Variety...

Variety…

Variety is the spice of pleasing blurs. As we advise in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs (by Denise Ippolito and yours truly), working in Tv Mode (when you have subject/background combinations of relatively consistent tonality) allows you complete control of shutter speed. In the series of images presented here note how the varied shutter speeds affect the degree of blurring.

Each evening at sunset on my recent visit to Nickerson Beach the terns and skimmers would fly from the colony in large groups, land near the ocean, and then blast off. Repeatedly. They kept it up until we left when it was almost completely dark. With large groups of birds landing and taking flight in low, low light my thoughts immediately turned to creating pleasing blurs.

When creating blurs in low light I set ISO Safety Shift on my MIV as detailed in our MIV User’s Guide. (With the 7D I would use Auto ISO; see the 7D User’s Guide here.) The exposure data for this image shows that it was way-dark; the image was created at 8:16 pm on a cloudy dark day. I framed loosely to include the jetty at West End, Jones Beach in the distant background.

Keen readers might wish to ask why I went with the 2XIII TC when I could have just as easily made all of the images above with the 1.4XIII TC instead. I went with the 2X as I felt that I might need focal lengths between 280 and 400mm. As it turned out, I was right; see image next. :))

For a bit more variety, I turned on the flash; in this image, it lit the eyes of many of the birds in a somewhat eerie manner. Whenever you are creating pleasing blurs be sure to vary your shutter speeds and your framing and take lots of photographs. (To learn everything you need to know about pleasing blurs, get yourself a copy of A Guide to Pleasing Blurs (by Denise Ippolito and yours truly).

Shopper’s Guide

Below is a list of the gear that I used to create the images above. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our recently revised Shopper’s Guide.

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. Man, I am loving this lens on my shoulder with the 2X III teleconverter. I also use it a lot with the 1.4X III TC.
2X III teleconverter. This new TC is noticeably sharper than the 2X II TC.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body. My workhorse professional digital camera body. I own two.
Canon 580 EX II Speedlight. This is Canon’s most powerful, top of the line flash.
Canon CP-E4 Compact Battery Pack. Powers the flash. Allows more consecutive flashes and faster recharging times.

And from the BAA On-line Store:

Delkin 32gb e-Film Pro Compact Flash Card. These high capacity cards are fast and dependable. Clicking on the link below will bring you to the Delkin web site. There is lots of great stuff there. If you see a product that we do not carry let us know via e-mail; we will be glad to have it drop-shipped to you and save you a few bucks in the process.

I pack my 800 and tons of other gear in my ThinkTank Airport SecurityTM V2.0 rolling bag for all of my air travel and recommend the slightly smaller Airport InternationalTM V2.0 for most folks. These high capacity bags are well constructed and protect my gear when I have to gate check it on short-hops and puddle jumpers. Each will protect your gear just as well. By clicking on either link or the logo below, you will receive a free gift with each order over $50.

Think Tank Free Offer