Camera and Photography Thread

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SamG
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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by SamG » Sat Feb 09, 2019 11:50 am

Primus,
I can testify to the experience that you've mentioned about one visiting the Jungles.Nothing is more thrilling than seeing animals in their habitat at close quarters.

On your visit to Nagarhole, did you happen to stay @ Jungle Lodges? Off late there have been good sightings of Tigers,Leopards as well as "Karia" the elusive Black panther. I did get a glimpse of a Leopard along with 2 Cubs which was crossing the beaten path ahead of us, but my set up 70-200 was not sufficient to grab them in the frame. Same with the Sloth Bear. Happened to see one as well.
Unlike reserves in the North, crowd in Nagarhole is kind off regulated. Previously they had day trips for Jeep safari's which would allow people to take the Safari by just paying 1800rs and odd. That has been done with and now folks have to Lodge on the resorts to do the Jeep Safari. For normal folks that's a pretty penny to drop.

You're photos above are magical. Beautifully rendered in all the aspects. All are exceptional, but the 1st and the 4th one are killers. Thanks for sharing. If you don't mind me asking about the gear you used to shoot these ?

Masai Mara is in my bucket list. But to get there home minister ko kitna tael lagana padega soch ke ghabrata hu.😄 Lekin ummeed hai ki ek din,ek din ..... .Masai Mara.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Primus » Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:19 pm

Sam, SHQ and I had gone for a wedding in the family and during this visit we decided to spend some downtime at the Orange County resort in the area. The fact that Nagarhole was across the river was a huge attraction for me. I thought it would be a wonderful experience. However, I did not know that unless you are staying at the government lodge (JR or something), you are put in an 18 passenger bus. I tried my best, even said I would pay for a private vehicle but they did not allow it. So we crossed the Kabini river every day and boarded this school bus like vehicle which slowly collected people from several other lodges before entering the National park. Once there, the thing was so noisy that all the animals ran away the moment we approached them. The lodge on the other side had several small jeeps and I could see people in smaller groups going around on the game drives. I think we probably spent no more than 90 minutes inside the park itself each time.

Perhaps some time in the future I may make a special trip and stay at the other lodge.

Having been to most of the major wildlife destinations in Africa I see a big difference in the way things are done in India. For people like me who are not casual tourists but really want to spend a lot more time with the animals, it is not a happy experience. Even in heavily visited places like the Kruger or the Serengeti, they have made arrangements for people to pay for what they want. There are basic rules in place of course, for example you cannot leave any camp before sunrise and absolutely have to be back by sunset (though there are some exceptions). And yet, they allow you to stay for as long as you like within those hours. Each camp has its own vehicle and you can either go cheap, i.e. have up to 12 people in one vehicle or pay for exclusivity and have just three, with each photographer getting the entire row with both sides available to him. Most of these vehicles are extended land rovers with three or four rows behind the driver. Of course you pay a very hefty premium for a private vehicle but if you share the costs with friends it is not so bad.

Then there are private game reserves like Sabi Sands in Kruger and the Conservancies in the Mara where you have exclusive access to thousands of acres of game reserve where the general public is not allowed. Again, you pay a very high price for this, but the point is it is available if you want to and have the means to.

Thanks for your kind words. These days I shoot mainly Sony mirrorless, have been through all of Canon's offerings over the years. I have used several other brands in an ever frustrating search for the ideal system and have realized that there is none. Settling for a compromise, I now use Sony a9 and a7r3 as my main cameras for wildlife and landscapes respectively. All the photos I posted here were taken with the a9 and the 100-400 GM lens, in fact the sunset photos were taken with the 1.4x teleconverter on the lens. The elephants were really far off. I've used Canon's 500 and 600mm lenses in the past and I am hoping Sony will come up with its own versions although the weight is forbidding.

Don't worry, you will get to the Mara one day, just have to decide you want to go there. SHQ and I went there in 2007 as a gift to ourselves for a slightly belated 25th wedding anniversary. Could not afford it before that. Photography is the only passion I indulge in and She Who Must Be Obeyed allows me to indulge.

