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Need fucus advice for lions
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Apr 19, 2012 13:45:46   #
Joechalmers Loc: Washington, DC
 
To answer MT Shooter -- I can't explain why the exposure was not overexposed at these settings, except that I may be misremembering the brightness of the day, and at this point I was using a polarizing filter.
I had the gear about 3 months before travelling and used it qute a bit, BUT, I am new to the zoom lens and was not sensitive to the need to use short exposures when zoomed out.
The comment by mderman may be on point as well. In the first shots, I was not using the single point focus target, and the surrounding grasses might have distracted the focus engine.
I had no wildlife experience before, and to be honest, this was a vacation trip, not 100% focus on photography. That said, I'm sure I could have been better prepared, but I find that until you do the real thing, you will never be able to replicate every situation in advance. So now I know a lot more!
I will post some more (better) pix, in Gallery

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Apr 19, 2012 14:18:24   #
ALYN Loc: Lebanon, Indiana
 
Pic 3 is a great shot of a cheetah--lousy shot of a lion :-)

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Apr 26, 2012 14:13:57   #
oldmalky Loc: West Midlands,England.
 
ALYN wrote:
Pic 3 is a great shot of a cheetah--lousy shot of a lion :-)


When nobody mentioned that i wondered if i was mixing the photographs up it was quite a relief to read your post.

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Jan 9, 2016 08:48:11   #
birdseyeviewphotos Loc: Kimbolton Cambridgeshire UK
 
As a Photographer that runs photo safaris to Africa there are a number of thing to improve your shots. Lets look at your equipment first 1, it looks like camera shake, I suggest increasing the ISO number so the shutter speed is higher than the focal length of the lens ie a 400 mm lens needs at least 1/500 th. 2, Take the camera off of Auto setting and use Speed priority setting . 3, Turn the engine off. You could put the camera on a monopod, I use a bean bag fly with it empty and buy coffee beans on site. I don't know where you are but free lessons are available in Cambridge England if you want some help.

I got up one morning for an early game drive to see this opposite 50 feet away I got back inside took this from the window that was a reason for camera shake. Another thing I was taught was to breathe in take the picture breathe out.
I got up one morning for an early game drive to se...

This was the result of both luck and being still in the jeep as well as a long lens
This was the result of both luck and being still i...

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Jan 9, 2016 10:52:16   #
MT Shooter Loc: Montana
 
birdseyeviewphotos wrote:
As a Photographer that runs photo safaris to Africa there are a number of thing to improve your shots. Lets look at your equipment first 1, it looks like camera shake, I suggest increasing the ISO number so the shutter speed is higher than the focal length of the lens ie a 400 mm lens needs at least 1/500 th. 2, Take the camera off of Auto setting and use Speed priority setting . 3, Turn the engine off. You could put the camera on a monopod, I use a bean bag fly with it empty and buy coffee beans on site. I don't know where you are but free lessons are available in Cambridge England if you want some help.
As a Photographer that runs photo safaris to Afric... (show quote)


???????

You felt some over-riding compulsion to revisit this thread almost 4 years later and use almost the exact word for word reply you gave then???

You need to give more "safaris" and get some new pictures too.

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Jan 10, 2016 07:39:59   #
birdseyeviewphotos Loc: Kimbolton Cambridgeshire UK
 
I will put some of my latest pictures if it makes you happy I have no recollection of previous comments as you say but if they are similar it shows consistency. Thanks for your advice.





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Jan 10, 2016 07:41:35   #
birdseyeviewphotos Loc: Kimbolton Cambridgeshire UK
 
Focus

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Jan 12, 2016 12:36:51   #
bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.
 
Ok I can tell you how to correct this, not a problem at all, but first, if this was your first trip, its HOLY CRAP LOOK LIONS, GET MY CAMERA GET MY CAMERA wow... your shaking and excited That would be me Id be lucky if the cap was off of the lens on the first few shots...

To correct this, you need to come pick me up and take me to Africa with you and I'll help you get better shots.
Call me..!!!

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Jan 13, 2016 20:46:07   #
badlandz Loc: Tucson, AZ
 
To the Original shots, to the first poster here... Ok, sorry if it’s harsh, but improvement is what you are after right?

Overall, great vacation shots!

First shot, they are ready to move. But it is a heavy crop photo, obviously, with a long zoom lens. You show it’s4 lions, F5.6, 1/80, ISO 320, 200mm. It should have been closer to f/2.8, shutter at least 1/250 of a second. The bad “blur” is because you shot at a slow shutter speed, below your 200mm.. Don’t go below 1/200th of a second at 200mm.

