Some ducklings blocking the boat ramp this morning:



Backyard chippy:



The first orchard oriole I've ever seen - this afternoon



A kingbird doing a vulture imitation this afternoon (not a good shot, but I like the pose):



A mink I saw while fishing - fresh out of the water:



And, finally, for a change of pace, a flower shot (tiger lily):

[SCGushue]

Tom,

Wonderful series here. Especially the first three and the mink. The chipmonk has a great pose and look like he had a nasty bite on the rump.... maybe from that mink... sometime in the past.

I just found some mink on a small creek near the house here. It is the first time I had found them in the area. Yours was a good grab... as they tend not to stay around to long...at least not here.

Stephen

[Heinrich Lohmann]

Some ducklings blocking the boat ramp this morning:



Backyard chippy:



The first orchard oriole I've ever seen - this afternoon



A kingbird doing a vulture imitation this afternoon (not a good shot, but I like the pose):



A mink I saw while fishing - fresh out of the water:



And, finally, for a change of pace, a flower shot (tiger lily):

This is a wonderful series Tom, you did have a good day shooting. How was the fishing? Sorry, I know the fishing is always good but how was the catching? :-)

Take care, Heinrich

[m8o]

Tom, great to see. Congrats on all those subjects willing to pose for you.

I hope you can indulge me for a moment. I'm considering the FA* 300 f/4.5 or FA* 80-200 f/2.8 for a trip to Tanzania (definitely will use a TC at times for the latter; up in the air with the fomer)...

To help me understand magnification, were those photos full frame resizes to this low web-viewable resolution, or were the photos also cropped.

Additionally and perhaps more importantly, about how far away were the subjects?

Thanx very much. Nice captures again!

---

Last edited by m8o; 07-22-2007 at 11:12 AM.

[channeler]

Another great series of close ups Tom. I'm going to have to get myself one of those blinds. A really cute group shot of the ducklings. Great poses by the chipmonk and the birds (are you sure you aren't training these animals to pose?). Excellent sharpness and colours. Nice capture of the wet mink too. Lovely colours on the tiger lilly.

Paul

[SupremeMoFo]

Fantastic photos! Great composition and vivid colour.

Oh, and...

CAN WE NOT QUOTE THE PICTURES!

[m8o]

CAN WE NOT QUOTE THE PICTURES!

Lol... I clicked the "report post" icon to ask the admin to kindly edit the post w/the quoted pictures, but read the note that the form should only be used for other more serious purposes, so did not.

Back OT. Tom, just wondering how many feet away those subjects were?

I know I asked above. Just realize my verbosity may cause people to stop reading before I get to the point sometimes...

[LaRee]

Those first three images are stunning Tom. The pose you caught of the Kingbird makes me laugh. I have never seen a mink in the wild before. It seems you have a nature rich area to explore. Thanks for sharing here for us to enjoy.

Your shots with the FA*300 makes me wish they'd hurry up with the new 200 and 300 that we see in the lens road-map. They may cost a wheel-barrel of $$$ but I bet they will be sweet!

[m8o]

Also Tom, a quick one. Does the FA* 300mm f/4.5 retain AF with your Tamron 1.4x TC?

I've been searching your threads but must not have been creative enough in search strings and haven't found if you're stated that already/before.

Thanx,
-steve

[roentarre]

They are outstanding as usual. The details and the colour are just amazing with fabulous lighting.

Shame that I have not used my fa 300 f4.5 as much as I should
James

[Mechan1k]

Simply WOW ... lovely series of shots.
My favourite though is #1 ... cute capture indeed

[scott-devon]

Great series! The first shot is my favourite, although catching a shot of a mink in the wild is a real treat.

[Tom Lusk]

m80- as for distances; ducklings, approx. 15' cropped to pano. Almost full width; chipmunk, approx. 20', basically full frame; oriole, approx 30', about 50% crop; kingbird, approx. 30', again approx. 50% crop; mink, approx. 30', cropped to pano, approx. 50%; lily, approx. 10-12 ', full frame.

I've used the Tamron on occasion, but prefer to get subjects as close as possible. I'll be doing some longer range shots over the coming weeks and playing with the 1.4 and FA1.7 (on its way from Europe). The 1.4 seemed to work well for me ( and does maintain AF), but I didn't do any real tests to see how the images were degraded. I'll post some results when I get a chance - likely in a couple of weeks.

[vievetrick]

Great stuff again Tom. The ducks are awesome. note to self, start saving pennies for 300mm....lolololol...

[m8o]

Thank you Tom. I was trying to understand how near I needed to be with a particular focal length when I am in Africa. I decided to get a 300mm (f/2.8, Sigma tho; hope the colors are as good as Pentax lenses) a/1.4x and 2x TCs (and I have the 1.7x coming too... don't need it anymore tho!)