Using a 1200mm lens to capture humming bird.
May 26, 2019 21:01:40 #
May 26, 2019 21:20:26 #
Patsworld
Loc: Idaho
Davethehiker wrote:
In this photo I used a 2X TC on my 600mm lens. The camera will not auto-focus with this combination. I had to guess where the bird would be and pre-focus at that distance. I came close in this photo. The advantage of doing it this way is that I moved the camera the width of my house away from the subject, this increases the depth of field, and that's what I was after.
Please take the time to download the image and magnify it.
Please take the time to download the image and magnify it.
Gorgeous
May 26, 2019 21:45:34 #
Yes...your image is improved to where the Bird and the flowers are both in relative focus in a more pleasing fashion......and great work with that cannon of a lens.
May 26, 2019 23:00:19 #
Some really great shots but I wonder about something. You have a given amount of sunlight, and you want a fast shutter speed, and you have some upper limit in mind of what ISO you want to use. Given that wouldn't moving the camera closer ( 1/2 the distance ) and removing the 2 X converter allow you to stop the lens down ( I believe it's 2 stops ) and get greater depth of field? To be clear I don't know the answer I'm just wondering which setup would result in best depth of field.
May 26, 2019 23:05:20 #
Dick B wrote:
Some really great shots but I wonder about something. You have a given amount of sunlight, and you want a fast shutter speed, and you have some upper limit in mind of what ISO you want to use. Given that wouldn't moving the camera closer ( 1/2 the distance ) and removing the 2 X converter allow you to stop the lens down ( I believe it's 2 stops ) and get greater depth of field? To be clear I don't know the answer I'm just wondering which setup would result in best depth of field.
Sunlight has nothing to do with these photos. It's all taken with flash.
May 27, 2019 01:23:09 #
May 27, 2019 02:51:34 #
Davethehiker wrote:
A lot of people do not realize that by using a very long lens, then backing away a long distance from the subject, that you can extend the DOF.
Isn't this applicable to any lens, but your subject will become smaller in the frame and cropping in post to get equivalent framing will lose you IQ.
May 27, 2019 05:52:27 #
May 27, 2019 06:35:38 #
Grahame wrote:
Isn't this applicable to any lens, but your subject will become smaller in the frame and cropping in post to get equivalent framing will lose you IQ.
Yes, but a lot of today's camera have more than enough enough pixels and hold up well to the slight cropping I used. The tele-conconverter I used gave me 2X magnification. I had to move the about 55 feet away from the subject to get everything I wanted into the picture. Any loss of quality the you see was due to my inability to focus exactly where I wanted to. I plan to take this again today and focus more tightly on the bird.
May 27, 2019 09:13:14 #
Davethehiker wrote:
In this photo I used a 2X TC on my 600mm lens. The camera will not auto-focus with this combination. I had to guess where the bird would be and pre-focus at that distance. I came close in this photo. The advantage of doing it this way is that I moved the camera the width of my house away from the subject, this increases the depth of field, and that's what I was after.
Please take the time to download the image and magnify it.
Please take the time to download the image and magnify it.
May 27, 2019 10:09:14 #
I'm sitting behind my camera as I type this. I think I just took two of the best hummingbird photos I have ever taken. I'm very pleased! I'll post them later but first I need to process them. They look great on the little screen on the back of my camera. I can't wait to see them after I get the RAW file on my computer.
I remember years ago some politician said, "I can't define porn but I know it when I see it." To me hummingbird photography is the same way. "I can't tell you what the picture I want to take will look like, but I know that I just took it!"
I have learned so much about how to photograph humming birds over the years. It's almost like they were designed to entertain and be a challenge just for photographers. They don't even look that colorful unless we use our flashes properly to bring out their iridescence. They look more beautiful when properly photographed than they do when seen with the naked eye.
Today I'm back to using my 1200mm lens and manually focusing. There is a lot of luck involved in this. The birds need to strike poses for me like a supermodel; my lights flash and we go on.
I remember years ago some politician said, "I can't define porn but I know it when I see it." To me hummingbird photography is the same way. "I can't tell you what the picture I want to take will look like, but I know that I just took it!"
I have learned so much about how to photograph humming birds over the years. It's almost like they were designed to entertain and be a challenge just for photographers. They don't even look that colorful unless we use our flashes properly to bring out their iridescence. They look more beautiful when properly photographed than they do when seen with the naked eye.
Today I'm back to using my 1200mm lens and manually focusing. There is a lot of luck involved in this. The birds need to strike poses for me like a supermodel; my lights flash and we go on.
May 27, 2019 16:53:07 #
Thank you all for the remarks and for looking. As promised I'm sharing one of the better ones I took today go here:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-593933-1.html#10189637
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-593933-1.html#10189637
May 27, 2019 23:39:26 #
Beautiful shots Dave. They definitely look 3D, and you even caught the hummer's tongue on the second shot. Nice work.
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