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Showing posts 1 - 18 of 18, (reverse)
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 02/27/2011 08:09:13 AM · #1
Today a friend is taking me to go shoot Bald Eagles, the attraction for the eagles are a bit gross but whatever brings them close works, right.
The problem, fresh layer of snow with high thin clouds with possible breaks. I guess I have not paid attention in class, and just don't have time to look everything up. This is a one time shoot, well for this year. Could someone hook me up with a starting point on camera settings EV + or - ect.
Camera 1D MII, lens 70-200 F4L.
Thank You..
 02/27/2011 08:27:31 AM · #2
Never mind, I have to leave now, it's a sunrise thing.
Thank you..
 02/27/2011 12:41:01 PM · #3
You might want to take a peak at this Wildlife Photography that was done by jbsmithana you might find it very useful.

I do know for a fact that Mr. Smith has some truly remarkable Eagle shots in his collection.

Ray
 02/27/2011 12:47:25 PM · #4
Hope it worked out. Since we all work in digital, I think it's always easy to start busting off a bunch of test shots for the BG or for a tree or something before the eagles arrive. That gives you an idea.

I was driving home from a shoot yesterday and a bald eagle was flying very low next to the freeway. He seemed interested in something in the field. I should have stopped, but it was one of those things where you are 200 yards past by the time you put your foot to the brake.
 02/27/2011 12:52:38 PM · #5
Thanks Ray for the compliment. Sorry I missed this but I'm in Hawaii and there is a time difference.

I would have said to try Apperture Priority, F7.1, ISO 400 and maybe a +.7 or +1 (so the eagle feathers don't get lost in shadow) to start as it sounds like it will be a bit bright with the snow cover. That is where I normally start and the make adjsutments from there.

Alan, post some shots when you get back!

Message edited by author 2011-02-27 13:09:56.
 02/27/2011 12:58:57 PM · #6
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
... I should have stopped, but it was one of those things where you are 200 yards past by the time you put your foot to the brake.


...Hmmmmmmm lemme see. Driving at 60mph you would be travelling at a rate of 88 feet per second. Since you are a relatively young man, it should take you no more than 3/4 of a second or 66 feet to put your foot on the brake.

You seem to suggest a travelling distance of 600 feet...my guess is that you were speeding. :O)

Ray
 02/27/2011 03:22:36 PM · #7
Originally posted by RayEthier:
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
... I should have stopped, but it was one of those things where you are 200 yards past by the time you put your foot to the brake.


...Hmmmmmmm lemme see. Driving at 60mph you would be travelling at a rate of 88 feet per second. Since you are a relatively young man, it should take you no more than 3/4 of a second or 66 feet to put your foot on the brake.

You seem to suggest a travelling distance of 600 feet...my guess is that you were speeding. :O)

Ray


No, it means since he's getting OLDER his brain takes longer to process any throughput...

R.
 02/27/2011 03:39:27 PM · #8
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
No, it means since he's getting OLDER his brain takes longer to process any throughput...

R.


BINGO! Do I stop? Do I not stop? Can I stop? Where should I pull over? Oh damn, well, it's way back there now... :)
 02/27/2011 03:52:37 PM · #9
Originally posted by alans_world:
Today a friend is taking me to go shoot Bald Eagles


I'm not sure thats entirely legal....
 02/27/2011 03:53:51 PM · #10
Originally posted by alans_world:
Today a friend is taking me to go shoot Bald Eagles, the attraction for the eagles are a bit gross but whatever brings them close works, right.
The problem, fresh layer of snow with high thin clouds with possible breaks. I guess I have not paid attention in class, and just don't have time to look everything up. This is a one time shoot, well for this year. Could someone hook me up with a starting point on camera settings EV + or - ect.
Camera 1D MII, lens 70-200 F4L.
Thank You..


For future reference, since you've already left....it depends on how much snow (meaning how much ground is still showing) and how bright the light reflecting off it is.

If your environment is mostly snow covered and the light is bright the camera will try to lower the exposure pushing the snow towards middle gray. To compensate a good starting point would be to dial in +1 Ev and then make any adjustment up or down based on your cameras luminance histogram. You want to expose for the highlights while still keeping the slightest detail in the snow.

The same would hold true for light sand conditions on a bright day.

Dave

Message edited by author 2011-02-27 15:55:03.
 02/27/2011 04:06:02 PM · #11
Quite honestly I'm not sure how anyone can give you an answer to this. Every time you or the sun moves will make a difference in your settings. With the Eagles and the sun angle changing all the time you will be dialing in + or - exposure compensation if you are shooting aperture priority. Or moving ISO up or down if you are shooting manual mode.

Edit to add 70-200 will be really short for shooting eagles.

Message edited by author 2011-02-27 16:06:28.
 02/27/2011 04:11:19 PM · #12
Originally posted by MattO:
Quite honestly I'm not sure how anyone can give you an answer to this. Every time you or the sun moves will make a difference in your settings. With the Eagles and the sun angle changing all the time you will be dialing in + or - exposure compensation if you are shooting aperture priority. Or moving ISO up or down if you are shooting manual mode.

Edit to add 70-200 will be really short for shooting eagles.


In Alan's original post he mentioned that they would be using something (another animal perhaps) to attract the eagles in closer to the ground.

02/27/2011 04:27:54 PM · #13
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by MattO:
Quite honestly I'm not sure how anyone can give you an answer to this. Every time you or the sun moves will make a difference in your settings. With the Eagles and the sun angle changing all the time you will be dialing in + or - exposure compensation if you are shooting aperture priority. Or moving ISO up or down if you are shooting manual mode.

Edit to add 70-200 will be really short for shooting eagles.


In Alan's original post he mentioned that they would be using something (another animal perhaps) to attract the eagles in closer to the ground.


