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dhogaza Posts: 525 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: April 28 2011,09:46    Well I used to call it Velveeta because it was pretty cheesy but those pumped up colors sure jump off the light table, and photo editors loved it (I sold photos as a somewhat serious sideline, few thousand $$$ a year, for several years). But as I said earlier, Kodak E100SW was my favorite film for birds.  Shot a bunch of Kodachrome years ago. I've kept my EOS 1, other than that, sold off my film bodies, including my 6x7cm system.

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: April 30 2011,11:15    Strong southerly winds yesterday, and a cold front with northerly winds that came through overnight, made me hopeful that I would see some stalled migrant birds when I went out this morning. Not too many of those, at least in the spots where I went, however. I did find Swainson's Thrush, flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers, and about 50 American Avocets, all waiting for the wind to shift back 180 degrees again. There were quite a few new arrivals, but mostly birds that will be here all summer. Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos, Eastern and Western Kingbirds, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Prothonotary Warbler, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. And plenty of Northern Parulas! -------------- Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind Has been obligated from the beginning To create an ordered universe As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.                         - Pattiann Rogers

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 07 2011,10:42    Male Baltimore Oriole - Pants on Fire -------------- Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind Has been obligated from the beginning To create an ordered universe As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.                         - Pattiann Rogers

Henry J Posts: 5786 Joined: Mar. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 07 2011,12:53    Pants on fire? But it doesn't look like a Lyerbird...

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 08 2011,15:14    Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), after a bath on a hot day in Manhattan KS For a couple more (larger file size) images of the same bird, click here and here. -------------- Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind Has been obligated from the beginning To create an ordered universe As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.                         - Pattiann Rogers

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 08 2011,22:35    Really nice detail on the Catbird, Alby! -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

Henry J Posts: 5786 Joined: Mar. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 09 2011,10:17    Catbird? Is that like an evolved catfish?

Robin Posts: 1431 Joined: Sep. 2009 (Permalink) Posted: May 10 2011,09:49    Quote (Albatrossity2 @ May 08 2011,15:14) Quote Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), Now that's what I'ma talking 'bout! Lovely detail! What kind of lens are you using for a shot like that? Went to a beautiful park out near the Appalachians yesterday and saw a few orioles - Baltimore and Orchard. While I think they are lovely, I personally liked the numerous Red-headed Woodpeckers. -------------- we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 10 2011,18:09    Quote (Robin @ May 10 2011,09:49) [quote=Albatrossity2,May 08 2011,15:14][/quote] Quote Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), Now that's what I'ma talking 'bout! Lovely detail! What kind of lens are you using for a shot like that? Thanks, Robin. The rig is a Canon EOS5D digital body, and the 100-400 mm Canon zoom lens. I was sitting quietly in the back yard, about 8 ft from the birdbath, when the catbird came in for a dip. That's pretty close, and the lens is pretty sharp (esp. for a zoom lens). I'd really have been happy if a Red-headed Woodpecker came to that birdbath! -------------- Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind Has been obligated from the beginning To create an ordered universe As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.                         - Pattiann Rogers

Robin Posts: 1431 Joined: Sep. 2009 (Permalink) Posted: May 11 2011,12:27    [quote=Albatrossity2,May 10 2011,18:09][/quote] Quote Thanks, Robin. The rig is a Canon EOS5D digital body, and the 100-400 mm Canon zoom lens. I was sitting quietly in the back yard, about 8 ft from the birdbath, when the catbird came in for a dip. That's pretty close, and the lens is pretty sharp (esp. for a zoom lens). I'd really have been happy if a Red-headed Woodpecker came to that birdbath! And I presume you are shooting in RAW. Really nice! I've been looking for a bigger lens for my Nikon, but nothing so big that I need a Sherpa to carry it when I go hiking. I'm shooting the 55-200 right now, but its a s l o w 4-5.6 and frankly 200 isn't quite enough for birding. Nikon puts out 70-300, but it too is slow at 4.5-5.6. They have a really nice 70-200 that's 2.8, but then I'm back at the 200 range. Or they have their BEAST - 200-400 f4, but I'm not sure if I'm quite that wealthy yet. I'll play for a bit longer I think, but I may bite the bullet and get serious one of these days. Do you use a tripod for the 100-400? -------------- we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 11 2011,13:46    Yes, I use the RAW files, but the Canon has a mode where I can have both jpg and raw format files for all images. The jpgs are good to sort through with any image viewing program, but all images are processed from the raw format files. The 100-400 is also slow (f/4.0-5.6), so I can't use a teleconverter and still have autofocus at the high end (400 mm). I dunno if that extra f stop would be very useful otherwise though, since the loss of depth of field at those bigger apertures wouldn't be good. I don't use a tripod; I have a monopod which works pretty well, especially since the image stabilization on the Canon lenses is quite effective. -------------- Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind Has been obligated from the beginning To create an ordered universe As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.                         - Pattiann Rogers

