What am I doing wrong? Deer seen out my front door.
Feb 10, 2012 19:35:44 #
Off subject, sort of... I did a search on Fresnel tele-extender and the page that came first is... This one!!!
Feb 10, 2012 19:37:38 #
English_Wolf wrote:
Same as before, focus point is off, this time in front of the deer, on twigs again.
The DOF maybe shallow but it will does replace a good focus.
The 2x is responsible for a couple of things like the flatness of the picture and some distortion in the corners (in the possible addition of being harder to focus - You are the judge here). It also is responsible for the 'softness' of the picture focus as a whole.
The DOF maybe shallow but it will does replace a good focus.
The 2x is responsible for a couple of things like the flatness of the picture and some distortion in the corners (in the possible addition of being harder to focus - You are the judge here). It also is responsible for the 'softness' of the picture focus as a whole.
Thank you English Wolf. I'm going to try again the next some deer appear. Next time I'll lose the 2X converter, Use higher ISO, and a much higher f/stop.
My, you are a very fast responder, thanks.
Feb 10, 2012 19:44:49 #
English_Wolf wrote:
Off subject, sort of... I did a search on Fresnel tele-extender and the page that came first is... This one!!!
Sorry, maybe I coined the term. Below is a link to a photo of what I'm talking about.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6807574205_e090941c30_b.jpg
I made it myself to concentrate the light from the flash into a narrow region for long lenses. Since I took this photo, I found a way to mount it on the lens so it moves as a unit.
Feb 10, 2012 19:45:16 #
Don't go higher than 800 otherwise you will start getting artifacts. If you shoot RAW you may not even need to bother to go higher than 400.
The key here is your flash, it's rating at the distance you are shooting to. You may want to test it out w/o deers there!
The key here is your flash, it's rating at the distance you are shooting to. You may want to test it out w/o deers there!
Feb 11, 2012 01:44:20 #
Don't give in to the frustration, Dave. Without the 2X, you'll have a couple advantages: more light and more sharpness.
Wolf is correct about your focus, it's a little behind your subject, but that's easy to correct.
If I were working on this project, I would try, try, try to get that flash away from the lens...I mean a long ways away, like 5-6 FEET.
Aside from your little focus problem, there is nothing really annoying about these photos............except the damn red-eye that is so hard to avoid with any animal (dogs, cats, deer, elephants). If there was a way (and I'll bet you can come up with an idea) to get your flash up, up, up about 6 feet or so, you may be able to get rid of the red-eye.
Seems like it would be worth the effort, ay? (That's Canadian)
Wolf is correct about your focus, it's a little behind your subject, but that's easy to correct.
If I were working on this project, I would try, try, try to get that flash away from the lens...I mean a long ways away, like 5-6 FEET.
Aside from your little focus problem, there is nothing really annoying about these photos............except the damn red-eye that is so hard to avoid with any animal (dogs, cats, deer, elephants). If there was a way (and I'll bet you can come up with an idea) to get your flash up, up, up about 6 feet or so, you may be able to get rid of the red-eye.
Seems like it would be worth the effort, ay? (That's Canadian)
Feb 11, 2012 06:19:36 #
Are you using a remote shutter release? I know that is a simple suggestion but I thought I would ask anyway.
Feb 11, 2012 07:14:34 #
DId you use spot metering? If so switch it, the deer are are quite far away and spot metering could be off center a little or trying to cover too much of an area to be accurate. The anti-shake and the 2X also effects things.
Good luck tomorrow!
Jim D
Good luck tomorrow!
Jim D
Feb 11, 2012 07:23:07 #
Dave,
Your disappointment in these shots reflects, I think, your good instincts that something is not quite right. In addition to the focus and red (in this case white) eye issues mentioned by others, I think the main reason you're not satisfied is that these shots are just too darn busy to be compelling. In the top two, the second deer pulls the eye away from the main subject and all that brush and trees in semi-focus just makes everything too crowded, too busy, IMO. On the one shot, the entire hind end is cut off of your main subject. So you have neither a head shot portrait nor a full subject portrait. And I don't think a 3/4 portrait would generally work well with a deer. At least I don't think it works here. If you had cropped tightly and shot wide opened, you might have been able to isolate your subject and have fore- and backgrounds very blurred. Or you could choose another angle or wait until they move out of the brush, etc. Also, the light seems to be pretty dull when you took your shots, so your colors are muted. Dull light makes it more likely you'll have dull images and the flash didn't seem to help much at that distance. Combined, these are the blah shots we all take until we perfect our craft. I'm still working on that myself. (Nice to have critters on the property though, isn't it?) Hope that gives you some food for thought. Cheers.
Your disappointment in these shots reflects, I think, your good instincts that something is not quite right. In addition to the focus and red (in this case white) eye issues mentioned by others, I think the main reason you're not satisfied is that these shots are just too darn busy to be compelling. In the top two, the second deer pulls the eye away from the main subject and all that brush and trees in semi-focus just makes everything too crowded, too busy, IMO. On the one shot, the entire hind end is cut off of your main subject. So you have neither a head shot portrait nor a full subject portrait. And I don't think a 3/4 portrait would generally work well with a deer. At least I don't think it works here. If you had cropped tightly and shot wide opened, you might have been able to isolate your subject and have fore- and backgrounds very blurred. Or you could choose another angle or wait until they move out of the brush, etc. Also, the light seems to be pretty dull when you took your shots, so your colors are muted. Dull light makes it more likely you'll have dull images and the flash didn't seem to help much at that distance. Combined, these are the blah shots we all take until we perfect our craft. I'm still working on that myself. (Nice to have critters on the property though, isn't it?) Hope that gives you some food for thought. Cheers.