I've been to and seen one of these events where they "bait" birds of Prey in. 200MM is still usually too short to fill the frame.
 02/27/2011 04:41:35 PM · #14
Originally posted by MattO:
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by MattO:
Quite honestly I'm not sure how anyone can give you an answer to this. Every time you or the sun moves will make a difference in your settings. With the Eagles and the sun angle changing all the time you will be dialing in + or - exposure compensation if you are shooting aperture priority. Or moving ISO up or down if you are shooting manual mode.

Edit to add 70-200 will be really short for shooting eagles.


In Alan's original post he mentioned that they would be using something (another animal perhaps) to attract the eagles in closer to the ground.


I've been to and seen one of these events where they "bait" birds of Prey in. 200MM is still usually too short to fill the frame.


Oh, I agree with you there...definitely. I am disappointed half the time with the reach of my 300mm let alone a 200mm lens.

I was merely giving him a good starting point on how to expose for snow...to keep it white rather than gray. :)

02/27/2011 04:51:50 PM · #15
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by MattO:
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by MattO:
Quite honestly I'm not sure how anyone can give you an answer to this. Every time you or the sun moves will make a difference in your settings. With the Eagles and the sun angle changing all the time you will be dialing in + or - exposure compensation if you are shooting aperture priority. Or moving ISO up or down if you are shooting manual mode.

Edit to add 70-200 will be really short for shooting eagles.


In Alan's original post he mentioned that they would be using something (another animal perhaps) to attract the eagles in closer to the ground.


I've been to and seen one of these events where they "bait" birds of Prey in. 200MM is still usually too short to fill the frame.


Oh, I agree with you there...definitely. I am disappointed half the time with the reach of my 300mm let alone a 200mm lens.

I was merely giving him a good starting point on how to expose for snow...to keep it white rather than gray. :)


I rarely find 400mm on a 1.6 crop to be too much (640mm effective)... Sometimes I do want a bit of environment with the bird, but 640mm just isn't that much magnification - although it's certainly enough to demonstrate the distortion problems the atmosphere presents.

Message edited by author 2011-02-27 16:52:16.
 02/27/2011 05:41:01 PM · #16
Originally posted by coryboehne:
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by MattO:
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by MattO:
Quite honestly I'm not sure how anyone can give you an answer to this. Every time you or the sun moves will make a difference in your settings. With the Eagles and the sun angle changing all the time you will be dialing in + or - exposure compensation if you are shooting aperture priority. Or moving ISO up or down if you are shooting manual mode.

Edit to add 70-200 will be really short for shooting eagles.


In Alan's original post he mentioned that they would be using something (another animal perhaps) to attract the eagles in closer to the ground.


I've been to and seen one of these events where they "bait" birds of Prey in. 200MM is still usually too short to fill the frame.


Oh, I agree with you there...definitely. I am disappointed half the time with the reach of my 300mm let alone a 200mm lens.

Hey Cory, ever try DxO Optics Pro?

I was merely giving him a good starting point on how to expose for snow...to keep it white rather than gray. :)


I rarely find 400mm on a 1.6 crop to be too much (640mm effective)... Sometimes I do want a bit of environment with the bird, but 640mm just isn't that much magnification - although it's certainly enough to demonstrate the distortion problems the atmosphere presents.


Hey Cory, ever try DxO Optics Pro? What I love about that program, among other things is that it takes the known properties of a cameras sensor (based on camera body) and a specific lens at specific apertures and corrects for distortion, noise, chromatic aberrations etc.

It's been my experience with my camera and lenses that it fixes what it's supposed to and improves image quality in other areas.

Message edited by author 2011-02-27 17:42:23.
 02/27/2011 05:43:55 PM · #17
My Eagle attempts this Jan.

All of these were taken with a 1DMKIV 500MMF4 and 1.4X teleconverter.

Matt
 02/27/2011 05:58:39 PM · #18
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by coryboehne:
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by MattO:
Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Originally posted by MattO:
Quite honestly I'm not sure how anyone can give you an answer to this. Every time you or the sun moves will make a difference in your settings. With the Eagles and the sun angle changing all the time you will be dialing in + or - exposure compensation if you are shooting aperture priority. Or moving ISO up or down if you are shooting manual mode.

Edit to add 70-200 will be really short for shooting eagles.


In Alan's original post he mentioned that they would be using something (another animal perhaps) to attract the eagles in closer to the ground.


I've been to and seen one of these events where they "bait" birds of Prey in. 200MM is still usually too short to fill the frame.


Oh, I agree with you there...definitely. I am disappointed half the time with the reach of my 300mm let alone a 200mm lens.

Hey Cory, ever try DxO Optics Pro?

I was merely giving him a good starting point on how to expose for snow...to keep it white rather than gray. :)


I rarely find 400mm on a 1.6 crop to be too much (640mm effective)... Sometimes I do want a bit of environment with the bird, but 640mm just isn't that much magnification - although it's certainly enough to demonstrate the distortion problems the atmosphere presents.


Hey Cory, ever try DxO Optics Pro? What I love about that program, among other things is that it takes the known properties of a cameras sensor (based on camera body) and a specific lens at specific apertures and corrects for distortion, noise, chromatic aberrations etc.

It's been my experience with my camera and lenses that it fixes what it's supposed to and improves image quality in other areas.


I've not, that might be an interesting program to give a try, but I don't think it can do much about the atmospheric distortion I was talking about... As for real lens/camera distortion, I find the 100-400L + 50D to be a very sweet combo. Interestingly, they are now able to correct for atmospheric distortion using careful measurements and corrective optics (read a ton of money, a large scale telescope and a very nice laser.. :) )... Wonder when that sort of tech will migrate down to consumer gear, maybe 50 years?
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