BIF Photography

**Des** · 12-23-2017, 02:28 PM - **2 Likes**

White-faced Heron. K-30 + Tamron 18-250

**ramseybuckeye** · 12-23-2017, 05:56 PM - **3 Likes**

Snowy Owl

**MetteHHH** · 01-01-2018, 09:46 AM

Originally posted by ramseybuckeye

Snowy Owl

Oh! Oooooh, envy!

We haven't has one of those visit Denmark for some years now, but just this night I dreamed that I spotted one, seriously

(I was also in the Alps in my dream, so it was all silly, but combined with your BIF-photo I choose to take this as a SIGN of a snowy coming my way this winter!)

**noelcmn** · 01-02-2018, 07:12 AM

I'm joining that envious party, and while you are weaving you magical dream signs, can you arrange a slight detour for that owl, down south of the Equator?")
Did some practicing with the K200D yesterday

Some older ones

**MetteHHH** · 01-02-2018, 02:21 PM

Originally posted by noelcmn

I'm joining that envious party, and while you are weaving you magical dream signs, can you arrange a slight detour for that owl, down south of the Equator?")

I GUESS if it already crossed the Alps it might as well keep going!

**ramseybuckeye** · 01-03-2018, 03:30 PM

Originally posted by MetteHHH

Oh! Oooooh, envy!

We haven't has one of those visit Denmark for some years now, but just this night I dreamed that I spotted one, seriously

(I was also in the Alps in my dream, so it was all silly, but combined with your BIF-photo I choose to take this as a SIGN of a snowy coming my way this winter!)

Good luck. I hope you are right!

**JimS_256** · 01-05-2018, 12:47 PM - **2 Likes**

A few shots of immature bald eagles from earlier this week.

I watched this one successfully catch a fish. Of course it was in the darkest, most shaded spot possible.

He (or she) was immediately set upon by another juvenile trying to steal the catch.

The chase was fun to watch and lasted quite a while but I was only able to get a couple of good images (read "in focus").

**MetteHHH** · 01-15-2018, 07:59 AM - **2 Likes**

Oooh, Jim, those are excellent!

I got a few shots of their cousin, our white-tailed eagle. She was hunting ducks, but with no luck - they dived and fled in all directions and she never managed to lock onto a target. This is a shot of her leaving, handheld with my new Sigma 500mm f4.5, which left me with a very sore shoulder. But definitely worth it!

**JimS_256** · 01-15-2018, 08:50 PM

Originally posted by MetteHHH

Oooh, Jim, those are excellent!

Thanks!

Great image, most of my best, in focus, shots are of eagles leaving too. Any tips on identifying male and female? For Bald Eagles I know that males are smaller but that's about it. I'm not an expert birder.

How do you like the Sigma 500 F4.5? I really like my DA*300 + 1.4 TC. It's easy to hand hold and I like the flexibility of moving around. I think if I went with a 500mm or bigger I'd have to go with a gimbal tripod but longer lenses have a certain attraction that's hard to resist.

**MetteHHH** · 01-16-2018, 01:09 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by JimS_256

Thanks!

Great image, most of my best, in focus, shots are of eagles leaving too. Any tips on identifying male and female? For Bald Eagles I know that males are smaller but that's about it. I'm not an expert birder.

How do you like the Sigma 500 F4.5? I really like my DA*300 + 1.4 TC. It's easy to hand hold and I like the flexibility of moving around. I think if I went with a 500mm or bigger I'd have to go with a gimbal tripod but longer lenses have a certain attraction that's hard to resist.

White-tailed are very similar to bald, and size is the best indicator there as well. It's easier when you see them together of course. For this particular pair I have been to visit them before, and she is the youngest. When they established their territory four years ago she was a four year old, so her tail had a solid rim of black. He was adult with a completely white tail. They attempted breeding without success the first two years, but I was told that they produced young in both 2016 and 2017, so she is grown up now. But you can still find a tiny bit of black at the rim of her tail feathers and two little black feathers on the tail coverts, so that is how I knew that this was the female!

I only got the 500mm in October, and I didn't get as much chance to practise as I would have liked to. It is never going to replace my DA*300 for sure - I can carry that everywhere, focus is fast and it is easy to hand hold as you say. On this trip I brought an H-harness and went for a walk around the lake with the DA*300 on my right and the Sigma 500 on my left. My shoulders were killing me the next couple of days!

