Got me a mallard in flight

[WifeKidsandDog]

It was late and dull yesterday afternoon when I took this so it's a little 'grainy' but I'm happy with it.

[shae1986]

I gotta say nice picture. I have always wanted to do this and was wondering what kinda camera to buy to get good pictures. Great Pic.

Andrew Shae

[Tom Wilson]

Cheryl--OUTSTANDING!!!

Beautiful shot--great composition.

Iam very excited for you, I vividly remember the first great flight shot I got, and it feels like a million bucks don't it?

I hope you don't mind, but I Photoshopped it just a little for you. I sharpened it just a little and gave it a little saturation. I think it pulls it off the screen just a little better. If you are interested in what I did, send me an e-mail at [email protected]

If you don't like the fact that I took the liberty then just let me know and I will remove my post. I don't mean to imply that you're photo wasn't great already, I just didn't know if you had any software to make adjustments, and I wanted you to see that you're photo was truly outstanding and you could improve on the grainy, soft look that you spoke of. If you have a noise software program to run it through, you will have a truly great shot. You should be very proud of this shot. It is great.

I love it, and congratulations. Oh yeah--is this full frame?

Tom W

[Deitz Dittrich]

Great pict MWAK!!!!!

[The_Duckslayer]

Very nice picture! I just wish that I could see one! Hunted Saturday morning and N Joyed some time with LBD (Little Black Dog) but saw nary a duck! Slim picking around here that is foru sure. I sure hope that I am off the day the northern flight comes through! Thanks for sharing././Jimbo

[WifeKidsandDog]

Tom,

THANK YOU -- you know I was looking at it a little earlier and thinking it seemed a little flat. Your work gave it the pop it needed.

I went out again this afternoon and I got this one -- much better light near the golden hour.

Thanks for looking and for commenting, everyone! I appreciate it.

[Tom Wilson]

Cheryl,

You are a quick study. It took me a long time to get good at flight shots...

Very nice--keep it up!

Tom W

[WifeKidsandDog]

Quote:

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Oh yeah--is this full frame?

Tom W

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Forgot to answer you -- no, not full frame, maybe about 40 percent, if that. It was @ 200mm. I ended up trading my 70-300mm zoom for the Canon f2.8 L 200mm prime. I seem to do better with prime lenses, plus, well, this one is a beauty and I can crop more and retain detail. Rick's gonna go bankrupt supporting me in L lenses. LOL.

Cheers

[Tom Wilson]

That's why they call them PRIME. Congrats on the new lens.

I'm hoping to acquire a couple new primes soon myself.

Tom W

[Steve Foss]

Cheryl:

Good choice. Everyone does better with prime glass, which, of course, is why it costs so much more than consumer and medium-grade glass.

Not only is the 200 fixed a better grade of glass than your 70-300 consumer zoom, but you've got a wider f-stop capabilty there. It's a nice lens combo with the 20D. With the digital conversion factor of 1.6 with the 20D, you're really shooting a 320mm. And if you pick up the 1.4 converter from Canon, you'd be shooting at more than a 400mm, and can shoot it on autofocus instead of manual because you have a lens that opens to 2.8. The 1.4 is $279 new. I have one that hasn't even got an hour on it because my 100-400 mm IS doesn't open wide enough to allow the 1.4 to work on autofocus, and I'm not confident enough of my manual focusing anymore, so the 1.4 stays in my bag (well, it's on the shelf in my studio now, not in my bag).

Camera equipment can be seductive, all right. Better to think carefully than to leap too fast. I think you have made an excellent lens choice. And birds in flight, by the way, are relatively easier to shoot without IS, since you're already tracking their lateral motion manually. Lens weight also doesn't seem as much as an issue when you're moving with the subject.

[WifeKidsandDog]

Steve,

I really love this new lens. The zoom was great but when I saw samples from the prime, I knew I wouldn't be happy until ...

I would love to take that TC off your hands but I'd be the one getting shot after that, ha ha. I do intend to get one at some point. I even saw some samples with the prime and the 2x extender and they didn't look bad at all. I'm also going to get some legs for my monopod, as I think that'll help with long shots, too.

Do you know the Fred Miranda site? I know Canon extenders sell pretty fast and well there -- that's how I did the trade for my zoom. Ended up a guy from St. Paul wanted to sell his prime to get the new zoom, so we met up and exchanged in person. Worked out well for both.

Cheryl

[Steve Foss]

The 2.0 TC has just as good glass as the 1.4, but, of course, you lose another stop. Shoot me an e-mail. I'll give you a price on the 1.4 that won't get you shot, but might get me shot. It's got the lens covers and draw-string pouch, and is in new-in-the-box condition. And yes, it's all in the box.

[shae1986]

Ok guys i don't know if i missed it but what kind of camera should i purchase, i know if i want a good one i will have to spend some money and thats ok, i am really wanting to get into this.

[WifeKidsandDog]

Quote:

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Ok guys i don't know if i missed it but what kind of camera should i purchase, i know if i want a good one i will have to spend some money and thats ok, i am really wanting to get into this.

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Shae,

I started out last year with a Canon Digital Rebel, which has been upgraded. I knew nothing about SLR's so I've had had to learn a lot (but I loved doing it). I currently have a Canon 20D, which Steve also has. Tom has a Nikon D70.

There are so many new models coming out, it's hard to recommend just one camera, they all are capable of producing outstanding photos.

Here's a couple of threads that might help you:

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=647131&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=647222&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

Good luck with the decision. I don't think you can really go wrong whatever you choose.

Cheryl P.

[Steve Foss]

Shae, the key with DSLR is to go with one of the top brands and stay with that brand, if you're on budget, and aren't we all on budgets?

There are quite a few digital camera manufacturers out there, but as Canon and Nikon were the top two names in film SLR for decades, so they still make the best DSLRs.

I don't know Nikon costs, but the Canon Digital Rebel XT (8 megapixel sensor) runs under $800 (under $900 with 18-55mm lens designed for digital), and the 20D (8.2 megapixel sensor) is about $1,300. Many more features on the faster 20D, which will shoot up to five frames per second.

I'd look closely at online reviews of both lines of cameras and make your selection.

I do all my camera and camera supply shopping online at three ws canogacamera dot you know what. They have full descriptions of all the products, and you can have a lot of fun shopping around. If you hit their home page, select under digital "still cameras" and then select the brand you want to look at. When you get into the Canon and Nikon pages, you'll have to scroll down toward that bottom, because the pages start with the point and shoots and end with their top of the line DSLRs.

Have fun! If you have any questions about digital in general or Canon questions specifically, shoot me an e-mail. I'll probably tell you Canon's better , but it really doesn't matter which you get. They're both excellent.