2957 replies to this topic

[Juthro]

Here is another sunrise that I liked.

I think I like sunrise's the best, because seeing them reminds me I have another day above ground, lol.

Edited by Juthro, 03 November 2015 - 11:02 PM.

[Juthro]

OK, here is a couple of lucky shots. This pic I like to call 'Sibling Rivalry', as these bears were brother and sister orphans at the Fortress of the Bear. Their mother was shot after breaking into a fishing lodge and cornering a cook in the kitchen. She was killed to save the cooks life.

And another pic that I was just a split second to slow on, but I will call it how I saw it, appropriately named 'Bitch Slapped'

Edited by Juthro, 04 November 2015 - 10:31 PM.

[Ovoideocystidiata]

Junthro, you must be fairly close to wildlife to get those well of shots?

[Juthro]

Thanks Ovid, I was within about 40 yards in an elevated observation tower at a bear orphanage (for lack of a better term), and I was using a good lens (55-300mm Nikor).

Fortress of the Bear, in Sitka AK, takes orphaned bears and gives them a home. But they are not rehabilitated, as the state will not allow them to be reintroduced to the wild at this time (there are people pushing for this though). Their only legal option besides spending their days there is currently a bullet in the head.

[Ovoideocystidiata]

i am pretty sure that is the sears town in Chicago, IL.

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[Juthro]

Here is a pic of the couple of the black bears there at the Fortress. They were close to hibernating, so they have been fattened up nicely, and have quite nice winter coats on them.



Edit @ Ovoid: I've never been to Chicago, looks like an interesting skyline.

Edited by Juthro, 05 November 2015 - 01:24 PM.

[Skywatcher]

Really good pictures showing up in this thread all !!!!!!!

Juthro, I love this one. The broken sun pillar is a real plus. I look for sun pillars, halo's, and sundogs  with great regularity, but unfortunately they can be very short lived phenomenon, and if you do not have a camera when you see it, it is often gone before you can get back out with one.

 

[Juthro]

Thanks Skye, I actually got lucky to get that shot. I saw the sun pillar from my hotel room window when I woke up, I had to put it in high gear to get dressed and out on the street and find a good place for the photo before it was gone. I didn't even get my coffee first, lol.

Here is another pic from the hotel, sorry about the window screen but I haven't been able to filter it out.



This last one was just as it was disappearing, and my camera didn't really get it. But I still like the pic.



Edit: I did a little work, and this was about the best I make it

Edited by Juthro, 05 November 2015 - 11:04 PM.

[pharmer]

Hey, I've been gone for a week and Juthro's been busy.

 

Juthro, in the view NX 2 software there's a slider bar for Shadow Protection. In that sunrise pic use the slider to "open up" the shadows of the trees and backside of that hill. You may get more and better results with the Dlighting HS slider. It's a whole different tool with a whole different purpose but it also does a decent job of improving most dim lit pics.

 

Dude, you most definitely have the knack. Not a bad composition from you yet and you definitely have the gift for right place and right time.

 

Editing is where the real magic happens but you can't put lipstick on a pig. Meaning you'd rather work with a supermodel than a pig and take her picture right. You can take her clothes off with the editor software  

 

btw you are saving your files as RAW/NEF correct?  (btw, kiddies, NEF is a Nikon proprietary gimmick basically identical to RAW)

 

make a copy of your original files and edit ONLY the copy. you always want that original file where you can get to it in its virginal condition. you'll be surprised later how many good files you have laying around to edit later as you learn more about the editor.

 

you can make an unlimited number of copies of a RAW file without affecting its quality.

(technical talk: this is known in the industry as non-destructive editing)

 

once you've saved  the RAW copy edit that. then use the Convert tool at the top of the editor (if you want to share a jpeg copy with somebody. not everybody can open a RAW or NEF, but everybody can open jpegs).  It will let you select jpg and file size (save to desktop) which will allow you to upload a jpeg here.

 

once you've saved a file as a jpeg don't edit it again. every time you edit and save a jpeg you lose data. it's a big deal if you have a quality image you want to use again and again. compound resaves of jpegs just ruins them. the quality goes all to hell.

 

this applies to everybody, not just Nikon shooters.

Edited by pharmer, 08 November 2015 - 11:03 AM.

[pharmer]

about the screen in the hotel pic....

 

a teachable moment....

 

the screen would not be seen IF the focus had been at the horizon as opposed to quite near the screen.

