First responder was the most correct answer-it is a piece of ice that froze on top of a pond with a crystalline structure exactly like the long hexagonal crystals of Basalt. I found I could not light it to show it best properties, but it is enlarged about 4x. The ice was 3" thick, and that's how long the crystals are.

I photographed it yesterday.
Bill

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I have the Tam 150-600, on my D7000, and have been experimenting with my Promaster 1.7x T.C. which does autofocus and allows I.S. My Tamron 2x T.C. doesn't allow either. I am surprised at this because they are both "7 contact" adapters. I have gotten some great shot with it, but it needs to be fairly bright to keep the ISO down and shutter speeds up at high magnifications. It seems to work well on a gimbal with the I.S. on. Most of my photos are of birds, and we all know how fast they move!
Bill

What are the birds?

I got this one in the back yard. 600mm. Beautiful animals-so much like a pet dog, but so wild.
Bill

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Nice idea-I can think of some interesting uses and alternative ways too, that would be interesting.
Bill

These were still in the camera from yesterday, taken handheld from a lot closer, but still probably more than 100', then she got spooked and took of. The quality is better, but it was pretty dark, so I think the problems were the long distance, and shooting from inside an open patio door. They didn't show up today.

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Those look very good-nice job. Did you crop them much? It appears you were much closer than I am able to get to these eagles.

One is an adult Bald Eagle, one is a juvenile, just getting some of his white feathers, the other is a youngster. I watched the adult feed the youngster.

:thumbup: I like that idea! The deer is pretty much a heap of bony meat by now, so I would have to shovel it closer!

Here is the latest setup. Focus set and locked, AP f8, ISO 400, no exp compensation, set at 500mm, 10 # weight added to tripod post, 1/4# weight added to lens, RF remote release.

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Andy Warhol would be proud!

Hi, thanks for all the suggestions-I put the camera 100 feet from the house, RF remote, set at 500mm, APf8, iso 200-let's see what happens-hope some Eagles show up!

Hi, It's on gimbal, and locked, and I am using a remote release. Can you tell from looking at the images if there is some camera movement? Maybe from mirror flop. It seems there might be even though I am using a remote. I can try adding weight to the tripod.
Bill

I looked for another post dealing with this but I am looking for help with a specific lens (Tamron 150-600mm), but any help would be appreciated. I have an opportunity to shoot a deer carcass near my home that is being visited by various scavengers (Coyotes, several different Bald Eagles, and some crows). The problem is that it is about 100-150 yards away. The wary Eagles and Coyotes won't let me get closer than my house without running off. I am not getting images as sharp as I had expected or hoped for using this lens at this distance. I get extremely sharp images at closer ranges (10-50 yards). All shot with Nikon D7000, manual careful focus, as sharp as I could get it. I tried my Nikon 18-200mm and got similar results. Shooting through an open patio door, but maybe there is just too much heat shimmer with the heat coming out the door I am shooting from. I have tried using a hoodman loupe on my live view screen for focusing. Am I reaching for something I can not grasp?
Bill

At 450mm, 1/3000 f8. ISO 1100

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at 500mm, 1/3000, f8. ISO 1100

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at 600mm, 1/3000, f8, ISO 1100

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A very good question-I realized after I posted my question, that there were still 3 pages ahead that I had not seen yet, including your post with the incredible Owl shots. I was asking about the 2 Moon images, by NormanHarley, because I could duplicate the situation on a dark clear night. Sorry for the confusing post.