Bateleur Eagle (Terathopius ecaudatus)

[BioLogic]

My husband (Sabbath999) and I went to the St. Louis Zoo yesterday, and I decided to post a few of my shots. I am the "other" photographer for our website "www.zoopictures.net".

I was shooting our Tamron 70-300 LD DI lens for a change of pace from my usual 18-200 VR, since we have over 1,000 pictures of this zoo online already I was just looking to enjoy the warm February day out and play with a different setup.

The weather was warm but it was extremely cloudy and dark.

EXIF: D80, 70-300 Tamron, 1/320s f/5.6 ISO800 300mm (35mm eq:450mm)

 

[sambrody44]

Very cool looking bird. Great shot.

 

[Antarctican]

Heyyy, welcome to TPF!!

Love this pic...soooo many subtle shades of colour in its beak area. And you got such nice detail of the black on black feathers. I look forward to seeing more of your posts!

 

[Winston Deckard]

That's an amazing picture! I'm very impressed with the sharp details and different black tones you got.

Is this the usual image quality you get with the Tamron 70-300 at 300mm? Do you often find it usable at this focal lenght in low light conditions?

 

[sabbath999]

That's an amazing picture! I'm very impressed with the sharp details and different black tones you got.

Is this the usual image quality you get with the Tamron 70-300 at 300mm? Do you often find it usable at this focal lenght in low light conditions?

FROM BIOLOGIC:

This was the first day I've used this lens extensively. What I can tell you is that I had a lot more soft shots than I'm used to on cloudy days (I usually use the Nikon 18-200 VR). The forecast called for sun; if we'd have known I'd have been using a faster lens and Sabbath wouldn't have been trying a point and shoot.

 

[TwoRails]

Nice portrait.

 

[Winston Deckard]

FROM BIOLOGIC:

This was the first day I've used this lens extensively. What I can tell you is that I had a lot more soft shots than I'm used to on cloudy days (I usually use the Nikon 18-200 VR). The forecast called for sun; if we'd have known I'd have been using a faster lens and Sabbath wouldn't have been trying a point and shoot.

Thanks for your info. I'm currently considering purchasing a tele zoom (something in the 70-200 or 70-300mm range) but I still can't decide which one and specially if it should have image stabilisation or not. I would like to be able to use it in low light conditions so I guess I should be looking at stabilised lenses.

Anyway, that photo is amazing, specially in not so favourable light conditions!