Henry J Posts: 5786 Joined: Mar. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 11 2011,13:51    Quote I don't use a tripod; I have a monopod which works pretty well, But but but... that would mean that a tripod isn't irreducibly complex!!11!!eleven!!

Robin Posts: 1431 Joined: Sep. 2009 (Permalink) Posted: May 11 2011,15:05    [quote=Albatrossity2,May 11 2011,13:46][/quote] Quote Yes, I use the RAW files, but the Canon has a mode where I can have both jpg and raw format files for all images. The jpgs are good to sort through with any image viewing program, but all images are processed from the raw format files. The 100-400 is also slow (f/4.0-5.6), so I can't use a teleconverter and still have autofocus at the high end (400 mm). I dunno if that extra f stop would be very useful otherwise though, since the loss of depth of field at those bigger apertures wouldn't be good. I don't use a tripod; I have a monopod which works pretty well, especially since the image stabilization on the Canon lenses is quite effective. Ahhh...I'll have to check my Nikon as I think it might do the same thing, but I have to choose that setting. I was wondering about the image stabilization. Nikon has their version  - Vibration Reduction - that works really well. I don't have it on the 55-200, which annoys me to no end. That's another reason I want to get another lens at some point. -------------- we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 12 2011,11:11    I think this is a juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), because of the short neck and greenish-yellow bill bottom. My first guess was a Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) because of the eye-color, but although the plate in my Peterson's depicts a yellow eye for the Black-Crowned, the description says "reddish", and the Yellow-Crowned doesn't have the greenish-yellow bill. -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

Robin Posts: 1431 Joined: Sep. 2009 (Permalink) Posted: May 12 2011,11:22    Quote (Lou FCD @ May 12 2011,11:11) Quote I think this is a juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), because of the short neck and greenish-yellow bill bottom. Yep... good call: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron/id See their pic of the juvenile at the bottom. Neat pic. Looks surreal - the color of the night heron makes it look like something out of a fantasy book cover or some such. -------------- we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 12 2011,18:31    Quote (Robin @ May 12 2011,12:22) Neat pic. Looks surreal - the color of the night heron makes it look like something out of a fantasy book cover or some such. Yeah, it was badly backlit in the early morning sun, in the shade. It was a pita to get a shot I could work with. It wound up looking like a painting almost, or some digitized CGI thing or something from a movie. ...but I liked it. -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

Wesley R. Elsberry Posts: 4991 Joined: May 2002 (Permalink) Posted: May 12 2011,19:22    Quote (Robin @ May 11 2011,15:05) [quote=Albatrossity2,May 11 2011,13:46][/quote]   Quote Yes, I use the RAW files, but the Canon has a mode where I can have both jpg and raw format files for all images. The jpgs are good to sort through with any image viewing program, but all images are processed from the raw format files. The 100-400 is also slow (f/4.0-5.6), so I can't use a teleconverter and still have autofocus at the high end (400 mm). I dunno if that extra f stop would be very useful otherwise though, since the loss of depth of field at those bigger apertures wouldn't be good. I don't use a tripod; I have a monopod which works pretty well, especially since the image stabilization on the Canon lenses is quite effective. Ahhh...I'll have to check my Nikon as I think it might do the same thing, but I have to choose that setting. I was wondering about the image stabilization. Nikon has their version  - Vibration Reduction - that works really well. I don't have it on the 55-200, which annoys me to no end. That's another reason I want to get another lens at some point. Nikon has released a 55-200mm VR version of that lens. I've considered getting one; my 70-200mm f/2.8 VR is too long to have on the camera while going into the football stadium. -------------- "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." - Dorothy Parker

