My OperaDistance
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 11:41:23 PM
Recently I've become much more adept at spotting wildlife at a distance. There's the example of the fox on Sunday. It's not that I have great eyesight, but I have got much better at seeing small anomalies in the landscape, either a movement or a hint of colour. It's something to do with pattern recognition, noticing difference without needing to see precisely what it is you're looking at.
Here's an example from today. I was looking out over the empty fields when I thought, hang on a moment there's something over there. I took a number of shots on full zoom (400mm, which with the 1.6x crop factor of the camera sensor gives a 35mm film equivalent of 640mm, or 12-13x magnification). I also took a shot at 100mm length (which is about 3x magnification). This is the result. The main image is the 100mm shot, and the arrow points to the anomaly. The inset is cropped from a 400mm shot.
Roe deer buck - click to enlarge
Of course I do sometimes get a little closer to my subjects. This is from tonight. It's a full frame shot (not cropped, just reduced in size) of the bold vixen. It was taken with the 105mm macro lens from a couple of feet away.
Bold vixen
Which goes some way to explaining why so many lenses are needed. I couldn't have photographed or even identified the deer with the macro lens; and I was far too close to the fox to have been able to focus with the long lens.
Camera note: the deer was photographed with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The fox was photographed with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens.
Here's an example from today. I was looking out over the empty fields when I thought, hang on a moment there's something over there. I took a number of shots on full zoom (400mm, which with the 1.6x crop factor of the camera sensor gives a 35mm film equivalent of 640mm, or 12-13x magnification). I also took a shot at 100mm length (which is about 3x magnification). This is the result. The main image is the 100mm shot, and the arrow points to the anomaly. The inset is cropped from a 400mm shot.
Roe deer buck - click to enlargeOf course I do sometimes get a little closer to my subjects. This is from tonight. It's a full frame shot (not cropped, just reduced in size) of the bold vixen. It was taken with the 105mm macro lens from a couple of feet away.
Bold vixenWhich goes some way to explaining why so many lenses are needed. I couldn't have photographed or even identified the deer with the macro lens; and I was far too close to the fox to have been able to focus with the long lens.
Camera note: the deer was photographed with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The fox was photographed with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens.
RobinRobinL # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 1:46:26 AM
Darkogdare # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 4:19:35 AM
Loiscakkleberrylane # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 10:46:09 AM
Adele BrandSittingFox # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 5:08:12 PM
Absolutely wonderful portrait picture!
Unfortunately, shooting at ridiculously long range is getting to be the norm for me
Words # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 9:51:06 PM
Words # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 9:52:14 PM
Words # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 9:52:56 PM
Words # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 9:55:43 PM
Adele BrandSittingFox # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 10:12:23 PM
Words # Wednesday, June 10, 2009 10:46:48 PM
Chthoniidchthoniid # Thursday, June 11, 2009 5:44:10 AM
It actually starts to get tricky focusing with lenses that ahave a FL over 400mm. The angle of view narrows significantly and the motion of the photographer (via the camera and lens) gets exagerrated. Tripods and blinds start becoming vital.
Fwiw, a lot of the wildlife film photographers of the film-era only used a (sharp) 300mm prime.
I stick to a 300mm prime with a 1.4x TC for most of my work- as it's a good compromise between protability and reach.
Words # Thursday, June 11, 2009 8:37:22 PM
NeilUkwildlife # Tuesday, June 16, 2009 7:49:52 PM
Words # Tuesday, June 16, 2009 8:46:30 PM