Ummeed par hi duniya kayam hai. Life is too short, too unpredictable and you only get one shot at it. Don't postpone what you can do today, that includes work and play. I am simply living the American Dream - work hard, play harder :)

Here is another one from the same trip to Botswana last year. This was taken at ISO 2000, Sony a9 with 100-400 plus TC at 560mm, long after the sun had set, but the glow in the sky persisted behind the elephant rendering him in silhouette. I like this one a lot for its simplicity.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by chetak » Wed Feb 13, 2019 8:49 pm

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How about this for a dramatic image of a Peregrine Falcon!
Bernardo Marraccini.


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SamG
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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by SamG » Sun Feb 24, 2019 2:15 pm

Nice Photo of the Elephant Primus.

Some photos of Aero India 2019 from where I live.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by chetak » Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:12 am

Photo from another air show

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SamG
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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by SamG » Sun Mar 10, 2019 6:38 am

I borrowed the Nikon 500mm f4 lens from a friend. Just tried some test shots with my D300S on the terrace of my home. Few from them. All hand held.

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Primus
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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Primus » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:27 pm

SamG wrote:
Sun Feb 24, 2019 2:15 pm
Nice Photo of the Elephant Primus.

Some photos of Aero India 2019 from where I live.
Great photos Sam. I would have loved to see this. I was in the Air wing of the NCC in my high school days, dreamt of becoming an Air Force pilot someday :)

Not easy to take these kind of shots. Well done.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Primus » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:32 pm

Sam, one of the hardest things to photograph is birds in flight (BIF) and you've done very well with this. You always need a big lens which means the rig becomes heavy and that much harder to hand-hold. Using a tripod means limited mobility, so it is always a compromise. One thing you could try is a 70-200 f2.8 with teleconvertor. It is a much lighter rig, easy to hand-hold and will give you decent results. Nothing can compare with a supertele prime but then you have a much heavier lens to worry about, not to mention the huge cost if you were to buy it yourself. If you are using an APS-C sensor camera, the 70-200 plus 1.5X (for Nikon) becomes a 450mm lens for you at the long end. Another way to go would be to get a 400 f5.6 lens which is much lighter and would be sharper than the zoom with teleconvertor. Again, with your camera it would give you a 600mm reach.

I love birds myself and would really like to see the extensive range of species in India. However, as with anything else, one needs the time and opportunity.

Africa of course is fantastic for birds, especially Eastern areas. In the US too there are places one can go to for special workshops and such. Sadly, I live in a very busy part of suburbia and get a very limited number of species in my backyard. Otherwise if you put up a feeder, you can attract a lot of birds to your own house and then photograph them from a blind.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Primus » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:32 pm

Chetak Ji, that is one amazing photo. Somehow I suspect it is not real though, just my feeling but I may be wrong. There is a lot of composite stuff out there. Nothing wrong as the final image is indeed stunning.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by chetak » Tue Mar 19, 2019 3:06 pm

National Geographic



The frog was perched on a wicker basket when O'Neill finally got the shot.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JULIE-ANNE O'NEILL

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by SamG » Thu Apr 04, 2019 6:16 am

Primus wrote:
Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:32 pm
Sam, one of the hardest things to photograph is birds in flight (BIF) and you've done very well with this. You always need a big lens which means the rig becomes heavy and that much harder to hand-hold. Using a tripod means limited mobility, so it is always a compromise. One thing you could try is a 70-200 f2.8 with teleconvertor. It is a much lighter rig, easy to hand-hold and will give you decent results. Nothing can compare with a supertele prime but then you have a much heavier lens to worry about, not to mention the huge cost if you were to buy it yourself. If you are using an APS-C sensor camera, the 70-200 plus 1.5X (for Nikon) becomes a 450mm lens for you at the long end. Another way to go would be to get a 400 f5.6 lens which is much lighter and would be sharper than the zoom with teleconvertor. Again, with your camera it would give you a 600mm reach.

I love birds myself and would really like to see the extensive range of species in India. However, as with anything else, one needs the time and opportunity.