I managed to shoot a duck-hunting sequence before the photo that I posted above - but I had to give up shooting it with the Sigma. It kept losing focus. I was in a bird hide, so although I didn't take my tripod I had windowsill-support, but after losing focus a couple of times I switched to my DA*300 and it worked a lot better. Walking back to the car the eagle flew towards me and came quite close, and this is when I took the photo above. I took some while it was coming towards me, but the head was never exactly in the focus plane. I don't know if AF speed is the problem, or if I just need to practise more.

The AF performance is definitely what I am the least happy with so far: It finds focus "inwards" from infinity, but if it moves past my target I can't get it to refind focus "outwards" at all - I have to manually focus at infinity and try again. That is no good for action sequences, really. I don't have much of a clue why, though. Could be my copy, could be a bit of dust on my sensor, or it could be that there is something about the lens I still need to learn.

When it gets the focus right, it is very sharp though, and the bokeh is beautiful.

**JimS_256** · 01-16-2018, 01:34 PM - **5 Likes**

@MetteHHH Thanks for all the helpful information! Much appreciated! I can't imagine carrying the 300 and 500 at the same time, Yikes. My biggest challenge is definitely getting good focus and I struggle with the DA*300. It's better than my old 55-300 but I still end up with more out of focus than in...

Here are some from the last couple of days ago.

Merganser fly by. These guys are fast. Usually by the time I'd see them it was too late.

Practicing a touch and go.

A rare, for me, face on shot.

**Des** · 01-19-2018, 01:29 AM - **4 Likes**

Something different: rendered through the bokeh of an FA Limited is an Eastern Yellow Robin who has been and gone. K-30 + FA 77.

**YeOldePentaxian** · 02-10-2018, 11:53 PM - **2 Likes**

Final approach.

**colonel00** · 02-10-2018, 11:59 PM - **5 Likes**

Early snow

---------- Post added 02-11-18 at 02:00 AM ----------

Liftoff

---------- Post added 02-11-18 at 02:02 AM ----------

One more

**JimS_256** · 02-18-2018, 07:48 PM - **3 Likes**

A few more eagle shots from a couple of weeks ago. Sadly it appears they have moved on and "eagle season" is over for this year.

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12-23-2017, 02:28 PM - 2 Likes	#931
Des Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Victoria Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 6,421	White-faced Heron. K-30 + Tamron 18-250

12-23-2017, 05:56 PM - 3 Likes	#932
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01-01-2018, 09:46 AM	#933
MetteHHH Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2010 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,817	Originally posted by ramseybuckeye Snowy Owl Oh! Oooooh, envy! We haven't has one of those visit Denmark for some years now, but just this night I dreamed that I spotted one, seriously (I was also in the Alps in my dream, so it was all silly, but combined with your BIF-photo I choose to take this as a SIGN of a snowy coming my way this winter!)

01-02-2018, 07:12 AM	#934
noelcmn Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: South Africa-Johannesburg Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 46,166	I'm joining that envious party, and while you are weaving you magical dream signs, can you arrange a slight detour for that owl, down south of the Equator?") Did some practicing with the K200D yesterday Some older ones

01-02-2018, 02:21 PM	#935
MetteHHH Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2010 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,817	Originally posted by noelcmn I'm joining that envious party, and while you are weaving you magical dream signs, can you arrange a slight detour for that owl, down south of the Equator?") I GUESS if it already crossed the Alps it might as well keep going!

01-03-2018, 03:30 PM	#936
ramseybuckeye Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Hampstead, NC Photos: Gallery Posts: 17,291	Originally posted by MetteHHH Oh! Oooooh, envy! We haven't has one of those visit Denmark for some years now, but just this night I dreamed that I spotted one, seriously (I was also in the Alps in my dream, so it was all silly, but combined with your BIF-photo I choose to take this as a SIGN of a snowy coming my way this winter!) Good luck. I hope you are right!

01-05-2018, 12:47 PM - 2 Likes	#937
JimS_256 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 1,107	A few shots of immature bald eagles from earlier this week. I watched this one successfully catch a fish. Of course it was in the darkest, most shaded spot possible. He (or she) was immediately set upon by another juvenile trying to steal the catch. The chase was fun to watch and lasted quite a while but I was only able to get a couple of good images (read "in focus").

