200-400 Hand Holding Tips & Techniques

The Streak Continues

I enjoyed another great weekend at Gatorland with my Saturday group of 5 and with Lynn Dolson staying on for Sunday morning when we were joined by the very pleasant Don Jones of Apopka, FL. Lynn became comfortable getting the right exposure using Manual mode and with moving her AF sensor around to create pleasing images. Don learned a ton too; his biggest lesson: frame looser. Thanks to all who attended.

This post marks 129 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took about 2 1/2 hours to assemble. Enjoy!

This image was created at Gatorland on Saturday April 5, 2014 at 4:38pm on a clear afternoon in direct sunlight. I hand held the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the internal TC engaged at 490mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/1600 sec. at f/6.3 in Av mode. AWB. Three sensors up from the central Sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF directly on the bird’s eye as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. Practicing so that you are able to change AF sensors almost instantly is an important skill to work on. Learn everything there is to know about the 1D X and 5D III AF systems including how to manage the various AF Area Selection Modes, when to use which one, and several ways to move the AF sensor around in my 1D X AF Guide and the 5D Mark III User’s Guide. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. . Image #1: Wood Stork Head and Face Detail.

Unmatched Versatility

That the versatility of the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender is–as you can see by looking at the images above and below, each made from virtually the same spot–unmatched is not open to debate. Dierdre, Lynn, and I had just arrived and gotten our gear set up when some kids began tossing some gator food-pellets into the water. This in turn attracted not only a flock of small gators but some birds as well. Wood Storks rarely sit on the boardwalk railings, but this one pictured here was hungry for a pellet. I grabbed my 200-400 and went to work opting to hand hold so that I could frame accurately and react quickly.

First, I went to vertical for the tight face portrait. And rotated the tripod collar; see below for details on that. Then, just as the Wood Stork opened it’s bill and kept it open–I did not hear any laughing, the Great Egret landed right down sun angle right behind the stork. I had wanted to create a horizontal head portrait of the stork with his bill open but the egret put the kibosh on that so I dis-engaged the internal TC and created the juxtaposition image below.

Image Questions

#1: Why was I in Av mode for Image #1 but in Manual mode for Image #2?

#2: The exposure for Image #1 was perfect. Why did I need to go 1/3 stop darker for Image #2?

#3: Why should I definitely have gone to a smaller aperture, at least down to f/9, for Image #1?

#4: What is the one thing about Image #2 that bugs me a bit?

#5:Considering the fact that the aperture was the same, f/6.3. why does the skin on the Wood Stork’s neck look so much sharper in Image 2 than in Image 1?

This image was also created at Gatorland on Saturday April 5, 2014, this one–of the same bird, a minute after I created the opening image in this blog post. Again, on a clear afternoon in direct sunlight. And again I hand held the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (at 250mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop as framed: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. Three sensors to the left of the central Sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF on the base of the stork’s lower mandible (as originally framed) was active at the moment of exposure. Again, practicing so that you are able to change AF sensors almost instantly is an important skill to work develop. You can learn everything that there is to know about the 1D X and 5D III AF systems including how to manage the various AF Area Selection Modes, when to use which one, and several ways to move the AF sensor around in my 1D X AF Guide and the 5D Mark III User’s Guide. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2: Wood Stork/Great Egret Juxtaposition.

200-400 Hand Holding Tips & Techniques for Static Subjects

#1-Replace the original lens foot with the CR-X5 Low Foot. Learn a lot more here. Doing so saves a few ounces in weight and more importantly, allows me to use my preferred and functional hand holding grip. For the 200-400 I use the last (rear) hole on the CR-X5. (The CR-X5 is pretty much mandatory for those using the 200-400 on a tripod and the same goes for all of the Series II super-telephotos as the CR-X5 allows you to position the foot–which serves as the lens plate–for perfect balance. It is the only lens plate that allows you to do this.

#2: Do not face the subject: stand roughly sideways to it, like an Olympic rife shooter.

#3: Unless you are positive that the bird is going to fly away in a moment, take the time to turn the tripod collar so that the lens plate is at the bottom of the lens whether you are working in horizontal or format or vertical format. If the tripod collar (and therefore the lens plate) is in the wrong position, then you need to rotate it 90 degrees.

#4: Grasp the end of the CR-X-5 plate with the last two fingers of your left hand. This will put the weight of the lens onto the heel of your left hand. The thumb and then middle finger will rest on the zoom ring. The pointer finger will rest on the lens just forward of the zoom ring. This acts as a point of support.

#5: When you raise the lens from the rest position tuck your left elbow into your body so that the elbow is resting just above the top of the hip bone. This shooting position will allow you to hold the lens steady for extended periods of time with the weight of the rig supported by your body structure rather than by your arms alone. This techniques also works well when photographing static subjects with super-telephoto lenses. Note that having the the CR-X5 foot properly positioned below the lens gives you additional elevation….

Yours truly hand holding the 200-400 in the Galapagos. Image courtesy of and copyright 2013 Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Click on the image above to more easily note the lens plate properly positioned below the lens when working in horizontal format, the position of the fingers of the left hand, and the left arm tucked against the body. Note also that I am roughly sideways to my subject. Thanks to Lady D for the use of the image.

