want more enviroment/less Turkey 75+.Different lenses resolve differently. With wildlife and birds in particular you want to see and preserve detail ( feathers).
Doc Trout.
We keep hearing about any number of invasive species. One month it’s Didymo, the next it’s Carp and the impact they are (and could be) having on the Great Lakes and hence the wetlands that many tributaries spill into. If it’s not invasive species, it’s Urban Sprawl threatening cold water streams. As Anglers, we try to be atleast somewhat aware of all the threats facing cold water fisheries.
I’m curious to know from biologist point of view what currently may represent the greatest threat overall with regards to widespread or irrevocable damage. That is to say over the next 10 to 20 years what in your estimations concerns you the most with regars to the potential impact if unchecked.Doc Trout
Im fairly new to fly and cold water fishing and I’m constantly confused by the classifications of various species. For example, why are Brook Trout (Char) referred to as Trout, Lakers Ive also heard as being referred to as both Lake Trout and Lake Char. When is a “Trout” like the Brown a Trout and when is a Char a “Char”.Doc Trout
Depending on who you listen to, I’ve been told in no particular order that if I want to practise “safe” catch and release practise I should.
1)Never handle a fish or use a tailing glove
2)Never lift a fish by the tail (but why is ok to lift them by the lip as with a boca grip)
3)Never net a fish but if I must buy one with the proper materialWhile the debate about whether or not to use a net ( often allows one to end the fight quicker)
John I’d wait..In fact I will, months even.
1) I want to see what the new 5D especially the new Digic 4
2) give it time to let the people who have to have the newest offerings be the guinea pigs.DP has put up another “preview” with side by side comparisons to the 40D. There are some nice changes over and above the MP and new
There are too many to list.
That said why not consider one of the waterproof ones like the pentax WPs? Good for you when on the water, good for snorkleing, kids in a pool, etc. So aside from removing any worry about water damage when out fishing, it can do some things others cameras cant.Neal hope you dont mind the image, they’re solely for illustrative purposes. Grats on the new lens, macro shootng can be alot of fun.
Getting an all black background can also be acheived by setting exposure values that would normally have the image underexposed. The upside is that the BG need not be black or uniformally black nor all that far away. As flash is on ettl will emit enough to illuminate the target and thats it. As the settings are for an undexposed image (say 2 stops) the rest of the image is black as it would without any flash.
If I recall correctly the bg here is close to a sky blue and about 2 or 3 feet behin the fly.Its a #20 or #22 uncropped at close to the MFD if not at.
It also depends on what exactly your trying to photograph. Are you trying or need to stop motion? Static shots? Imply motion?
As Zach said, flash will help in some instances but not all. Also, the higher you raise your ISO the less range your flash will have.
Higher ISOs, wider aperatures, flash, support (from Tripods and monopods to beanbags and a host of other things), IS/VR are all potential things to utilise. Which to choose laregly depends on the indivual shot and that can change shot to shot and each has its trade offs
Higher ISO…could mean higher noise
Wider aperature….less DoF..Fast glass is nice but try shooting a Doe at f2.8 with a medium to long lens.
Tripod/monopod/other….expense, weight, cumbersome
IS/VR…expensive….only helps with avoiding shake
Flash…has its limits (range) to not to mention weight, cumbersome etcOn any given day I may use some or all of the above depending on where I am, what I feel like carrying and what my “expected” target/subjects are.
John.
I played with Adep alot when I first started and all I can say is after awhile I figured out I was better off sticking to M. The only time I’ll use Adep now is i I’m faced with needing to capture an quick or impromtu “snap” of a group of people. Where there might not be time for retakes and I want everyone from the nearest to the furthest within the DoF.Take this with a grain a salt as landscape arent my thing or strength but try as much as you can to use manual and i need be the “DoF” preview button. I myself rarely, rarely discern any change with it but there are those who say they can.
Bill/Dave
With regards to stopping down alot and subsequent hits to IQ. I always thought that was more a product of the lens then the body????Meaning some lenses can handle stopping down to f16 or f22 and other couldnt???Thanks guys.
Not sure about getting out in front of loaded guns, but shots like those can always be staged with unloaded guns 🙂Right now the grass is pretty high, it really limits alot of whats possible. Come the fall it will have hopefully been knocked down some. If you didnt check a few of the other shots up, this is a truer representation of whats to contend with currently.
And Wirehounds are big dogs.As mentioned at the start, this was really more a chance for the owner and I to meet face to face at his request. And for me to get a feel for it. See the geography, get a sense of how to appoach some things and to “visualise” such that when it counts Im prepared with not only ideas but I also know now how the light plays across the field, where trees may block it, where to set up when they move to the ponds, where to set up when they shoot the south field, etc, etc..
And to ensure my head stays on my shoulders while theres a few guys with loaded shotguns about and Im trying to work around them at the same time while trying to capture the “essence” of the hunt….
Will no offense but comments like that arent neccessary. I really don’t know how to respond to that. We all have our own styles I could say the same of just bug shooting 😉 Is that what we can expect from each of your threads? Or guys that shoot nothing but fish. If anything Will sometimes I think Im too diverse with fly fishing, spin fishing, Bass Tourneys, wilidfe, falconry, hunting, so what if theres an emphasis on stop action.
Guess what..it sells.And right now thats my priority (images for publication) and what I’m trying to hone.What I do know is!!! hunters and dog owners are a passionate and dedicated lot… what would be interesting to see is an essay that follows one dog owner/trials hopefull…
Pics of the
-domestic scenes with the dog… away from the field action/scenario
-trials prep
-failures and successesMy favorites from the day
?????????
