1st Experience with Wildlife

mwgpe

TPF Noob!
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
Location
Pa
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
I am definitely not equipped or prepared to take wildlife photographs....

...but I looked out my back window this morning and found a Peregrine Falcon sitting on my kid's swingset.

In a panic I ran and found my camera and ran outside shooting away. My lens only zooms to 135mm and the falcon didn't let me get too close before flying away.

Here is one of the shots (reduced 50% for file size limitations):
falcon50122310.jpg


Using the full size image, I cropped down to this:
falconfront122310.jpg


Another shot, cropped, as I got closer and he was getting ready to fly away:
falconback122310.jpg


Everything happened so quick and I am still learning the camera....my in-flight photos are terrible, the falcon flew away from me so he got even smaller and he was also blurry in several of them....I did not have the proper settings on the camera for action.
 
Not bad for an unexpected shot.

You are limited by your lens on this one. These types of shots are hard to take your time to get right from technical aspects, because animals don't tend to hold still. If you end up getting a longer lens, just hang out waiting for him to come back :)
 
Thanks for the comments!

He came back today, again. Mentally, I was a 'little' more prepared. I set the exposure to to 1/2000 sec for when he took off....and he obliged me with a good pose.

Sitting in his typical perch:
falcon2122410.jpg


In flight, going after some birds that caught his eye:
falcon122410.jpg
 
You need a lot less dof.


Restomage,

I agree about the DOF...but I assume that it could not be pulled off in this case. The flight image is cropped down from a similar image to my fist post. I do not have a telephoto.

Any recommendations for modifying the DOF, if he comes back again? Would shooting in RAW help? I could always modify the image in Photoshop, I guess.
 
The only way to get less depth of field from one single working point you have to widen your aperture (ie use a smaller f number). Shooting in RAW won't let you adjust the depth of field and whilst you can apply blurring and sharpening selectivly in editing unless you spend a very long time over it and know what you're doing its going to look very fake.
 
135mm is telephoto... Second ones look way better though.
 
The only way to get less depth of field from one single working point you have to widen your aperture (ie use a smaller f number). Shooting in RAW won't let you adjust the depth of field and whilst you can apply blurring and sharpening selectivly in editing unless you spend a very long time over it and know what you're doing its going to look very fake.

But if you look at the larger image (first photo in this thread) would a smaller f-stop really blur anything? I would guess that the trees and falcon are pretty much at the same depth. I am just asking to try and learn more. Thanks


135mm is telephoto... Second ones look way better though.

Yes, sorry. In my haste I meant to say "hi-power" telephoto for shooting wildlife. Which I assume would help with the depth of field issues mentioned above.


As a side note, I am on a lucky streak...had 9 wild turkeys and a fox in my back yard today. I only wish I had the equipment and know-how to get good photos of them!!

Again, this suffers from a lot of issues. It was getting late in the day and I couldn't get too close. I only used P mode, which was probably a mistake:
fox2122710.jpg
 
Good job working with what you have. You will soon become a wildlife photography addict!

BTW, I don't think this is a peregrine. I'm leaning towards broad winged hawk, but I'm no expert either.
 
BTW, I don't think this is a peregrine. I'm leaning towards broad winged hawk, but I'm no expert either.


I would agree that it is not a Peregrine. I will admit that I don't know what it actually is, but it definitely not a Peregrine.
 
Good job working with what you have. You will soon become a wildlife photography addict!

BTW, I don't think this is a peregrine. I'm leaning towards broad winged hawk, but I'm no expert either.

Yea, I just searched google and it appears to be either a Broad-wing hawk or Cooper Hawk? My brother-in-law led me down the wrong path, LOL.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top