New guy on the block - first post

[DLeeT]

Hello: I have been viewing here for a while and seems to be a very friendly and TALENTED group. I'm humbled by some of the incredible shots on this forum. I'm new to wildlife photography so consider me a beginner. C & C is always welcome. Thanks for viewing! Lee

 

[NancyMoranG]

Welcome! You are right about the talented photog's here! I have learned a bunch as a newbie.
you have some great shots, that deer is outstanding!
Nancy

 

[dxqcanada]

Pretty good.
I suspect that you pushed the cropping on #1 and #3 ?
Some excessive processing on #1 is showing up in the image.
Your lens can only do so much, this is why wildlife photographers spend sooooo much on their lenses ... cheaper to be a landscape or portrait photographer.

 

[pixmedic]

Pretty good.
I suspect that you pushed the cropping on #1 and #3 ?
Some excessive processing on #1 is showing up in the image.
Your lens can only do so much, this is why wildlife photographers spend sooooo much on their lenses ... cheaper to be a landscape or portrait photographer.

yup. all i need is my 50mm and 85mm for headshots.

#4 is the best in my opinion. #2 is nice as well.
#1 and #3 are way overprocessed. maybe oversharpened or overcropped?

also.....welcome to the site!

 

[MSnowy]

Welcome. Nice set

 

[wackii]

What others said. I would also crop out the last bird of the last image. It doesn't look right to have the bird's head chopped off. Also, on the processing of the last pix, you seemed to have too much blue... You can see on the middle bird, the head/legs are kinda blue-ish.

Edit: Never mind about cropping. I just did not have my browser at full screen so it looks like the head got cropped out. Opps.

 

[BobaPhil]

Hello and welcome...Great first set to share.

 

[DLeeT]

Pretty good.
I suspect that you pushed the cropping on #1 and #3 ?
Some excessive processing on #1 is showing up in the image.
Your lens can only do so much, this is why wildlife photographers spend sooooo much on their lenses ... cheaper to be a landscape or portrait photographer.

yup. all i need is my 50mm and 85mm for headshots.

#4 is the best in my opinion. #2 is nice as well.
#1 and #3 are way overprocessed. maybe oversharpened or overcropped?

also.....welcome to the site!

Many thanks! to you and all the others for the comments. There is no doubt I like high contrast/vivid shots to the point I tend to overdo it PP. I need to look over my own shoulder and tell myself "too much!" at times. And alas... lenses -- being new I just don't know how far I am going with it so don't want to spend too many bucks yet. The present kit is adequate if I can get close enough -- but isn't that the lament of every "critter shooter!" (The shot of the Sandhill Cranes in flight was taken with a Canon FD 300 mm MF.)

Again, thanks to all -- a very nice forum indeed. Lee

 

[BillM]

Welcome Lee, I'm still waiting to see my first Pileated.

 

[Sistabelle]

I think these are great! Much sharper than others I have seen. What type of lens did you use?

 

[DLeeT]

Thank you, Sistabelle. By the way, welcome to the Forum -- I'm a new guy too.

The shots were taken with a Sony NEX-6/SEL 55-210/DH1758 TC. It results in a 35 EQ of 535 mm. The nice thing about this kit is it is light -- around 2 pounds -- relatively small, and comparatively inexpensive. But I like to hike sometimes with the kit so the size and weight are great for that --and I hate tripods, so always handhold. Also, I'm just a duffer! The downside is it can't achieve the sharpness nor the IQ of the Canon and Nikon DSLRs with quality lenses.

You can see some additional shots taken with the kit on my "Sandhill Crane" post.

As an aside, one of the disadvantages of the ILMC cameras has been their comparatively slowness of the AF. Here is a snip on the NEX-6 replacement, the new A6000:

"Where the NEX-6 had 99 phase-detect points covering approximately 50% of the sensor, the a6000 has 179, with 92% coverage. This, combined with the new Bionz X processor, allows the camera to shoot continuously at 11 fps with subject tracking, according to Sony. The company also claims that the a6000 has the fastest AF performance on the market, though those statements should always be taken with a grain of salt."

It has a 24 MP sensor. At a price of around 650 USD! Needless to say, it has the Song gang's attention. Lee

Here is the present kit:

 

[HL45]

Sharp setup! Nice photos too!