Your Favorite

Please take a moment to let all know which image you prefer, #1 or #2. And do let us know why.

I hope that you can join us on this great trip. The vertical puffin image was created by David Tipling. The rest–almost all from the UK, are mine :).

UK Puffins and Gannets IPT July 2-9, 2014. 5 full days of puffins and two half-days of gannet boat photography: $4,999 USD. Limit 10 + the 2 leaders.

Desperately seeking: 1 female roommate & 1 male roommate.

With 5 folks registered, this trip is a go.

Fly to Edinburgh (say “ED-in-BRUH”), Scotland on a red eye flight on July 1st arriving on the early morning of July 2 or certainly before 10am. UK folks who plan on driving please contact me via e-mail immediately.

There are direct flights to Edinburgh from both Philadelphia and Toronto. If you learn of any others please advise via e-mail so that I may share with all the interested folks. Fly home mid-morning on July 9. UK locals and our many European friends are of course welcome.

With 5 deposits in hand, this trip is a go; you can buy your flights now :).

What’s included:

5 full DAYS on the best UK puffin boat; trips to 2 different islands–all dependent on decent weather, i.e, no major storms. Seabirds including scads of Atlantic Puffin both in flight and perched, Razorbill, Great Cormorant, Shag, and others likely. The trip is timed to maximize the opportunities for photographing the puffins bringing fish back to the nests. All boat fares and landing fees are included. The boat leaves at 9:30am. We have two hours on the first island. We are then picked up and head to the 2nd island for a 2+ hour session. The weather is typically cloudy bright.

One late-afternoon (2 July) and one early morning (probably 8 July) trip on a gannet photography boat where the birds are fed and dive very close to the boat. Both are dependent on good weather but we do have some flexibility. Boat fares and the cost of the fish are covered. Each will consist of a one hour outbound ride, two hours of diving Northern Gannet photography (with 6 boxes of fish) and the one hour return trip.

The tentative, weather-dependent itinerary:

July 2: airport pick-up no later than 10am UK time. Lunch on your dime. Drive to hotel. Afternoon gannet boat trip/time TBD.
July 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7: Full Day Puffin Boat trips as noted above.
July 8: early morning Gannet Boat trip. Afternoon: Small group Image review and Photoshop sessions. Pack for the trip home.
July 9: early morning departure for Edinburgh Airport (EDI).

The itinerary is subject to change to ensure the best possible photographic opportunities.

A super-telephoto lens is not required on this trip. The 300mm f/2.8s are ideal. I will be bringing one along with my 200-400mm with Internal Extender, my 70-200 f/2.8L IS II, and a shorter zoom lenses. Plus three 1.4X and two 2X TCs, a Gitzo 3532 LS Carbon Fiber tripod, and my Mongoose M3.6. I may go tripod-less on the puffin trips at times…. Or not…. All photography on the gannet boat will be hand held. It is likely that the 70-200s will be ideal for the gannets.

7 nights lodging in an older but excellent hotel just a few minutes from the puffin boat dock with about a 70 minute ride to the gannet boat. Double occupancy will be the rule though we might be able to offer a single supplement at an exorbitant price. See the hotel info here.

All breakfasts and dinner (at the hotel) from dinner on July 2 through dinner on July 8. And breakfast on our get-away day unless we need to leave earlier than they serve to make our flights home…

Airport pick-up until 10am on July 2–this should not be a problem as there are lots of red-eye flights from the US to Edinburgh.

All ground transportation. Airport return on the early morning of July 9. We may be getting up very early on July 9th.

Two great leaders; Denise Ippolito and yours truly will provide personalized and small group in-the-field instruction. As usual, the closer you stay to us and the more questions that you ask the more you will learn. We will of course point out the best situations. You will learn to see these great situations for yourself, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, to work in Manual mode, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. You will learn the basics of photographing birds in flight and how the relationship between light direction and wind direction impacts the photography of both birds in flight and perched puffins. And tons more.

We will be conducting informal, small group image review and Photoshop sessions after dinner. All are invited to bring their laptops. Image critiques of your five best images will be done after the trip upon request.

Early morning castle photography right near the hotel is an option for the early risers. In the event of inclement weather or stormy seas there is the possibility of bird photography along the coast. Early evening bird photography along the coast is also optional.

Not included: all lunches–for the most part we will need to pack lunches for the puffin trips, or you may opt to skip lunch. Your round trip airfare from home to Scotland. Booze, wine, and any other beverages other than coffee and tea at breakfast.

A non-refundable deposit of $2,000 USD is required to hold your spot so please check on flights and your schedule before committing. The balance will be due on 15 May so you may wish to pay the whole thing at once. Overseas folks may e-mail for wire transfer info. Our $15 wire transfer fee will be added to your balance.

Trip insurance is highly recommended as your deposit (less a $200 cancellation fee) will not be refunded unless the trip fills completely. I, and my family, use Travel Insurance Services.

After letting us know via e-mail that you will be coming, please send your deposit check made out to “Arthur Morris” to us as follows:

Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
PO Box 7245 (US mail) or 4041 Granada Drive (if by courier).
Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855

My friend David Tipling, with multiple BBC honored images and the author of dozens of photo illustrated books, helped with the planning and arrangements for this trip.

If you have any questions, please contact me via e-mail.

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Typos

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