After the cosplay shoot I settled back to the normal stuff. Going out at sunrise on a Saturday to a nearby nature place I had been to before.
Looking back over the images it seems I was beginning to experiment with the sharpness of the lens. Setting it to F8 Aperture priority and keeping the focal length to around 400mm. I also learned about focus adjustments and did a homemade test of my lens. Using a lego baseplate and a lot of minifigs all space differently so I could fine tune the focusing for this lens to the body.
Although I couldn’t get as close with the zoom, the images did come out a little better. I also implemented the 1-1 ratio. Shooting on a crop body at 400mm I tired to not go below 640. So I could eliminate motion blur.
Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @ 375 - 1/400 Sec - F8 - ISO 3200
First thing I saw was a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher on a branch in a pine tree.
Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 160
I also spotted a Blue Jay in the top of this tree that I focused on and waited for it to move. Hoping to get a nice image with the wings all spread out, but I would need a faster shutter speed for that.
Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 250
There was also a hawk circling and flying up the thermals. On this cropped in image you can see what I mean about not getting detail when they are too far away. But also shooting directly up into the sky is really difficult to actually get some details, the sun tends to overpower.
Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/500 Sec - F8 - ISO 1250
Another, if not the same, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher.
Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 800
Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 640
And then we get to this beauty. I had yet to see one of these before, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Another to add to the collection. Really that’s what the goal became, trying to “catch” them all. Spotting them in the wild, getting a good picture. Identifying them when I got home. It’s fun.
I also tried to get an image of this one in flight, but again I would need a faster shutter speed for that. One day I’d learn about the custom modes I could set, and how I could quick switch between them to give me different set ups for different pictures at the speed of a dial turn.
Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 640
Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/640 sec - F8 - ISO 640
Lastly we have a Northern Cardinal beginning it’s molting for the winter ahead.