Feb 11, 2012 07:31:18 #
Did you have the camera set on spot focus or multi sensor focus? Maybe that contributed. What a golden opportunity to shoot deer pic's!
Feb 11, 2012 08:02:31 #
You might want to try this: Without TC and without flash. Spot focus on the eyes. Aperture 11-16 range. Use aperture priority mode and use auto ISO and WB.
Feb 11, 2012 08:05:36 #
Thank you all for your comments, suggestions and for looking at my pictures. The big mistake I made was trying to use a flash on a creature who's eyes turn into green LASERS when hit with a light. That combined with a 2X tele-converter made the task impossible. It's a winter wonderland out all my windows now and I can see a small herd of deer on thier haunches sitting in my back yard now. Too much brush between them an me to get a good photo. I'll keep and eye on them.
Feb 11, 2012 08:11:47 #
To be safe I use a Rule of thumb of 1/focal length x 1.5 or better yet for tele shots 1/focal length x 2
So an ideal shutter speed for a 300 mm lens would be at least 1/300 or better yet 1/600
So an ideal shutter speed for a 300 mm lens would be at least 1/300 or better yet 1/600
Feb 11, 2012 08:38:22 #
ole sarg
Loc: south florida
Why did you bother with the flash. Didn't need one for this shot.
What did you want to accomplish with the shooting event?
Long teles give very little depth of field. Longer teles give even less. This is especially true when using low f stops.
I f you are printing say 5X7 you can boost the ISO and increase the f stop as mentioned below. If you are printing larger you can probably go to at least 800 and not fear too much noise, but me I like some noise but that is me...
all the above is just my opinion and I'm prob ably all wet...
What did you want to accomplish with the shooting event?
Long teles give very little depth of field. Longer teles give even less. This is especially true when using low f stops.
I f you are printing say 5X7 you can boost the ISO and increase the f stop as mentioned below. If you are printing larger you can probably go to at least 800 and not fear too much noise, but me I like some noise but that is me...
all the above is just my opinion and I'm prob ably all wet...
Davethehiker wrote:
I'm disappointed with these photos taken out my fr... (show quote)
Feb 11, 2012 08:58:47 #
Feb 11, 2012 10:10:46 #
To answer your questions and respond to remarks:
First thank you all for looking at and responding to post.
1) My goal (which I failed at miserably) was to capture the detail and texture of a deer's fur. I thought maybe a flash would help. I forgot that light from a distance turns deer's eye's into green LASERS!
2) Yes, I used a cable and even used mirror lock-up.
3) High shutter speed are great, particularly on the 600mm lens I was using, but "Flash Sync" limited me to 1/250.
4) I had the camera on a big heavy tripod.
5) I learned some things from this:
a) Never use a flash when photographing deer, because of the eyes.
b) 2X teleconverters suck!
6) Who has time for composition when you are photographing a moving target in near darkness?!
7) Deer are absolute masters of camouflage! They can disappear when they sit on their hunches. They can move through dense brush at high speeds.
8) If I want a picture a deer I should go to zoo and find a tame one.
9) Wild deer provide a real challenge.
10) Intervening brush and/or driving snow makes it next to impossible.
11) I manually focused each image because dim light and intervening brush thru off the auto-focus. The 2X converter made focusing very difficult.
12) Everything was done manually, even the metering was done with trial and error exposures prior to the deer arrival.
I look forward to spring when the relatively easy to photograph birds return. I know how to photograph them.
First thank you all for looking at and responding to post.
1) My goal (which I failed at miserably) was to capture the detail and texture of a deer's fur. I thought maybe a flash would help. I forgot that light from a distance turns deer's eye's into green LASERS!
2) Yes, I used a cable and even used mirror lock-up.
3) High shutter speed are great, particularly on the 600mm lens I was using, but "Flash Sync" limited me to 1/250.
4) I had the camera on a big heavy tripod.
5) I learned some things from this:
a) Never use a flash when photographing deer, because of the eyes.
b) 2X teleconverters suck!
6) Who has time for composition when you are photographing a moving target in near darkness?!
7) Deer are absolute masters of camouflage! They can disappear when they sit on their hunches. They can move through dense brush at high speeds.
8) If I want a picture a deer I should go to zoo and find a tame one.
9) Wild deer provide a real challenge.
10) Intervening brush and/or driving snow makes it next to impossible.
11) I manually focused each image because dim light and intervening brush thru off the auto-focus. The 2X converter made focusing very difficult.
12) Everything was done manually, even the metering was done with trial and error exposures prior to the deer arrival.
I look forward to spring when the relatively easy to photograph birds return. I know how to photograph them.
Taken this past summer out my window
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