Cooped up inside working - 10/9/19

I was getting restless during work hours. I wanted to go outside. I was listening to bird watching videos, photography podcasts. Doing online classes to learn composition and lighting techniques. I was all in at this point, and yet still confined to a 40 hour a week post. Even though I feel a little guilty complaining since I did get to work from home.

Can you tell I’m writing this on the 28th of May 2020, the morning I’m having to begin remote working again since the company I work for has opened back up, and my unemployment won’t be continuing.

At least back in October my solution was to open the blinds around me and have a camera right nearby for when a bird would appear. Shooting through the windows isn’t ideal, and they aren’t the cleanest. But I can’t do anything for the outside of them, I’m not on the first floor.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @428 - 1/250 Sec - F8 - ISO 2000

I was really excited to spot this female Downey Woodpecker. Shame I couldn’t get a good profile shot.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @428 - 1/250 Sec - F7.1 - ISO 1250

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 3200

Little fuzzy, auto focus on the Tamron isn’t the best I’ve used. But a Brown Thrasher made an appearance.

Blue Jay is also a common bird I see around the complex. I managed to capture a few moments from some of them.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @500 - 1/250 Sec - F8 - ISO 1250

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 3200

A pair of them found something interesting at the base of this tree.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @428 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 2500

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @428 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 2500

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @428 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 2500

Not too much else to tell. Just something to break up the day and a chance to use my camera. Always a good thing.

Upgrading to the L series - 9/26/19

Towards the end of September 2019 I was feeling more confident with photography. I was finding what I liked and learning how to do it better. By this point I had felt the pull of seriousness about this hobby and kept coming back to it. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts I have had a habit for most of my life for diving in head over heels to a hobby or project and either not finishing, or getting distracted and never coming back to it.

Photography was different, no matter how much I went out to take pictures I found myself wanting more. I never got bored with it, even when it can be quite boring itself. Like waiting for hours to get a shot of wildlife. But the results were getting better and it was encouraging me to keep going. Which of course leads to more spending. I wanted to try macro photography, I wanted to replace the mid range telephoto I had given to my dad, a cheap canon 75-300. And I really wanted a wide angle that wouldn’t creep when I held it downward.

So on the 21st of September after many weeks of watching prices, adding up the totals, putting things into a cart and comparing the total to my bank account. I finally pulled the trigger on several purchases, and this time some were the L series. Which is top quality Canon lenses.

For the wide angle I wanted to get the 24-70 F2.8 L. Because my brother has one and was telling me all about it. But the price for one of those, even used as I buy all my gear, is quite a bit. More than double the price of the 24-105 F4 L. Which I picked up a great condition one for $452.

For macro, although I did want to get another L series I just couldn’t justify that and the other lenses I purchased. I went with a Tamron 180mm for $278 the first time. Because I had to return it and get another as the buyer sent a Nikon version. The actual Canon EF version was only 10 bucks more.

And then finally to replace my mid range telephoto and because I desperately wanted that 2.8 aperture, I purchased a Canon 70-200 F2.8 L. Just the first version, no image stabilizer unfortunately. But even without that it cost me a pretty penny, $825.99 pretty pennies to be exact.

I also picked up some cheap filters for all of the above lenses, as I am quite afraid of going out without a lens. If anything happens and I scratch the lens I want a filter to go first. Alongside these filters I picked up a new flash. I had enough of trying to balance that 15 foot cable for an off camera flash. I wanted wireless. So the Godox TT600 and a Godox X1T wireless control got added to the purchase.

Armed with all of these new toys I started putting them through the paces. The flash and macro combination was tricky at first. Handholding is extremely difficult as it turned out. To eliminate the shake I would need to raise the shutter speed but now I had a problem with the flash sync. Too high and you get an image like this.

Canon 5D Mark II w/Tamron 180mm - 1/400 Sec - F3.5 - ISO 2500

So if I’m to take a macro photo inside, where the light is only going to be good enough with a flash. I would need a stable tripod, adding more to the complexity. Thankfully I already have that gimbal head, which is so much easier to use than the ball head the tripod came with.

Let’s take another shot at some macro, with a different subject. A ring that my significant other gave me from one of my favorite book series and author.

Canon 5D Mark II w/Tamron 180mm - 1/25 Sec - F3.5 - ISO 3200

A much better subject, but the plain for focus is just so small. How do people get so close to a subject and still get the entire subject in focus? Would have been my thoughts back in September. Eventually I would learn about focus stacking. But not on this day. Instead I turned to something more flat that I could shoot with more of just one dimension.

Canon 5D Mark II w/Tamron 180mm - 1/200 Sec - F3.5 - ISO 3200

How about some really close up peppercorns inside the grinder? Yeah that’s cooler, still couldn’t do a great job with getting them all in focus. But closing that aperture would really cut down on the light I could get, and my ISO was already cranked up. Or again, shutter speed. This one was a bit faster since I was just playing around in the kitchen without the tripod.

After this it was time to head outside, for the biggest light source we have.

Canon 5D Mark II w/24-105 @24 - 1/400 Sec - F8 - ISO 800

This tree caught my eye, and looking closer I found something pretty neat.

Canon 5D Mark II w/24-105mm @95 - 1/400 Sec - F8 - ISO 800

Little seeds inside these pods, which you can see through when the sun hits them just right.

I also managed to find these little… berries? Some research leads me to believe this is the Callicarpa.