Africa of course is fantastic for birds, especially Eastern areas. In the US too there are places one can go to for special workshops and such. Sadly, I live in a very busy part of suburbia and get a very limited number of species in my backyard. Otherwise if you put up a feeder, you can attract a lot of birds to your own house and then photograph them from a blind.
Thanks Primus.
2 weeks back I met with an accident and had injured my biceps tendon.Hence could not reply earlier.

Yes, 70-200mm with the TC would make a very handy telephoto lens.But I am not sure how it would handle the 2X atthe longer end.

While I was living in NYC, I had the Nikon 300mm 2.8 AF-S Lens. Paired with the d300s it would produce stunning results. Unfortunately, I had to let go of it there rather than carrying it with me while I moved for good. I used to visit 2 places for birding in NYC i.e, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge & Nickerson Beach. Both had good subjects. Some of the shots from the 300mm with and without the TC's.


Without the TC @ Nickerson Beach,NY

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With TC14EII @ Jamaica Bay East Pond

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With TC20EIII

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Primus
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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Primus » Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:18 pm

SamG wrote:
Thu Apr 04, 2019 6:16 am


Thanks Primus.
2 weeks back I met with an accident and had injured my biceps tendon.Hence could not reply earlier.
Sorry to hear that , it takes at least six weeks to recover from an injury like that. Hope you are feeling better.
Yes, 70-200mm with the TC would make a very handy telephoto lens.But I am not sure how it would handle the 2X atthe longer end.
At 2X any TC starts to lose sharpness which is noticeable if you compare side by side. However it would give you the shot that you may not get otherwise. I take it with me on my trips but rarely use it, preferring the 1.4x and then cropping into the image.

However, your photos above are very nice even with the 2X.
While I was living in NYC, I had the Nikon 300mm 2.8 AF-S Lens. Paired with the d300s it would produce stunning results. Unfortunately, I had to let go of it there rather than carrying it with me while I moved for good. I used to visit 2 places for birding in NYC i.e, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge & Nickerson Beach. Both had good subjects. Some of the shots from the 300mm with and without the TC's.
Very cool images Sam. As I said earlier, BIF is hard to do and you've got a great one of the skimmer. with the above rig, you've got from 450-900mm range with the D300s if I've got my numbers right. At that magnification, hand-holding is very difficult. But you can see, with the TC, there is softening of the bird especially with the cormorants.

What a small world it is. I am only 20 minutes from Nickerson Beach and often go there in the summer when the chicks are hatching. Never been to Jamaica Bay, to get really close you've got to get into the mud I am told. One of these days perhaps.

I had taken my Canon 600 for a shoot there once, here are some pics. Sold that a while ago, so now I have the Sony 100-400. The results are not the same of course, you cannot compare the zoom with a super prime.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by chetak » Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:48 pm

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Apr 16

Thunderstike on palm trees , Lalgola , Murshidabad , West Bengal .. today

Nature in all its glory
( pic collected from Facebook )



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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by rahulraj » Mon Apr 22, 2019 6:10 am

Thanks!
The sky was a little blown, I made it a bit more dramatic to pronounce the sun and yes in the evening, processed it in lighter.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by chetak » Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:10 pm

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Photographer Alan McFadyen estimates that it took him some 4,200 hours and 720,000 exposures before finally capturing this perfect photo of a kingfisher’s riveting dive.

Read about the quest for the perfect shot here: https://wired.trib.al/uv1HVI2
Alan McFadyen



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SamG
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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by SamG » Thu May 16, 2019 5:34 am

just a week before Hurricane Fani struck puri, I had the opportunity to do darshan of Lord Jagganath. Konark being closeby,did a quick trip. Amazing architecture. Just to think about the intricate craftsmanship of that period with limited resources is so humbling.
The weather was close to 40degrees and very humid too.Could not really get any good photographic opportunities other than these.

