The Wildlife Photography Thread

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These aren't that great but it was one of the first times I used my new (at the time) 70-200 lens. Probably would have been better if I knew what I know now back then. The last one is my favorites tho. The fish are Kokanee.
 
Looks good Riverrunner. I think the 70-200 focus looks good, but shutter speed could go up. I shoot minimum 1/1000th, and in good light will get 1/1600 or better. It really helped my BIF shots when I upper the shutter speed.
 
I agree with Andy... Higher shutter speeds. I shoot aperture priority, spot focus, and usually wide open for any lens f4 or slower. I also shoot continuous high, in bursts of 3-4 images.

Where were the eagle shots taken? Looks like either Detroit Lake, or maybe Merwin...

American Wigeon - Ridgefield, Washington

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Those were taken up at Green Peter Res. We usually spend a few days a year up there camping on the boat and fishing.

Just goes to show how much of a hack I am... ;) I was disappointed that I didn't have the shutter speed right. Thanks for the advice guys I really appreciate it.

Rich
 
Rich, When using aperture priority, you can use ISO to keep the shutter speed up. I' don't know what body your shooting, but with most, you can go up to ISO 800 without introducing too much noise. Best is always the native ISO, but it takes good light to use it. Noise reduction software can mitigate some of problems.
 
Those photo's were taken with a Canon 40D and 70-200 f4 L. I have since upgraded a step to a 50D. I typically set my shutter speed (shutter priority?), ISO around 100 - 400 depending on the light, and let the camera do the aperture. In my experimenting, I get much better results this way. But again I'm far from an expert. The 40D got pretty noisy at 800 ISO but the 50D is better. What I'm hearing is I need to get outside more, work with my gear, and step outside my box. The lighting was pretty good I just goofed on the shutter and was lucky I got the few ok ones I did. Heck, I'm just now using a tripod!

Anyway back to posting photos! Thanks again. :)
 
Nice silhouettes, Park!

Riverrunner: You are on the right path. I love the 70-200 f4, and swear I can recognize the wonderful color and pop of that lens.
My custom setting: C1 on my 7D is 1/1000s, f5.6 (max for my 400mm), and iso 400. If I can kick up the shutter speed in good light, I do it with the control wheel right by the shutter button.

Your 50D has options for C1 and C2. Just figure out your best wildlife/birding settings and set them up, then use the menu to 'register the settings'. Voila! A quick twist of the knob and you are dialed in. I find this to be pretty handy when an opportunity presents itself and I have a short amount of time to react.
 
I've got two nice close-ups below. Admittedly, I'm cheating a bit, as they are being held by Hawk Watch International Staff after banding on Bonnie Butte, SE of Mt. Hood in Oregon. Hawk Watch has been counting migratory birds of prey on Mt. Hood for 20 years. They set up on the Butte 6 miles SE of Mt. Hood in late August and stay until late October or so. Counts can range from 2,500 up to 4,500 birds across 18 species. They also net and band a percentage each year. My wife and I have been going up for years, as it's also a good opportunity for some fall camping before the snow flies. A nice primitive campground is near by and the views from Bonnie Butte are great. The road is a bit rough, not recommended for trailers, but not a problem for any vehicle with good clearance, particularly if it's dry. First one is a Red Tail, followed by a Coopers Hawk.

When the public is on hand, they sometimes bring the birds they recently banded down the ridge from the banding station for viewing just before release. It's very educational, particularly for kids, to see these beautiful creatures up close before being released back to the wild.

Hawk Watch runs a similar migratory bird count on Goshutes Mountain in Nevada that can yield even higher volumes of birds.
 

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Here are a few more...but I'm going back when I first got my DSLR. There were shot with a 40D and 55-250mm.

The cool things that one see's while fishing....

Osprey...

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Cedar Waxwing...

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Coons!

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Lighthawk said:
Nice silhouettes, Park!

Riverrunner: You are on the right path. I love the 70-200 f4, and swear I can recognize the wonderful color and pop of that lens.
My custom setting: C1 on my 7D is 1/1000s, f5.6 (max for my 400mm), and iso 400. If I can kick up the shutter speed in good light, I do it with the control wheel right by the shutter button.

Your 50D has options for C1 and C2. Just figure out your best wildlife/birding settings and set them up, then use the menu to 'register the settings'. Voila! A quick twist of the knob and you are dialed in. I find this to be pretty handy when an opportunity presents itself and I have a short amount of time to react.
Click to expand...
Yes I love that 70-200! I wish all of my lenses would take photo's like that one! I'll look into using those presets too. Lots too learn! :)
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]Any of you are interested in going to Winnemucca Nevada, every year they have “Shooting The West” photography symposium that I have attended for years. Attached is a link to their web page for more information. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]http://www.shootingthewest.org/http://www.shootingthewest.org/[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Been busy with catching up here and looking forward to adding a couple images when time allows.[/SIZE]
 
Nice, nice image of the raven! I like corvids as well, they are so blasted intelligent.

Here's a link to a shot, and a shameless plug that I posted on ExPo. The plug is for Oregon Water Watch, a conservation group that works to preserve in-stream water flows for all parties, including consumptive users, recreational users and wildlife. For any of you folks that like to fish, or that farm and need water, Oregon Water Watch is a balanced environmental group to work with.

Here's another image of ravens appearing to show affection for one another. It was truly a romantic setting. There had been a windstorm at Furnace Creek, and the lids on all the dumpsters were blown open. Our two canoodling corvids perched on the edge after finishing their fine dining experience, then began to preen one another. Humor aside, it was really interesting to watch their behavior.

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ski3pin said:
Very nice shot of the 'ote, Mr. Sage! We were serenaded Saturday evening.
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Thank you sir! Nothing like the serenade of a song dog to help one sleep.

This is a bit of a sad photo for me. This is Sally (All the female coyotes at Ridgefield NWR are named Sally), and this past year, the refuge brought in a small herd of Columbian white-tailed deer. In order to boost survival rates of the deer, they shot thirteen or fourteen of the coyotes that we had been following for years. I usually agree with a lot of the decisions that the refuge management have made over the years, but this did not seem wise.
 
"This is a bit of a sad photo for me. "

To quote the Chili Peppers (amazing they were part of the SB halftime show today),

True Men don't kill coyotes!
 
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