NikonGear'23

Images => Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes => Topic started by: bobfriedman on June 30, 2018, 00:03:06

Title: Loons
Post by: bobfriedman on June 30, 2018, 00:03:06
Nikon D810 ,Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4G ED VR
1/2500s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso1600
(http://www.pbase.com/bobfriedman/image/167732629/original.jpg)

Nikon D810 ,Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4G ED VR
1/2500s f/9.0 at 500.0mm iso1400
(http://www.pbase.com/bobfriedman/image/167732630/original.jpg)

Nikon D810 ,Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4G ED VR
1/2500s f/9.0 at 500.0mm iso1400
(http://www.pbase.com/bobfriedman/image/167732634/original.jpg)

Nikon D810 ,Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4G ED VR
1/1600s f/9.0 at 500.0mm iso2000
(http://www.pbase.com/bobfriedman/image/167732635/original.jpg)

Nikon D810 ,Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4G ED VR
1/2500s f/9.0 at 500.0mm iso1000
(http://www.pbase.com/bobfriedman/image/167732626/original.jpg)
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: jgould2 on June 30, 2018, 00:33:55
Beautiful, Bob.

JIM
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: Øivind Tøien on June 30, 2018, 00:57:20
They are all excellent, and the combination of the clean dark background, the red eye, and the young one behind that gives a feeling of depth makes the first one really special.
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: atpaula on June 30, 2018, 01:26:45
Beautiful #1.
Congrats.
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: Fons Baerken on June 30, 2018, 09:28:42
Indeed #1 is killer.
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: Andrew on June 30, 2018, 18:23:54
All of them ++++ !
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: armando_m on June 30, 2018, 19:16:49
Indeed #1 is killer.
indeed
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: Akira on June 30, 2018, 23:43:54
Love the third one, but others are no inferior!
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: Ann on July 01, 2018, 00:36:48
They are all delightful but the first one is truly exceptional!

Masterly handling has retained all of the texture in the blacks and the darkest tones while nothing has been lost in the details of the white feathers.

Title: Re: Loons
Post by: Randy Stout on July 09, 2018, 21:58:10
Bob:

Very nice set, agree that #1 is the most dramatic.

Chicks appear to be ~2-4 days old at this point,  very cute!  When and where were these taken?  Our chicks are sig. older at this point, having hatched about 6-15.

What was your shooting set up?  Obviously from a boat, but I am always curious about the details, as I spend a bit of time with loons.

Look forward to more.

Randy
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: bobfriedman on July 09, 2018, 22:38:16
shot 29 Jun from Kayak using the 500/4G handheld.
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: Randy Stout on July 09, 2018, 22:57:24
Thanks Bob. 

Cheers

Randy
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: Peter Connan on July 11, 2018, 18:02:04
Wow!
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: ArthurDent on July 26, 2018, 11:47:04
Hi Bob- Beautiful as always! Quick technical question, do you dial in any exposure compensation to avoid overexposing the white feathers?
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: bobfriedman on July 27, 2018, 01:00:56
Hi Bob- Beautiful as always! Quick technical question, do you dial in any exposure compensation to avoid overexposing the white feathers?

yes... while i shoot aperture priority + auto ISO most of the time... i constantly adjust by dialing in or out exposure compensation.

i do shoot manual + auto ISO as well.. but since it still uses the meter, i am constantly adjusting for a given situation using exposure comp.

and of course, i was protecting the whites whenever i could.
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: MFloyd on July 27, 2018, 05:25:33
Lovely and excellent technical quality !
Title: Re: Loons
Post by: ArthurDent on July 27, 2018, 11:41:19
yes... while i shoot aperture priority + auto ISO most of the time... i constantly adjust by dialing in or out exposure compensation.

i do shoot manual + auto ISO as well.. but since it still uses the meter, i am constantly adjusting for a given situation using exposure comp.

and of course, i was protecting the whites whenever i could.

Thank you for your reply. I haven’t seen any loons locally, although I think we may get them in the winter. But we do have a good population  of skimmers, which have black wings and heads and white bodies. I find getting the exposure right on birds with a combination of white and black feathers to be especially challenging when I’m trying to catch them in flight. The light is changing rapidly as the bird moves, but one has to guess as to the correct amount of compensation to set well before making the shot as there is no time to do so when a bird flies by.
I wish Nikon would come up with a metering mode which would automatically reduce exposure to eliminate blown highlights. With the new autofocus system, I now rarely miss focus. The most common reason I’m forced to discard a shot is blown out highlights, even though I’m routinely dialing in a good amount of negative compensation for light colored subjects. In any event, it is useful to hear how other photographers address the problem.