Second shot, 1 lion, F5.0, 1/80, ISO 360, 135mm, same mistake. Keep your zoom, 135mm, lower than shutter speed. It is a great shot, but if you took it at 1/135 or faster it would be sharper, and be REAL amazing and publication worthy.

Now, the third shot 1 lion, F5.0, 1/80, ISO 360, 135mm, is nice. Great. But if you went with Rule of Thirds, and put that cat up in the top right of the frame, and gave some imagination to what she was looking at, more epic. And then some post-process color edits. That would be amazing.


Now this Bird, F11, 1/100, ISO 800, 190mm. Exposure is great, color is great. Bokeh is great. But consider putting that bird in the top 1/3 of the frame where it’s looking at something, and give something to the imagination. This shot is brilliant, but, leaves nothing to imagine or think about. So, maybe reframe it?

I hope that’s not to harsh. These are cool photos. But, with some tweaks, every one of them would have been so epic.

Overall, before I'd worry about "out of focus" I'd think, shutter speed was to slow, need bigger aperture lens, so you can get a faster shutter. The shutter speeds are too slow, it's not out of focus, it's motion blur from shaky camera, not bad focus.

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Jan 23, 2016 09:09:45   #
boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander
 
Joechalmers wrote:
Just returned from Safari in Kenya, and I got a lot of great pix. But some from my first day wre out of focus and I can't figure out why.
Gear is a Nikon D3100 with their Nikkor 55-200 lens with VR on. I used P mode and autofocus AF Atea Mode.
Light was bright, outdoors, with a Polarizing filter. A number of them were not satisfactory. See "4 lions". The second, "1 lion" was taken 5 minutes later, but a lot closer (zoom @ 135mm).
On day 2 I removed the filter, pushed up the ISO and changed mode to A so I fould force better depth of field, and I changed to AF Single Point (See "good lion")
The last, "bird" is included only to prove that I do know how to focus the camera!
Any ideas?
Just returned from Safari in Kenya, and I got a lo... (show quote)


A bit of silly advice, having nothing to do with the photos--Be careful how you spell focus ( I just couldn't resist )

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Jan 26, 2016 06:35:36   #
mhainey Loc: Iowa
 
May I ask a critique of this shot taken hand-held in South Africa with Canon Rebel xsi with 70-300 Canon lens. Exposure 1/400 f7.1 ISO 400
Many thanks

lioness in Balule Preserve
lioness in Balule Preserve...
(Download)

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Jan 26, 2016 11:22:29   #
boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander
 
Joechalmers wrote:
Just returned from Safari in Kenya, and I got a lot of great pix. But some from my first day wre out of focus and I can't figure out why.
Gear is a Nikon D3100 with their Nikkor 55-200 lens with VR on. I used P mode and autofocus AF Atea Mode.
Light was bright, outdoors, with a Polarizing filter. A number of them were not satisfactory. See "4 lions". The second, "1 lion" was taken 5 minutes later, but a lot closer (zoom @ 135mm).
On day 2 I removed the filter, pushed up the ISO and changed mode to A so I fould force better depth of field, and I changed to AF Single Point (See "good lion")
The last, "bird" is included only to prove that I do know how to focus the camera!
Any ideas?
Just returned from Safari in Kenya, and I got a lo... (show quote)


With any predator you gotta get real close. The shorter the focal length the greater the DOF. Especially with lions. 5 or 6 feet is usually close enough.

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Jan 26, 2016 12:54:36   #
mhainey Loc: Iowa
 
I offer this for closeness. That shadow is the canvas roof of our Land Rover. No great shucks as a shot but show how up close and personal they were.
Canon EOS Rebel t6s 1 1/25 sec. f8 ISO 100

shadow of truck roof
shadow of truck roof...



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Jan 26, 2016 15:43:03   #
boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander
 
mhainey wrote:
I offer this for closeness. That shadow is the canvas roof of our Land Rover. No great shucks as a shot but show how up close and personal they were.
Canon EOS Rebel t6s 1 1/25 sec. f8 ISO 100


I meant on foot out of any vehicle, so the vehicle does not interfere with the shot (I truly hope you realize that I was kidding)

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Jan 26, 2016 17:05:02   #
mhainey Loc: Iowa
 
Yes. But there are some interesting "takes" on this stuff. One woman asked me with a straight face if I petted the lionesses. I swear!

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