[normhead]

I finally got a day out yesterday with some light. I was itching to go.

Birds (K-1, Tamron 300 and 1.7x)








And a fox in a frozen wetland.
K-3 and DA*200 and HD 1/4 TC

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Last edited by normhead; 02-10-2017 at 08:31 AM.

[WPRESTO]

Nuthatch

[RockvilleBob]

After a storm went through the Everglades we went out on a Motorboat to tour the 10,000 Islands area. The sky was overcast, the wind was up, and the boat kept bobbing. But we did get to see some wildlife. The spoonbils were fairly far off. The White Pelicans are big, wing spans from 6 to 12 feet. They are graceful in flight - grey sky and all.

---------- Post added 02-10-17 at 07:27 PM ----------

I finally got a day out yesterday with some light. I was itching to go.


And a fox in a frozen wetland.
K-3 and DA*200 and HD 1/4 TC

Great shot of the fox -

[Audi 5 cyl]

Here's a moon shot.

Taken with Tair 3S (4.5/300) in Echillais, France at 01h43 AM @f/8, uncropped, handheld.


Lunar eclipse 11/02/17 by Marko Jankovic, on Flickr

[Pentaxians]

Munia, they are resident breeding birds in Africa and in South Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. They are small gregarious birds which feed mainly on seeds, usually in relatively open habitats, preferring to feed on the ground or on reeds of grasses. Sharing these five species that are commonly spotted.

Dusky munia:


Black-headed munia


White-headed munia


White-rumped munia


Scaly-breasted munia

[Canada_Rockies]

After a storm went through the Everglades we went out on a Motorboat to tour the 10,000 Islands area. The sky was overcast, the wind was up, and the boat kept bobbing. But we did get to see some wildlife. The spoonbils were fairly far off. The White Pelicans are big, wing spans from 6 to 12 feet. They are graceful in flight - grey sky and all.[COLOR="Silver"]

When I was growing up, we had a house that overlooked a Salt water river (Nicomekl) in South west British Columbia. Every year the whole family would go out and watch as the white pelicans migrated North along the coast. It was beyond fascinating (even for a teenager) to watch them glide up with the occasional flap. They used a thermal over the plowed farm land across the river from us to get to cruising altitude.

[zzeitg]

DA*300 @ 420mm

[derekkite]

I'm hoping that I can get some recommendations here or suggestions of another thread on the forum for answers. This past year I've purchased both a Sigma 300mm 2.8 and Sigma 500mm 4.5 from forum members and both lens appear to be in near mint condition. My first goal in getting back into photography after 25 years away from SLR photography is to photograph birds. This 300mm thread has been a wonderful learning experience about technique and tools which is why I chose these two particular lenses. A number of outstanding photographers here use these two lenses and produce some of the most beautiful, razor sharp photographs. I have a K3 and a K3ll and am still in the learning curve of digital photography but am getting some of the basics sorted out. The 500mm lens is reasonably sharp but I suspect isn't 100% matching up with the camera body to give really sharp pictures but its close enough that it might just be my limitations. The pictures I see posted here often are so sharp as to be nearly unbelievable. I know that this is a combination of all the gear operating at its best as well as great skill of the photographer. I'm probably a long way from that level of ability so the 500mm lens might be tack sharp and I'm not. The 300mm, 2.8 though is way off. I've struggled trying to do fine focus in camera adjustments in my home at a distance of 25 feet using a meter scale at a 45 degree angle. Once I get the lens adjusted I can go outside (where it is very cold this time of year) and shoot objects like wooden fences and roof parts that are 15 to 30 feet away and the lens seems pretty sharp. When I drive to the local river where there is no ice I can shoot Mallards from 50 to 60 feet away (makes them pretty small) and when I enlarge the pics on the back of the camera they are ALL way out of focus. I've been fiddling with this for a week now and am nearly burned out and am hoping someone can point me to an exact method of adjusting big telephoto lenses. Anybody have any ideas? Anybody in the US that can do this precisely?

Thanks, Bob

Set up something detailed at 5 meters to check your focus.

But likely it is motion blur or vibration. I found with the K3 below 1/1600 or so there was vibration blur. A good tripod with gimbal helps, but even then. Hunting shops have sandbags for sighting in their rifles, and they work. It truly is a matter of taking lots of shots. The technique takes a while to acquire.

[RockvilleBob]

When I was growing up, we had a house that overlooked a Salt water river (Nicomekl) in South west British Columbia. Every year the whole family would go out and watch as the white pelicans migrated North along the coast. It was beyond fascinating (even for a teenager) to watch them glide up with the occasional flap. They used a thermal over the plowed farm land across the river from us to get to cruising altitude.

The first time I have seen them - really a treat. You must have also had a lot of eagles to watch when you were growing up.

[rkappleby]

I don't get to see Golden's very often but happened on one today. Sig 500

[r0ckstarr]

K3 / DA*300

[smf]

Set up something detailed at 5 meters to check your focus.

But likely it is motion blur or vibration. I found with the K3 below 1/1600 or so there was vibration blur. A good tripod with gimbal helps, but even then. Hunting shops have sandbags for sighting in their rifles, and they work. It truly is a matter of taking lots of shots. The technique takes a while to acquire.

Other possibilities which might be worth trying are use of remote shutter release, setting your capture so that one command for release of the shutter results in multiple shots, and (for still birds) acquiring focus in Live View.

[RockvilleBob]

From a kayak outing into the dense Mangrove canals in the Everglades. Went out with two cameras, Pentax K-3 w/DA 15-60 and Nikon with Sigma Sport 150-600. The first two are wide angle shots to illustrate the setting, the rest are 300+ shots. The dense mangrove made focus tough plus you are in a moving kayak.

[Kameko]

Baldie in flight on my 2nd day shooting with the new camera

[Kath]

From a kayak outing into the dense Mangrove canals in the Everglades. Went out with two cameras, Pentax K-3 w/DA 15-60 and Nikon with Sigma Sport 150-600. The first two are wide angle shots to illustrate the setting, the rest are 300+ shots. The dense mangrove made focus tough plus you are in a moving kayak.

Gees, you're a brave man! I shoot from a kayak too, and the first thing I noticed was that big thing with those enormous teeth! Last year a playful otter got ahold of my kayak and I nearly capsized. I sure wouldn't want to meet up with that monster you have there!