Images from the local Nature Reserves.

[John G]

  I have a few local Nature Reserves a few minutes drive from my home, Lackford Lakes is run by a Conservation Charity called
  Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
  It has hides about every 150 metres in the first 2 Kilometres of the reserve, and then the final ones are about 500 metres apart at the 
  rear end of the reserve. It is very well set up on a redundant quarry offering a setting made up of multiple lakes and a river, with brook
  tributaries. The larger lakes are about 25 + hectares. A large area of the reserve is available for disabled access all year round and with all
  the available hides, there is always a bolt hole if the weather catches you out.
  RSPB Lakenheath is a 200 hectare site, with a river running the whole length as a boundary. It has a excellent visitors centre,
  but does have limited hides when out in the openess of it. A good long walk is the order of the day when on this site.
  My images are taken on both reserves. The Kingfishers and their cropped edits are on the RSPB Lakenheath.
  All others are from Lackford Lakes.
  The Nikon D800E + Nikon 300mm ED IF ais were used to capture all the images.   

[elsa hoffmann]

Aren't you just dying for a longer lens
My favourite is the Canadian Goose

[John G]

Hello Elsa
              Thank you for your time taken to view.
              I had many conversations about using stealth/Camouflage/hides/enticement/ambush as a way to avoid using a long lens.
              I have many images where a TC was used to attempt obtain reach. 
              I did them all but there are limitations and opportunities missed, that you knew were going to be much more opportunist if a
              longer reach lens was to be used.
              Today I have a recently purchased a bargain 500mm f4 AIP. I am still learning the basics to get the most from this lens,
              I know there is a very sharp image to be had but do believe for this to happen I need a dedicated tripod.
              There are images posted on Flickr/Flickriver that leave a very positive impression.
              I have captured a few images to date with it attached to a TC 16A, that are pleasing to me.
              I am looking at the Siriu R 5214XL tripod. It can be imported from Hong Kong at a reasonable price when compared to big brand
              names.
              I don't know when I am going to bring a modern AFS Telephoto into my kit, as I thoroughly enjoy a camera body in manual mode
              working with a MF lens.   
              I have a family member who has a AFS 600mm f4 and 300mm F4 PF, maybe after trials with these over the autumn/winter,
              this is the year I make a decision to move over to a AFS Long Telephoto Lens.

[elsa hoffmann]

Good luck John!
I don't work with a tripod when shooting birds - it's an impossible task for me. Having said that  - I am sure my Nikon 200-500 is not as heavy as the long prime lenses.

[Peter Connan]

Very nice shots John!

Not sure how much light you generally have to work with, but if you can get exposure times down to 1/2000th, you should see no improvement in sharpness between hand-held or tripod.

With long lenses like these, there are often other factors that play a role in sharpness, and focusing them manually is very tricky at the best of times!

[John G]

Hi Peter
           I went out tonight at about 18.00hrs with the 500mm + TC 16A.
           I would say the light was exceptional, thats what prompted me to head out, plus I have discovered what I believe is a marriage
           between two Kestrels or Hobbies that are living on or near my land. They did not show tonight, but one was travelling along a limb
           earlier today with a mouse grasped in its talon, I left the camera indoors and went out with the Binoculars, this is a common
           occurrence for me. Camera is now on Tripod awaiting the morning.
           Back to exposure talk now, to achieve a correct exposure I chose to use the following settings,
           shutter speed of 500ths at F8 , ISO 400. I could have made the f stop wider for a faster shutter, but I am not familiar enough with
           this lens to be confident of sharpness wide open with a TC. 
           I have captured two species of Butterfly at closest focal length 800mm f8 in beautiful light. Be interesting to see the detail that
           comes through as I never had the remote shutter release set up. 

[elsa hoffmann]

I would love to see what you get with the longer lens. Where do you live? Seems we have similar kid of birds around.

[John G]

Hi Elsa
           I am from the UK based inland in a flat area +20 metres above sea level is a mountain in this area. Fortunately the agriculture has
           left many of the woodlands and hedgerows in place, so there are safe havens for wildlife.
          I will upload in a few minutes a couple of images from my most recent outing with a 800mm set up.