*OFFICIAL* Snapshot of the Day (one image per post please) #1

[MaximusJ]

Note taken. But these were in the trees; waaay higher level.

But I will try to wait for a better pose next time Thanks for the tip.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Well fed!

Very pregnant.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

Note taken. But these were in the trees; waaay higher level.

But I will try to wait for a better pose next time Thanks for the tip.

You're welcome.

Your reaction is exactly as mine would have been a couple of years ago.

In the case of the birds you got, did you spend 20 to 40-minutes, standing still and waiting for them to get in better position? That's what it takes and you'll often come up empty. It's hard to do casually.

I'm trying to encourage, not discourage.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

I get your point; for the woodpecker I posted a couple days ago, i've waited a good 30-40 minutes walking aroundand waiting for him to move until I got the shot I wanted; which was half decent.

Here is the shot in question:


But for the BlueJay, I didnt wait much; it was cold and I wasnt 100% awake. I wasnt patient enough.

Your shots made me want to buy a 2X Teleconverter. With my 70-200, I can get a good range; considering i'm at 1.5 crop factor. I just need to find the subjects to shoot. I got the Audubon's apps to find birds. A couple spotted in my region but not much. I will contribute as much as I can and hopefully some more people will follow. Some entries are funny tho. Someone supposedly spotted a bald eagle near my place a month ago. lol Very unlikely.

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

Thanks!

Same bird; different angle

better crop, like this one more. portrait works

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

...
Your shots made me want to buy a 2X Teleconverter. With my 70-200, I can get a good range; considering i'm at 1.5 crop factor. I just need to find the subjects to shoot. I got the Audubon's apps to find birds. A couple spotted in my region but not much. I will contribute as much as I can and hopefully some more people will follow. Some entries are funny tho. Someone supposedly spotted a bald eagle near my place a month ago. lol Very unlikely.

You've got good equipment for this. When you get a good shot, even the most ordinary birds can be very interesting when viewed in detail.

Your downy woodpecker shot is nice, but... you want the sun behind you and, ideally, a eye light in the visible eye. Those two things would elevate this image a couple of more notches. Always be aware of the sun and approach with it behind you. That's not to say, "never take a picture with the subject backlit" because those can often work out nicely, particularly if you get a highlight fringe, like this from yesterday:


Little one in the sun by dcstep, on Flickr

[SS32]

Storms at Sand Piper by SS332, on Flickr

[oneintheory]

Intensity by jsophoto, on Flickr

[panicos81]

Spotted this old thing downtown. was way too dark.. Iso 6400, f1.4, 1/30

[Chewy734]

nice shot Josh! model's hot too

[UdubBadger]

is that a body suit?

[gcochard]

[gary88]

Ferrari by garyhebding, on Flickr

[UdubBadger]

#becausefreeBTM

[M_Six]

#becauseWTFareyoutalkingabout

[UdubBadger]

Chi stuff

#youwouldntunderstandcountryboy

[Chewy734]

stupid hashtags...

[MaximusJ]

[dcstep]

Nice one J-F. I really like the light and emphasis on the flowers, but good detail on the bee.

[MaximusJ]

Thanks Dave. I had a hard time getting a nice shot of that bee. Too many flowers to dig in so he was constantly moving. And those buggers are moving FAST when they decide to move.

I've planted some flowers and put up some bird feeders to attract some more subjects this summer. We got a couple hummingbirds hanging around. I couldnt get proper shots of them last summer (But I was using automatic mode on my d5000) so the only shots I got were blurry. (Go figure)

One of my photog goals for the summer is to snap a sharp pic of one of these. I will get nicer pics with my 24-70 then with the 70-200 tho. (This pic is from the 70-200).

[dcstep]

The 70-200mm is great for bees, flowers and hummingbirds. Add a 1.4x or 2.0x Teleconverter and a 25mm Extension Tube to increase magnification and get even closer. Use the zoom to get the bee close to focus and then literally move the camera in and out to get perfect focus. The DOF is really shallow, but the bee will snap into focus when you get the distance right. It only takes a little practice.

With hummingbirds, it's often good to sit there near their feeder and wait for them to get used to you and come close. Find out what flowers they like and put some in near the feeder. It's easier to get shots on the feeder, but shots on flowers are much better to look at.

For all these subjects, don't be afraid of ISO 800 in order to get your shutter speed in the 1/1000 to 1/2000-sec. range.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

I dont know if its common to all DSLR, but my D7000 doesnt AF very well when using extension tubes. So I had to manually focus everytime i've put a tube on. But the DOF is so shallow when using more then 30mm, sometimes a part of my subject is OOF. 24mm was perfect for me (used on my spider shots in last contest). And with more then 24mm, you have to be danger close to your subject to get a focussed shot.

As for the lens itself, the problem I had with it is the focus distance. The bee shot i've posted is the closest I could get before going OOF. So I think I will get clearer shots with the 24 70 and extension tube, but will be short on the focal range. I'm gonna have to trial and error on this.

The TC is the next thing on my shopping list. I just need to get a nice deal on the version III of Nikon's TC. I've seen a comparo of the two lasts versions and the II version is not even worth looking at compared to the version III.