The Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II in Low Light/What Is It?

This Great Blue Heron was photographed at Anhinga Trail with the hand held Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops as framed: 1/500 sec. at f/2.8. 61-point/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II in Low Light

I set out each morning at Anhinga Trail with the 600 II on my shoulder on a tripod with a 1D X mounted to it and both the 70-200 f/2.8L & the 24-105mm in my vest. In my left hand I held the 300 f/2.8L IS lens with a 1D X on it. When I came upon a situation that I wanted to photograph, I placed the vest on the asphalt walkway or the boardwalk and went with either the 600 II or the 300 II. I was photographing this Great Blue Heron with the hand held 300 II on a very foggy morning. I was sitting low shooting under the small wooden railing that abuts Taylor Slough. In the low light and fog it only made sense to go without the 1.4X TC and get as close as possible. I started off adding a bit too much light and cut back to +1 1/3 after noting some blinkies on the bird’s crown.

I missed the strike but created a long series of images of the bird with its breakfast. After he attempted and failed to swallow the prey item the bird dropped it on the ground and started over. Eventually, he was successful.

This Great Blue Heron was photographed at Anhinga Trail with the hand held Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops as framed: 1/320 sec. at f/3.2. 61-point/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

What Is It?

If anyone has a clue as to what the prey item is, please leave a comment. If you know for sure, that would work well too. I am thinking that it is not a fish. And that possibly it is an amphibian, some the larval stage of a salamander species….

Questions

If you have any questions on my choice of aperture or on the exposure settings, or anything else for that matter, fire away.

MP4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos

See and hear me at work in Photoshop in these great MP4 instructional videos. Cheap! You can see them all and learn more here and learn about our latest offering here.

Southwest Florida IPT $600 Late Registration Discount!

If you would like to join us on the Southwest Florida IPT (see below) please call Jim on Monday at 863-692-0906 to register or shoot me an e-mail to save one of the two availble spots for you. Or contact me via e-mail for a pro-rated quote if you can make only part of this great IPT.

SW FLA IPT. FEB 16-21, 2013. Introductory slide program: 7pm on 2/15. 6-FULL DAYS: $2999. Co-leaders: Denise Ippolito and Robert Amoruso. Limit: 10/Openings 2 due to two late cancellations

Payment in full is due now

This is my bread and butter IPT; learn the basics and the advanced fine points from the best; escape winter’s icy grip and enjoy tons of tame birds! Subjects will include nesting Great Blue Heron and Great Egret, Mottled Duck, Brown and White Pelican at point-blank range, Snowy & Reddish Egret, Tricolored Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Osprey, wintering shorebirds and plovers, gulls and terns, & Burrowing Owl. All ridiculously tame. Roseate Spoonbill, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, American Oystercatcher, and who knows what are possible.

Click here to learn more about this IPT.

Typos

On all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

And from the BAA On-line Store:

LensCoats. I have a LensCoat on each of my big lenses to protect them from nicks and thus increase their re-sales value. All my big lens LensCoat stuff is in Hardwood Snow pattern.
LegCoat Tripod Leg Covers. I have four tripods active and each has a Hardwood Snow LegCoat on it to help prevent further damage to my tender shoulders 🙂 And you will love them in mega-cold weather....
Gizo GT3532 LS CF Tripod. This one replaces the GT3530LS Tripod and will last you a lifetime. Learn more about this great tripod here.
Mongoose M3.6 Tripod Head. Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head.
Double Bubble Level. You will find one in my camera's hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
The Lens Align Mark II. I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip. Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial here.
BreezeBrowser. I do not see how any digital photographer can exist without this program.
Delkin Flash Cards. I use and depend on Delkin compact Flash Cards and card readers most every day. Learn more about their great 700X and 1000X cards here or about my favorite Delkin card here.