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I understand and appreciat the thought Will, I do.Its noted as are all other suggestions. When it comes time and Im doing it for real, all those will be playing through my mind (and then some) but I really don’t know what to make of it.Different anyways, Id rather not comment/compare.
A “Eurpoean shoot” is quite different, its bascially a shooting gallery for hunters (and photogs) stationed around.as for whether or not anyone would publish an image like mine I guess theres only one way to find out. When the seasons open and I get some with fall colours in a hunt setting, after getting a bunch of bread nd butter shots, I’ll slap the 400 on and nail some good “kill” shots 🙂 Send a couple here and there and see what happens…Whats the worst that can happen, they join a pile of other rejects 🙂
Kills me the difference in the numbers of publications between south and North of the border. Up here theres only a handful of fish/hunting mags…You guys have soooooooooo many…I wouldnt know where to begin other than Field and Stream. 🙂
Kevin. I’ll check with the owner/operator about his take on the distinction when next I see him.
Mike:
1st shot
Manual, partial metering ISO 100 at 1/2500th no bias @ f3.2. Technically it could stand some fill (which I was doing), but for some reason I preferred the non flashed frame.Last shot.
My mistake earlier, I thought it was one of the 400mm shots, it wasnt its at 70mm. Sometimes forget which were which when mixing up lenses 🙂Clouds were moving in, sunlight was intermittant.
AV, partial Metering, ISO 200 @ 1/6500, no bias @ f4.0.
Its cropped about 40%..That much I remember 🙂Agree 100% Zach.
It’s way cool in so much as you never see stop action like that with the naked eye or even with video, but I’d be really surprised, if a major mag would ever run shots of that nature. Like you said, I think it crosses the line for publications. Dunno for sure as on the “pro” side more and more were seeing hunting shows/vids capturing and displaying the full sequence.. Primos “the truth” series come to mind and some Bow hunting shows also show the release through to completetion…but in the end theres still a fine line I think between paid for programming and print media.
I “think” a better shot of a bird taking to wing, the hunter raising the gun and tracking can sell though as in the first frame. Feathers popping off or floating in the wind a just that weee bit risque. “Better” meaning fall colours on the ground and BG, shooters in field gear as opposed to summer khakis etc:). The “comp” as it were is in my inexperienced eye about perfect.
And then close ups of various species “in flight” can work to but are realyl tough given you only have a second or two to acquire focus and hope they aren’t “butt” shots but side ons.
Still a earning curve for me. Anyone else want to chime in by all means do so…even different things to look for ( acroutrements, spent shells, nice wood work on stocks etc).
Thanks Zach.
J
Drfiter
Most of the time I had the 24-70 on. I think if pushed thats all thats needed. The dogs tend to work 50 to 75 feet out and at the long end you can get them and depending on angles include the hunter. When up close an at the short end, you get nice views as well. The first two shots of a Chukar above were taken with it.I played with the 400 for some in flightshots of the chukars (the last shot above) but the birds tend to “escape” towards 10 and 2 oclock and that mean “ass” shots, which for wildlife isolation shots dont work.
Given my druthers Id like to use a 24-70 and 70-200 type lens. A wide agle zoom would still be the workhorse.As for tips..not sure Im still trying to figure out what o look for myself other than Dogs on point and Birds exploding up out of the brush (exploding in air is cool but I dont know about sellable) :).
Te hardest thing is you have little to no control over the direction of light. The dogs work upwind and the birds fly “away”. You can move to much of an oblique as Im sure you dont want to lose your head accidentally. So I stayed about 5 to 10 feet behind the shooterat all times and tried to shoot around the shooter and the trainer.
Lol Scott 🙂
I wondered abit about that myself but really, the edge of the field is still a good 150 to 200 feet away (hedge row). The owners house is another 100 feet beyon that. Its a bit of an illusion due to the compression of the 400mm. At that point we were at the far north of of his property. I forget how many acres he has but its huge. Most activlity is in 1 to 7 fields all but te near one a longways away. The near one he uses for training.For your flies another option and probably cheaper is a commercially made light box.http://www.boothphoto.com/lkits.cfm?P=26 or something similiar. Gets you going until you replace your body and get new flashes
For outdoor work there are a dozen ways to go if not more.
Dedicated macro flashes
Ring lights: Flower shooters like them, bug shooters dont. Expensive
Twin lights: Bug shooters like them, albeit tricky to set the balance. ExpensiveFlash brackets.
Theres DIY and there are commercially available ones.
I use a RRS 87B. Largely because its a good bracket for all my needs not just macro. With any bracket there are pros and cons.
Pros: Get the flash off your body. Allows you to position the head such that the light hits your subject, not your lens.Con: weight and balance. I originally planned to buy a second flash mount head to fit the bracket. Scroll down here http://reallyrightstuff.com/flash/05.html bu with just my normal flash its already heavy. A second flash head would add alot of weight, make it that much more unwieldy and lastly bugs get spooked. The less you prod at them, the better.
Was going to suggest what Carter just said.
Theres actually a “tool” thats part wrench grip with about a 12 inch long rubber tongue. Wrap the rubber around whatever, thread it back through the grip. Plenty of torque and tension to loosen anything you dont want to mar. Ive used mine on my CP/Lens when they got stuck without a hitch.
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Probalby available all over the place.
http://www.globalsources.com/manufacturers/Rubber-Strap-Wrench.htmlI’ve had more follows take when I stop my retreive, than I have vs a sudden increase in speed. But by far Ive had more follows just ignore both 🙂
Sweet Lunge’s Tim
Sweet fish and report.
Very similiar fish but not the same. Didnt pick up on the anal fin difference but did note that the spots below the lateral just above both Jim/Lando’s baby fingers both form something of a triangle but the two are inversed