Wesley R. Elsberry Posts: 4991 Joined: May 2002 (Permalink) Posted: May 12 2011,19:32    Photos with a paint-like ambiance... here's a pelican down here in St. Petersburg, Florida: Original posting. -------------- "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." - Dorothy Parker

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 12 2011,22:35    Nice, Wesley! It's kind of funny to me when photos come out looking painting-like, but they can be so beautiful. -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

Robin Posts: 1431 Joined: Sep. 2009 (Permalink) Posted: May 13 2011,08:45    [quote=Wesley R. Elsberry,May 12 2011,19:22][/quote] Quote Nikon has released a 55-200mm VR version of that lens. I've considered getting one; my 70-200mm f/2.8 VR is too long to have on the camera while going into the football stadium. Yeah. My wife gave me the camera kit for my birthday in December. There was a kit that had the 55-200 VR, but she bought the lower-end kit because she wasn't sure if I'd get into the camera set-up or not. I'd been out of photography since 1990 or so and had hemmed and hawed from time to time about getting into digital, but just never expressed any real indication of doing so. I will say it was a really great surprise. It's not horrible shooting without the VR, but I must admit that I miss about 60-70% of my hand-held shots at 200mm without it. I don't have the hands of a steady surgeon unfortunately. But then again, I can't quite rationalize buying the exact same lens with VR. Not sure if I could trade it in, but I suppose that's worth looking into. I think for what I'd like to do, I might splurge on the 70-300 VR. Based on the reviews it seems like a nice lens that isn't a major investment. ETA: Just to give an indication of when I was last into photography: the last SLRs I used were the Nikon FG and F2. It's amazing how much one forgets after so long and how much the technology's are different now. -------------- we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 13 2011,08:49    Spent a day out at Lake Waccamaw, NC earlier this week, just checking out the wildlife. the light was mostly crap, but there were a few breaks. Lots of gators out there. While there, I also finally got the Pileated Woodpecker on the photographic life list. I only managed to get off a couple shots of this Hooded Warbler before he ducked back in the bushes. They were horribly underexposed, but since he's new for both life-lists, I'll take what I can get for now. Also new for the life lists, this Northern Parula was hanging out in some Spanish Moss. I thought for a while that this was the best look I was going to get. GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!! but he eventually obliged There was a Spotted Sandpiper hanging out on the dock, also new for both life lists. and some Barn Swallows You know they're *really* pissed when they start weaving their necks . ...and the wild life didn't end at the dock. Yes, Officer? -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

DaveH Posts: 49 Joined: July 2009 (Permalink) Posted: May 13 2011,17:05    Quote (Robin @ May 13 2011,08:45) I think for what I'd like to do, I might splurge on the 70-300 VR. Based on the reviews it seems like a nice lens that isn't a major investment. Well, I just got the Nikkor 70-300 VR (for the reasons you mentioned) and I have to say that I'm loving it, so far. The limitations are what you would expect for the maximum aperture, it's a wee bit soft at 300, but the VR genuinely works a treat and autofocus is fast and accurate. I was delighted to get any shot at all of this extremely shy and flighty Kingfisher, handheld (and in the middle of a city!