01-15-2018, 07:59 AM - 2 Likes	#938
MetteHHH Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2010 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,817	Oooh, Jim, those are excellent! I got a few shots of their cousin, our white-tailed eagle. She was hunting ducks, but with no luck - they dived and fled in all directions and she never managed to lock onto a target. This is a shot of her leaving, handheld with my new Sigma 500mm f4.5, which left me with a very sore shoulder. But definitely worth it!

01-15-2018, 08:50 PM	#939
JimS_256 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 1,107	Originally posted by MetteHHH Oooh, Jim, those are excellent! Thanks! Great image, most of my best, in focus, shots are of eagles leaving too. Any tips on identifying male and female? For Bald Eagles I know that males are smaller but that's about it. I'm not an expert birder. How do you like the Sigma 500 F4.5? I really like my DA*300 + 1.4 TC. It's easy to hand hold and I like the flexibility of moving around. I think if I went with a 500mm or bigger I'd have to go with a gimbal tripod but longer lenses have a certain attraction that's hard to resist.

01-16-2018, 01:09 AM - 1 Like	#940
MetteHHH Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2010 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,817	Originally posted by JimS_256 Thanks! Great image, most of my best, in focus, shots are of eagles leaving too. Any tips on identifying male and female? For Bald Eagles I know that males are smaller but that's about it. I'm not an expert birder. How do you like the Sigma 500 F4.5? I really like my DA300 + 1.4 TC. It's easy to hand hold and I like the flexibility of moving around. I think if I went with a 500mm or bigger I'd have to go with a gimbal tripod but longer lenses have a certain attraction that's hard to resist. White-tailed are very similar to bald, and size is the best indicator there as well. It's easier when you see them together of course. For this particular pair I have been to visit them before, and she is the youngest. When they established their territory four years ago she was a four year old, so her tail had a solid rim of black. He was adult with a completely white tail. They attempted breeding without success the first two years, but I was told that they produced young in both 2016 and 2017, so she is grown up now. But you can still find a tiny bit of black at the rim of her tail feathers and two little black feathers on the tail coverts, so that is how I knew that this was the female! I only got the 500mm in October, and I didn't get as much chance to practise as I would have liked to. It is never going to replace my DA300 for sure - I can carry that everywhere, focus is fast and it is easy to hand hold as you say. On this trip I brought an H-harness and went for a walk around the lake with the DA300 on my right and the Sigma 500 on my left. My shoulders were killing me the next couple of days! I managed to shoot a duck-hunting sequence before the photo that I posted above - but I had to give up shooting it with the Sigma. It kept losing focus. I was in a bird hide, so although I didn't take my tripod I had windowsill-support, but after losing focus a couple of times I switched to my DA300 and it worked a lot better. Walking back to the car the eagle flew towards me and came quite close, and this is when I took the photo above. I took some while it was coming towards me, but the head was never exactly in the focus plane. I don't know if AF speed is the problem, or if I just need to practise more. The AF performance is definitely what I am the least happy with so far: It finds focus "inwards" from infinity, but if it moves past my target I can't get it to refind focus "outwards" at all - I have to manually focus at infinity and try again. That is no good for action sequences, really. I don't have much of a clue why, though. Could be my copy, could be a bit of dust on my sensor, or it could be that there is something about the lens I still need to learn. When it gets the focus right, it is very sharp though, and the bokeh is beautiful.

01-16-2018, 01:34 PM - 5 Likes	#941
JimS_256 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 1,107	@MetteHHH Thanks for all the helpful information! Much appreciated! I can't imagine carrying the 300 and 500 at the same time, Yikes. My biggest challenge is definitely getting good focus and I struggle with the DA*300. It's better than my old 55-300 but I still end up with more out of focus than in... Here are some from the last couple of days ago. Merganser fly by. These guys are fast. Usually by the time I'd see them it was too late. Practicing a touch and go. A rare, for me, face on shot.

01-19-2018, 01:29 AM - 4 Likes	#942
Des Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Victoria Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 6,421	Something different: rendered through the bokeh of an FA Limited is an Eastern Yellow Robin who has been and gone. K-30 + FA 77.

02-10-2018, 11:59 PM - 5 Likes	#944
colonel00 Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Shawnee, KS Posts: 483	Early snow ---------- Post added 02-11-18 at 02:00 AM ---------- Liftoff ---------- Post added 02-11-18 at 02:02 AM ---------- One more

02-18-2018, 07:48 PM - 3 Likes	#945
JimS_256 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 1,107	A few more eagle shots from a couple of weeks ago. Sadly it appears they have moved on and "eagle season" is over for this year.

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