I have become quite fond of
the squirrel, my closest neighbor. Squirrels in Alaska are nothing like the ones stealing peanuts in the parks, they can be quite skittish, although at times pretty noisy compared to their European counterparts. There is a lot of competition among squirrels, and this one, while really tiny, seems very healthy and is doing very well. It also seems that it has warmed up to my presence, which has been very convenient with the arrival of the 300/4 PF. Since I already posted a number of squirrel images in the PF thread, the new ones go here. All captures with VR on. The last one was captured with TC-14E mounted and was actually the first in the shot sequence, but because of the overcast murky weather and no need for it, I soon unmounted it. I actually like these images better than the ones I made in sunny weather. While squirrels are almost ideal subjects for VR use because of their stop-motion movement pattern, it can be tricky to avoid motion blur when they are eating like here.
#1
NIKON D5100, f/4 @ 300 mm, 1/125, ISO 800
I really like the way the 300 PF paints the colors in this one.
#2
D5100, f/4 @ 300 mm, 1/100, ISO 800
#3
D5100, f/4 @ 300 mm, 1/100, ISO 800
#4
D5100, f/4.5 @ 300 mm, 1/60, ISO 800
Oops..
#5
D5100, f/4.5 @ 300 mm, 1/80, ISO 800
#6
D5100, f/4 @ 300 mm, 1/100, ISO 800
This one had TC-14E mounted with the 300 PF:
#7
D5100, f/6.3 @ 420 mm, 1/100, ISO 800
There was a tendency for metering to underexpose with TC-14E, so exposure was lifted 2/3 stop in post. More sharpening was applied to this one than the others, which is not surprising considering the long shutter speed.
