Need help with tough problem (Page 4): I am not a wildlife photographer; however, I work with an excellent wildlife photographer. You have received a lot of very good advice, but I...

tinwhistle

I am not a wildlife photographer; however, I work with an excellent wildlife photographer. You have received a lot of very good advice, but I think you may be missing the most important item in wildlife images. Patience. My friend shoots with a beatup T6 that should have been sent to the bin a long time ago, but he has patience. Several blinds scattered about several acres and he will spend all day, literally from pre dawn to past sunset in a blind. Cold, snow, pouring rain, high wind, you name it, he's there when the image is there. BY the way, I don't see anything wrong with the two images you showed us.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

countrycameraman.com wrote:

Truly appreciate all the great suggestions and adv... (show quote)

Tinwhistle may have the best suggestion. Patience may be your best option. New equipment would help and shooting hints will also help. Trying shooting changes from time to time to see if they help you with your shooting. But all this too will require patience. The two pictures show us all that you know how to shoot. Patience is something none of us can give you. But Tinwhistle's suggest that you do your best at increasing patience may be the best one.

JBuckley

Just experiment with faster shutter speeds, and carry a whistle. When you want them to raise their
heads or freeze, "blow your whistle" and they will stop and alert to your sudden shrill sound.

(And then they run away). For some species of animals, (try a hunters mating call), to see if that will
get their attention. Of course, if it's not mating season, they might ignore you.

home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

You might be asking too much from the camera. . The write speed of the card and buffer size of the camera can limit your frames per second, so get a card that will not slow down the camera. High shutter speed will reduce camera shake effects. Professionals say they take many photos to get the money making shot.
I do not generally shoot wildlife so some of what I write may not be correct. Use continuous shutter and start shooting as soon as the animal moves. I am not sure what the best focus method would be; but if you are not panning maybe pre focus and then switch to manual focus on the lens so the camera is not refocusing. Low light tend to drive us to using large lens apertures that reduce depth of fields. Long lens have shorter DOF than short lens at the same DOF. You need to know the DOF for the f/stop, lens length and subject distance.

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

fredpnm wrote:

The Adobe Photo Plan is $10/month - worth every penny. The current Lightroom has a wonderful DeNoise feature (for RAW files only) that I would bet can solve your noise issues. I haven't checked of late, but perhaps Adobe has a trial period for the LR/PS package.

Peteso Loc: Blacks Hills

My “main” go-to camera is the Sony A7RIV, but I echo the comments re: Olympus cameras with the ProCapture features for wildlife. I would also suggest sticking with the Olympus Pro lenses. Although Panasonic offers some M43 lenses with Leica optics that fit Oly cameras bodies, stay away from them, because the Oly ProCapture low feature with continuous focus doesn’t work with the Panasonic lenses (more specifically, the 100-400mm with Leitz optics).

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

countrycameraman.com wrote:

Please tell me what you do to capture sharp images... (show quote)

As a wildlife photographer one of my greatest assets is how quick I am to respond and my unending patience. I believe these two things are needed to get good wildlife shots. I'm always looking for that defining moment. My camera is correctly set for the light, my speed is generally at minimum 1500 but most often at 2500 or 3200, depending on the shot. I'll take a high ISO setting over a blurred shot any day. I set my focus on the subject. I never take my eyes off the subject and do not engage in conversation with others that might be around me. I anticipate what the animal might do next based on my past knowledge. Wildlife photography can be very difficult and takes a lot of time to learn. Continue to shoot and correct any past mistakes and you could be rewarded with the shots you desire. I will say that some people will never be able to be a competent wildlife action photographer as their reflexes are simply too slow.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Peteso wrote:

My “main” go-to camera is the Sony A7RIV, but I echo the comments re: Olympus cameras with the ProCapture features for wildlife. I would also suggest sticking with the Olympus Pro lenses. Although Panasonic offers some M43 lenses with Leica optics that fit Oly cameras bodies, stay away from them, because the Oly ProCapture low feature with continuous focus doesn’t work with the Panasonic lenses (more specifically, the 100-400mm with Leitz optics).

That’s why I sold my Panny/Leica 100-400 and got the Oly version. And because the OIS in the Panny lens won’t sync with the IBIS in the Oly. That was true when I bought the E-M1X, but with the OM-1 the Pro Capture will work, (although you need Oly Pro lenses for 50fps), but still no IS sync.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Alphabravo2020 wrote:

You can get 2 more stops of light out of the turkey photo by dropping from f/8 to f5.6. Your depth of field will drop from 22 feet to 8 feet but your ISO will drop to 200...

One stop.

Alphabravo2020

TriX wrote:

One stop.

Yes. Thank you.

frangeo Loc: Texas

countrycameraman.com wrote:

Please tell me what you do to capture sharp images... (show quote)

My Nikon has a focus and exposure lock button. So, when the shutter button is pushed the camera fires instantly. No delay.

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frangeo wrote:

My Nikon has a focus and exposure lock button. So, when the shutter button is pushed the camera fires instantly. No delay.

"No delay" applies only to the hardware but theres still a delay problem due to a human operator. Thaz where preburst really shines with better than zero delay. It will actually provide negative (less than zero) delay. The burst includes about 30 frames BEFORE you press the shutter release button. Its magic.