Canon 5D Mark II w/70-200mm @200 - 1/200 Sec - F2.8 - ISO 640

Then as the sun started to set, I popped on the flash and played around with it and the macro lens for a bit. Really had some fun by putting a colored gel on the flash, red to be exact.

Canon 5D Mark II w/Tamron 180mm - 1/125 Sec - F4 - ISO 1000

It’s wild to take a photo with that kind of setup and see the color change entirely. This dried up flower was mostly yellow, I am wishing now I took one without the flash for comparison.

Canon 5D Mark II w/Tamron 180mm - 1/200 Sec - F4 - ISO 1000

That was enough for one day, plus I was just about entirely out of light. Time to head home, backup all the photos and get to editing.

The Big and the Small - 9/14/19

On Saturday the 14th of September 2019, my girlfriend and I went out to find a new spot to photograph. We tried a few places, but really nothing good. One place was next to water, a big lake. Probably Lake Lanier since that’s the big lake around here. But there were plenty of people there launching boats and it wasn’t really what I was looking for.

That being said, on the walk around we did hear a woodpecker. And between the both of us, aided with new cheap binoculars we picked up during this outing, we spotted it and I managed to snag a photo.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @428 - 1/800 Sec - F8 - ISO 2500

Not the best since it was facing away from me, but you can tell what it was. And it was the first woodpecker I’d taken a photo of. Good enough.

Eventually we ended up far up north and bored that we contacted one of my sisters that lives up there. And decided to hang out for the day while her car was getting worked on. As we drove up to her house I caught a flash of a HUGE bird gliding around, bigger than any I’d seen before. As soon as we parked I made haste to grab the camera out of the back and run up the road to get pictures while I could. Vultures, I’m fairly confident.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @500 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 160

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @500 - 1/640 Sec - F8 - ISO 125

Turkey Vulture is what I identified them to be later on. Again not very good photos, it had really clouded up as the day went on. Also getting a bird in flight is really difficult to expose for on the fly…. heh… on the fly.
Anyway.

We played Pokemon, wandered around for a while. Eventually went to the nearby botanical garden. They had a lot of cool nature art. But also a rule about commercial photography, which I’m not 100% sure what would count as. If I was selling photos of their work, sure that makes sense. Not allowed. But just being posted on a website where you could buy a print from, technically? Again. Not sure, not willing to take a risk. Also they aren’t all that interesting to be fair.

So the big lens stayed in the car, and I took pictures just for fun.

Until we witnessed the circle of life right before us.

A hawk had flown in to the trees towards the back end of the garden. All I had on me was the full frame with a wide angle lens, but I went over to see what pictures I could get anyway. As I got to the end of the walking path the hawk moved. Gliding through the woods to a big pile of leaves up in the tree.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @135 - 1/125 sec - F5.6 - ISO 160

Man the noises we heard. Pissed off squirrels, birds raising hell about the attack. Seemed like everything in the area was making some noise to try and warn every other creature around. The hawk continued to attack, using it’s wings to keep balance while it pinched and thrashed with claws. I didn’t know what kind of nest it was attacking at first. But would soon find out.

I had my girlfriend run back to the car and get the big lens, thinking she could go around the side of the front entrance building since we were next to the service road they used. I didn’t want to miss this.

She got back just in time, as the hawk had gotten it’s prize from the attack and moved off to another branch to dig in.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @350 - 1/800 Sec - F6.3 - ISO 3200

Didn’t expect to see the guts of a squirrel that day. But damn it was amazing to watch.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @400 - 1/320 Sec - F8 - ISO 3200

A Red Tailed Hawk, I would later identify. Although looking at the image, no duh. His tail is red, not so much the shoulders as I had seen before.

I was happy, sad that the squirrel had to go. But as I mentioned, circle of life.

But we aren’t done yet, on the way away from the hawk was a path up above an amphitheater, with plenty of flowers along the walk. Now we turn our attention to a subject much smaller than the hawk. One I had only recently photographed for the first time, and poorly. But now was an opportunity for another chance.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @350 - 1/1600 Sec - F6.3 - ISO 500

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @350 - 1/1600 Sec - F6.3 - ISO 500

The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, several of them too. All females that I was able to get a picture of. Since they don’t have the obviously named ruby throat.

They are so quick, that sounds obvious to anyone that’s ever seen a hummingbird. But to try and get one in the sights of a big lens, attached to a body with a crop factor you really have to be quick about aiming. And predicting where they would go next. I honestly don’t remember if I was handholding or using the tripod like a monopod. I don’t remember what I was brought when we were watching the hawk.

All I know is these next photos are something I’ll be proud of for the rest of my life. The little girl almost looks like she’s smiling.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @ 600 - 1/800 Sec - F11 - ISO 2000

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @ 600 - 1/800 Sec - F11 - ISO 2500

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @ 600 - 1/800 Sec - F11 - ISO 2500

This next one is one of the first ones I took when I found out what was buzzing about so quickly. But it’s absolutely my favorite of the day. Having the shutter speed cranked up so much I could capture a relatively frozen moment with this bird.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @300 - 1/1600 Sec - F6.3 - ISO 200

Phew. Yup, that cemented the day as it couldn’t be better. Got to witness so much that wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t just go outside. All of it spontaneous.

As we left and went to the car there was still one more thing for me to take a picture of, and there’s no way for me to know that it’s the same bird. But a hawk was gliding above around on the thermals, and I finally got a picture of a bird in flight almost directly above me, and have the colors turn out good.

Canon 7D w/Tamron 150-600mm @300 - 1/1600 Sec - F5.6 - ISO 160