Three very striking images, each one having pleasing subject isolation with lush colours and fine detail in abundance - image #2 is (just) our favourite.
Three very striking images, each one having pleasing subject isolation with lush colours and fine detail in abundance - image #2 is (just) our favourite.
It was full moon early yesterday. This is my attempt at shooting the moon a few days before that when it was less than ‘full’: the moon was rising above our trees, so I could not resist the temptation to snap it!
It was full moon early yesterday. This is my attempt at shooting the moon a few days before that when it was less than ‘full’: the moon was rising above our trees, so I could not resist the temptation to snap it!
‘Out of Office’ - Hello, we’re now away until near the end of the month (another mini Frank-Fest - rain and gales are forecast, but fun is guaranteed!) so we will be unable to provide any feedback until after we return. Please carry on having lots of fun in our absence - and stay safe… Phil and Karen
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In the meantime, a few images from recent early morning walks around Hartshill Country Park, Warwickshire, England.
(Shot raw and processed using: DxO PL Elite and Adobe LrC/ PS with Tony Kuyper Panels).
Phil and Karen
It's the sun!
Dawn and a rainbow (a drainbow?) - which became a full double! And then it rained...
‘Out of Office’ - Hello, we’re now away until near the end of the month (another mini Frank-Fest - rain and gales are forecast, but fun is guaranteed!) so we will be unable to provide any feedback until after we return. Please carry on having lots of fun in our absence - and stay safe… Phil and Karen
Got my R5mk2 yesterday and while I am not a bird photographer, I thought it would be a good test of the new camera. Images shot on an R5mk2, RF100-300mm f2.8 and the RF1.4x teleconverter (140-420mm f4 equivalent.) The autofocus is STICKY and really nice to use. I don't even have it completely dialed in and it was amazing. I would say that it seems as good or better than my R3's. These jpeg images were only cropped, no post processing, no sharpening. The big test comes on Saturday when I am shooting Major League Soccer for a visiting team. Stay tuned for images and impressions from that assignment.
We went for bit of a road trip to the west of Canada. I don't get out to very many country fairs but this one was fun. Antique cars, tractor pulls and horse jumping. All types of local products. There was a significantly sized photo contest. Also contests for about anything out there. The most crooked 3 carrots. The 3 most evenly sized/shaped potatoes and it went on.
Millarville, Alberta
Great to see youngsters doing this.
My first tractor pull. Tires dug in and the red flag came up.
Got a wee bit of motion blur in the rear tire Actually that was a bit of a challenge. They don't go very fast.
My wife and I decided to mark one of her items off of her "bucket list". This was something she had wanted to do since she was a little girl, take a flight on a Zeppelin. Zeppelins are built about 20 minutes from our house, in Friedrichshafen, and during the summer, if the weather permits, you will see these magnificent airships flying around.
We booked a 45 minute flight for the next morning and hoped that the weather would permit. It did....sort of. We wanted to take a flight in the direction of Lindau as Lindau has an iconic harbor that I wanted to photograph from above. But there was a storm in that area of the lake so it was either go in the other direction, towards Meersburg, or get a refund and rebook another day and hope the weather permitted. Everyone on that flight chose Meersburg, I guess when you have your dream in front of you waiting, why would you not take it. Who cares where you are flying....haha...it is on a Zeppelin.
I was happy to read that they do not use hydrogen any longer and only use helium. (one a side note: Zeppelin has a museum in Friedrichshafen with a lot of items from the most famous Zeppelin of them all...The Hindenburg)
This is our Zeppelin as it landed at the end of the previous flight. If I remember correctly, there are only 14 seats in the cabin. That is why the cost for a 45 minute flight was 470€ per person.
Some important information to know during the flight:
Friedrichshafen has 2 Zeppelins that are used for flights like ours, the second ship is the Goodyear ship seen here flying over Lake Constance. If the weather were nice, we would have had a wonderful view of the Swiss Alps, but I have clouds in the background of my shot. This was shot through a small open window at the back of the Zeppelin. We were told to make sure we held on to our camera/phone because if we dropped it it would be difficult to find. I was thankful for my Peak Design Cuff wrist strap.
Coming in for a landing. The passengers on the next flight have to stay directly in front of the airship as the pilot is landing. This is so he, or she, can always make sure the passengers on the ground are safe. The wind can blow the Zeppelin a bit, so one of the flight attendants is there to direct the passengers on the ground to run like chickens to the left or to the right. I wasn't sure if it really is necessary or was simply for the amusement of the pilots. I didn't take any photos when I was waiting because we were very clearly instructed not to so we wouldn't be distracted when our flock of fellow chickens needed to run. But, as you can see, not all chickens follow the rules.
The Zeppelin webpage states that there are five flying Zeppelins in the world. Two in Germany, the ones I photographed, and three in the U.S.A.. Those three are Goodyear "Blimps". So, unless Goodyear offers flights, you probably have to make a trip to Germany.
Zeppelin currently has a sixth ship in the hangar under construction, but they haven't said where it is destined for. Normally tours of the hangar are offered, but the hangar is closed because of that sixth ship. They are very secretive and protective of it.
Been out playing with my new toy, trying out some of its tricks...
Unfortunately, Saturday afternoon at the river mouth is noisy vehicle play time, so there weren't many birds around. Just one tern (for the worse), but I do love the shapes their wings make. As spring gets moving their numbers will increase.
Caspian tern, Taranui - Hydroprogne caspia
Loved the way the camera locked on to the subject and held on to it - and also took the exposure from the tracked subject. I did have pre-shoot on, but wasn't very systematic in trying to see what it would do.
Compared with my old R6, the extra megapickles make small bird photography a lot easier. I'm one of those snappers who likes to pretend to frame shots in camera, and looks down on cropping, but with little birds the ability to crop saves a lot of money on expensive glass. That said, I do have an idea that my next purchase might be a 1.4x teleconverter. Don't tell SWMBO...
Subject tracking wasn't a problem for the last two:
I did try the eye tracking, but my first attempt at calibration resulted in an annoying offset. I'll have another go soon, because the little experience I had suggested that if I can get it going it will be wonderful.
I'm looking forward to trying the facial recognition thingy on a very extended family holiday in warmer climes next week, but that will be for the September thread. Will do my best to avoid getting sand in the gears...
Having the R5ii calculate exposure from a tracked subject would be a breakthrough development. For example, when I shoot in 'manual with auto ISO', will the ISO change between shots (if needed) while Av and Tv remain constant?
I know that quite a few photographers — self included, of course — would like to try such an option, but I haven't seen it mentioned by Canon.
P332 of the Advanced User Guide pdf, or html version on web here.
In my limited experiments today, a couple of shots showed it in action. This one, of a couple of cormorants fishing off the river mouth, was (before tweakage) showing a well-exposed predominantly black bird against a significantly over-exposed sea surface. LRC's "auto" has brought the sea back a lot...
Edited to add an untweaked image from the same sequence:
How do I set auto exposure for the priority subject when I'm shooting in pre-continuous, eye-detect, 30 frames per second, muted-but-not-silent electronic shutter, blah, blah, blah…?
Read the manual, bird brain!
Grey Butcherbird : Cracticus torquatus Butch finds the answer on page 332 (of 1225 pages).
I have been going out and shooting with my new R5 2, putting it through its paces and trying to become familiar with some of the new features it has over the R5> Love the Precapture mode and the Shutter Roll control of the stacked sensor during the 30 frames a second in electronic shutter. Auto Focus also seems nice and sticky. Here are two images taken at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria VA. This is the first time I have seen an eagle at this particular park.
