- This topic is empty.
Moderately rare Spoonbill…
-
So this Spoonbill has been at the marshes local to me for about 3 days now and insists on feeding and resting way, way out in one of the pools. The area is protected so I can’t go trapsing through the wilderness to close the distance. Quite frustrating!
Anyways, today, it was a fair bit closer, still a bit too far for me to take anything approaching an acceptable (for me) photo. But nonetheless I was determined to come home with at least something! So out with the 100 – 400mm, on with the 2x ring. That was when I remembered, no auto focus.. Feck! So I’ve done the best I could, just finished manual focus when the bird started to stretch itself a bit.
If anyone has some tips on manual focusing properly, I’m all ears.
Great stuff, any sign of the Squacco Heron or Night heron that were hangin around there?
We get Spoonbills here too ……I’ve never seen one though :cry:There were a couple of herons around actually. Not sure what breed however. I didn’t get any decent shots of them, but maybe you can tell enough by this picture?
It looks rather angry about something don’t you think?
There was another, more fluffy kind of Heron too, I’ll upload that when I’ve had some sleep :P
Sod it, I might as well do this now actually, I don’t feel very tired :)
Again, this Heron was too far away to get any real detail. This was taken at around 900mm focal length and heavily cropped. It’ll be going in the scrap bin for me, but at least someone might be able to tell me what type of Heron it is? …. Come to think of it, this one looks a bit vexed too!
That first one is great-
was it much of a crop?That’s some long glass you’re using too-
didn’t you recently introduce yourself as being something of a novice?The gloves are off now :D
j
Nice shots Glenn. You’re a bit of a grumpy bird specialist by the look
of these two.Manual focus is total guesswork for me, I’m afraid. With the Pentax
you can switch to auto focus when using a manual focus lens and hold the
button down – the shutter releases when you hit sharp focus. Supposedly.
My eyesight isn’t good enough to focus manually on anything that moves –
I might be able to manage a tripod/landscape shot.Noely – What!? Just a boring regular ol’ Heron? What a waste of time! :)
jb – Thanks for the kind feedback. The first one was cropped from about a third of the original photo, so it was a fair crop guv! (Haw haw!) I usually try to refrain from using the 2x ring unless it’s absolutely necessary. But when it’s that or nothing, I will take a chance with the extender.
… And I still maintain I’m a novice!! This is only my second month ever of using an SLR, before that I had my Nikon point and click 2meg jobby. Which I never used :P
Pete – Thanks for the kind feedback. I don’t think the same action happens with my 350D when switching about with the AF/MF, but I’ll have an experiment when I go back to the marshes today. :)
Wolfy2k4 wrote:
so it was a fair crop guv! (Haw haw!)
Hee hee. Keep making jokes like that and you can join my clique (when I get one).
Unusual stance by the bird in the first shot, but I like it.
Why type of lens were you using on the 350D for this shot.
Wolfy2k4 wrote:
Raven – It’s a Canon 100 – 400mm IS USM L with a Canon MK II 2x ring.
Thanks. Good sharp shots. :)
Usually… But not so much when I’m manual focusing… That’s probably all down to practice though ;)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