 

screens and sometimes lines like grates and bars will disappear if they are 1. far enough from the subject and 2. not in focus

 

it's strange how that works. some kind of lens magic I don't understand but have learned to manage as long as things aren't happening too fast and I have time to properly compose and actually consider a shot instead of moving fast and hoping to catch something interesting before it goes away.... like bears bitch slapping each other

[Juthro]

Thanks (again) for the tips Pharmer :)

I hope to have all the good photo opp locations mapped out around here for when the stars align, and you make it to this part of the world.

We recently replaced our 20 year old jeep with a more reliable ride, so I'm thinking a Fairbanks trip this winter to try and get some Northern Light pics.

[pharmer]

for example

 

the grid you see in this pic is the cage holding the pretty bird. what you see is behind the bird by a few feet.

 

because the bird is in focus (annoying technical distinction here - with a long zoom lens, others behave differently) the screen is not and usually disappears.

 

it did not totally disappear in this pic but I kinda like the mysterious and engaging presence of it.

 

and that pretty bird......

 

re: planning      I have a file on the desktop with places to go organized by how much time I have to play around. half a day to kill? ah hah, the file suggests the local botanical garden and aviary. A week to play with? go to Colorado. 

 

it's good to have a plan in the can if some time presents itself.

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Edited by pharmer, 08 November 2015 - 11:56 AM.

[Skywatcher]

Excellent tips pharmer. I need to get this topic pinned for future reference. So far there have been many great pictures and alot of really helpful information. 

 

Just as I hoped..................................................

[Juthro]

So I was sitting at my kitchen table about 20 min ago, and I saw some movement on the far side of the lake. I got to look and was treated to a truly wonderful gift. There were three young wolfs playing on the far side of the lake. They were kind enough to stay around long enough for me to get out my camera, change lens, attempt to take pictures, curse, retrieve the memory card from computer, and then take some pics, lol.

The lighting wasn't great, but I feel lucky just to have seen these guys in the wild, let alone get some pics. Cuz as you know, if you didn't get any pics, it never happened. :)

[Ovoideocystidiata]

nice photos off the wolfs, you must be out in the sticks.  you do any fishing on that lake?

[pharmer]

anybody like fireworks?

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[Juthro]

I DO!! I DO!! Nice pics my friend.

They don't do fire works for the forth of July here, as it is in heart of fire season, and the sun only goes down for about 15min.

But they do a big fireworks display for their holiday calibration after Thanksgiving. You can bet I'll be there this year.

[pharmer]

wide open aperture on the big kit lens. shutter speed about 3 seconds IIRC. quicker would shorten the lengths of the "palm fronds"

 

ISO probably 200 or 300

 

editing this to say the lens was probably set around 150mm. this was because of the trees, too many to manage with a small kit lens. I'd recommend 25-35 mm as a setting on your kit lens to capture much more sky than you see in my pics.

 

also I'd guess I was within 120 yards of the bursts. better to back off to at least 200 yards. not because of danger or anything, just my guess that it would make the composition look a bit "roomier" than mine which feel cramped to me.

Edited by pharmer, 09 November 2015 - 08:38 PM.

[Juthro]

Sounds like I need to invest in a tripod. Any suggestions?

[pharmer]

it's tricky.

 

ideally you'd want as sturdy as you can get but sturdy is heavy and slow to operate, and costs more

 

lightweight and around $120 at Costco when they had them were Manfrodo brand. good enough for everyday stuff. light enough that you can screw the camera to it and hump them through the woods without breaking your back after four hours.

 

tripods are good for night time, shooting moon and stars, low light conditions, and anything where you want a series of consistent shots. for example: you want to take a panorama of a mountain range. the camera must stay level as you go from left to right taking maybe five shots to stitch together later. If you hand held you'd never be able to line them up but the tripod will take care of the leveling issue.

 

also, regardless of lighting conditions, a tripod makes for much crisper shots. you can't always have one at hand or the time to use it but anytime you can - you should. never make it any taller than it needs to be. tall = shaky or susceptible to wind. also, if budget permits you should get a cable or infrared shutter release. believe it or not, even with the camera mounted on the tripod just pushing the button to take the pic can SOMETIMES be enough movement to make your pic blurred. crazy, eh?  the cable releases are fairly cheap. I think mine cost $20 and I'm thrilled with it.

 

as a matter of fact, with our Nikons, some things can be done only with a cable or infrared release. if you get in manual mode and try to select your shutter time in excess of IIRC 30 seconds you see a setting called "bulb". In this mode you can open the shutter until you decide you want to close it - like two hours later. BUT this can only be done with a cable or infrared release. not sure why.

 

anyway, compared to most photo equipment the releases are cheap.

Edited by pharmer, 09 November 2015 - 08:39 PM.