Erasmus, FCD Posts: 6349 Joined: June 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 13 2011,17:26    dude i never notice birds, listen to them and shit but it's always so hard to see them.  heard a call i recognized the other day and saw my first summer tanager!  never seen one before. then i caught about 50 speckled trout, some rainbows and a brown.  boiled stinging nettles, fried fish with ramps, deer sausage and taters and onions.   the backlog for the campfire was a 350 year old hemlock tree.  park cut some down that were standing dead (adelgid) in the campsite.  it was pretty amazing to burn a piece of wood that old.  there were some brutes still standing that would probably push 5 or 6 hundred.  there are canopy gaps and sunlight hitting soil that has been black and acidy for hundreds of years, no telling what is going to happen to those woods.  that campsite is named for the big hemlocks there, my children will never know them as i did.  sobered my elation at the giant yellow drakes and magazine quality fly fishing experience. -------------- You're obviously illiterate as hell. Peach, bro.-FtK Finding something hard to believe based on the evidence, is science.-JoeG the odds of getting some loathsome taint are low-- Gordon E Mullings Manjack Heights Montserrat I work on molecular systems with pathway charts and such.-Giggles

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 13 2011,19:36    Quote (DaveH @ May 13 2011,17:05) I was delighted to get any shot at all of this extremely shy and flighty Kingfisher, handheld (and in the middle of a city!) Nice kingfisher; if they are anything like the kingfishers here in the US, they are very hard to get close to. I looked at a few of your other flickr albums as well. The Speyside pics, esp the Ruthven Barracks, brought back some memories of a trip to Scotland a few years back. We didn't see that osprey nest, but we watched an osprey hunting over one of the lochs. Very nice! -------------- Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind Has been obligated from the beginning To create an ordered universe As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.                         - Pattiann Rogers

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 15 2011,11:47    Quote (DaveH @ May 13 2011,18:05) I was delighted to get any shot at all of this extremely shy and flighty Kingfisher, handheld (and in the middle of a city!) Beautiful bird! -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

OgreMkV Posts: 3668 Joined: Oct. 2009 (Permalink) Posted: May 15 2011,12:11    Well, we have confirmed baby bunny sitings in the backyard.  Heck, I almost hit him with the lawnmower.  He was very good at being still. I'm glad we have them back.  Both neighbors have big, loud dogs, so I guess our geriatric cat that only gets out once in a while is a safe haven for the bunnies. -------------- Ignored by those who can't provide evidence for their claims. http://skepticink.com/smilodo....retreat

Henry J Posts: 5786 Joined: Mar. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 15 2011,17:19    Quote Well, we have confirmed baby bunny sitings in the backyard.??[...] He was very good at being still. The big ones don't seem inclined to stay still here. When I get maybe 8 or 10 feet away they take off, if I'm looking straight at it. If I'm looking off in another direction I get a bit closer before they take off. Henry

Robin Posts: 1431 Joined: Sep. 2009 (Permalink) Posted: May 16 2011,07:48    Quote (DaveH @ May 13 2011,17:05) Quote Quote (Robin @ May 13 2011,08:45) I think for what I'd like to do, I might splurge on the 70-300 VR. Based on the reviews it seems like a nice lens that isn't a major investment. Well, I just got the Nikkor 70-300 VR (for the reasons you mentioned) and I have to say that I'm loving it, so far. The limitations are what you would expect for the maximum aperture, it's a wee bit soft at 300, but the VR genuinely works a treat and autofocus is fast and accurate. I was delighted to get any shot at all of this extremely shy and flighty Kingfisher, handheld (and in the middle of a city!) Cool! That is some nice work with that lens! I'm just trying to decide if the 70-300 VR is significantly better than the 55-300 VR. The former will work with an FX format and is supposedly a more solidly constructed lens, but otoh, there may be an advantage to going with a lighter lens like the 55-300 out in the field. Anyone used both and have an opinion? -------------- we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

khan Posts: 1554 Joined: May 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 22 2011,10:27    I again have two white squirrels hanging around. -------------- "It's as if all those words, in their hurry to escape from the loony, have fallen over each other, forming scrambled heaps of meaninglessness." -damitall That's so fucking stupid it merits a wing in the museum of stupid. -midwifetoad Frequency is just the plural of wavelength... -JoeG

Henry J Posts: 5786 Joined: Mar. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 22 2011,17:23    Well, hanging around is what squirrels do! When they aren't going for nuts. Henry

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