D300s + 18-200mm

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Shakuni » Tue May 21, 2019 2:02 pm

Wow, amazing detail! Wouldn't have thought the kit lens would bring in such sharpness.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by lekhraj » Fri Jun 28, 2019 7:22 am

I am doing bird photography with D500 and Nikkor 200-500 lens. Earlier this year, I met with an accident and now cannot hold this gear handheld. Should I go for Aluminium or Carbon Fiber for tripod. Please suggest me which Tripod and Gimbal head for this setup that are available in India.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Primus » Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:59 am

lekhraj wrote:
Fri Jun 28, 2019 7:22 am
I am doing bird photography with D500 and Nikkor 200-500 lens. Earlier this year, I met with an accident and now cannot hold this gear handheld. Should I go for Aluminium or Carbon Fiber for tripod. Please suggest me which Tripod and Gimbal head for this setup that are available in India.
Sorry to read this.

The best and lightest tripods are carbon fiber IMHO. I have both the Gitzo and Really Right Stuff ones, the latter is better and slightly lighter.

I've used all kinds of heads, and if you are seriously into birding and want to do birds in flight, then a gimbal type head is probably essential. The standard ball-head is not going to work very well. The options then are the classic Wimberley (or one of its clones), or two other new heads which both work as ball-heads or gimbal depending upon how you want to use them. These are really amazing because they eliminate the need to have two different types.

One has been around for a little while and is the Uniqball which comes in two sizes, I have the smaller one and it is quite adequate for your needs.

https://uniqball.eu/

The other is a very new product that just came out a few weeks ago and is the flexshooter

https://ballhead.com/

Both these products are what are called 'double-ball heads'. They serve not only as leveling heads for landscape photography but also as gimbals for rapid movement as in BIF photography. Flexshooter has an additional accessory which allows you to mount two camera systems side by side, it is called the Twinshooter. A buddy of mine bought this recently and is blown away by how great it is.

In direct comparison with my Wimberley gimbal, I can tell you that the Uniqball is just as easy to use and lighter, less expensive overall. The Flexshooter apparently is even better according to my friend (who too has used all the others).

I don't know about availability in India, that may be the issue.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by lekhraj » Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:10 pm

Thank you Primus for your inputs. Let me try to find if above is available in India.

Considering the weight of the Camera + Lens, is it ok to use lighter Carbon fiber or should I go for Aluminium for getting more stability?

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Primus » Sat Jun 29, 2019 11:26 am

lekhraj wrote:
Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:10 pm
Thank you Primus for your inputs. Let me try to find if above is available in India.

Considering the weight of the Camera + Lens, is it ok to use lighter Carbon fiber or should I go for Aluminium for getting more stability?
Carbon fiber tripods are just as sturdy. You can put 50-60 lbs on them (the bigger models). However, the very light tripods (any material) do not provide a steady platform if it is very windy. You can check online for the specs regarding what is the best in terms of weight tolerance.

Your D500 plus 200-500 comes in at about 7 lbs, i.e. 3.25 kg or so. If you are only using a tripod to 'steady' your camera and take the burden off your own arms then any tripod, perhaps even a monopod would serve equally well. However, if you plan to put the camera and lens on the tripod for long exposures or landscape photography then a very light tripod would not be the best choice.

A good monopod could also work depending on various factors. The advantage is less weight, less space (you won't be kicking people in the legs around you if space is cramped, as in a vehicle) and easy portability. Disadvantage of course being that you cannot leave the camera on it unattended.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Primus » Sat Jun 29, 2019 11:29 am

Shakuni wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 2:02 pm
Wow, amazing detail! Wouldn't have thought the kit lens would bring in such sharpness.

Yes, very sharp images. Great work Sam. Thanks for sharing.

The big advantage of B&W conversion is you can sharpen them beyond what you could with color. So even if the lens does not resolve such detail, post-processing allows a lot of it to be brought out. In fact most DSLRs have an anti-aliasing filter in front of the sensor which actually reduces sharpness somewhat and thus most images have a lot of latitude if you shoot RAW.

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by chetak » Sun Jul 07, 2019 5:53 am

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This is what an erupting volcano looks like from space



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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by Muns » Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:30 pm

Chetak, would like to know which Volcano is this....any links...some interest in geology....

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Re: Camera and Photography Thread

Post by SamG » Sat Jul 20, 2019 7:03 am

Thanks Shakuni and Primus.
The joys of shooting RAW.....

Here's one taken in Kabini. Processed in NIK Silver efex and put a solar flare, :)


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