Ugly Lessons III--Lots of Lessons...

Ugly Lessons III–Lots of Lessons…

When I drove past this boat launch area and made a u-turn there was a nice Turkey Vulture on this post and about a dozen more on the ground and on posts to the left of this one (off stage left). The TV on the post was the most beautiful in the group with a nice red head. He is the subject in the next image here. Even though I approached the birds slowly all but one of the close birds flew off. (There were several more on the dock a bit farther away.) The good news is that the bird that stayed was the prettiest in the group. (I had picked him out naked eye at close range as I drove past the birds originally.) At this point I slowed to an absolute crawl. Do note that I had already placed the lens on MY BAA-designed Big Lens Ultimate Beanbag (BLUBB) that was resting firmly on the mostly lowered window of my SUV. If I had driven up quickly or even slowly I would have scared the handsome vulture off the perch. If I had driven up very, very slowly and then tried to get the lens on the (BLUBB) I would have scared the bird away.

This TV was sitting on the same post as the Black Vulture in the opening image here. The basic thing that folks should note is how I used a long lens to extract several nice images from a somewhat cluttered situation: a bird on a post by a boat dock.

This is the same bird featured in Ugly Lessons I. But this one was framed just a bit wider. The point is that when I first drove up to the bird I did not want to push things and go for point-blank range…. So I aimed for about 22 feet as I eased towards sun angle so that my shadow would point directly at the subject. Once I was in position I moved slowly as I framed and created some images. Within a minute or two the bird was completely comfortable with my movements, with the sound of the shutter release, and with me.

I wanted to try for the the mega full frame head portrait but new there was a risk of flushing the bird off its perch. To move closer I first backed the car up about 15 feet while turning the wheel counter-clockwise, then I steered to the right as I pulled forward to sun angle. I wound up in perfect position, just outside of 19 feet so that I did not have to bother to add the 25mm extension tube. To get the green background that I wanted I simply lowered the window a few inches once I stopped the engine. Note in the opening situation image that a vulture’s head would be just about at the spot where the blue water met the green vegetation. (The big lens on the BLUBB was a bit higher than the handheld 70-200. Remember that you can often change the background by raising or lowering your vehicle’s window when photographing from your car. When raising the window with the lens on the BLUBB be sure to give the whole thing a boost with your left hand while using your right hand to play with the lever; this will prevent burning out the electric motor that operates the window…. The BLUBB is quite heavy; that’s what makes the images so sharp. That and good technique.

Do you think that my JPEGs look great? Learn everything I do once I get the images home in our Digital Basics File, a PDF sent via e-mail. More than 3,300 sold.

Thanks for visiting. I hope that you learned a lot from today’s lessons.

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Shopper’s Guide

Below is a list of the gear used to create the images in today’s blog post. 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 Shopper’s Guide.

Canon 800mm f/5.L IS lens. Right now this is my all time favorite super-telephoto lens.
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.
Canon 1.4X III Teleconverter. Designed to work best with the new Series II super-telephoto lenses.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body. My two Mark IVs are my workhorse digital camera bodies.

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 🙂
Gitzo GT3530LS Tripod. This one will last you a lifetime.
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.
CR-80 Replacement Foot for Canon 800. When using the 800 on a Mongoose as I do, replacing the lens foot with this accessory lets the lens sit like a dog whether pointed up or down and prevents wind-blown spinning of your lens on breezy days by centering the lens directly over the tripod.
Double Bubble Level. You will find one in my camera’s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
Be sure to check out our camera body User’s Guides here.
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.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV User’s Guide. Learn to use your Mark IV the way that I use mine. Also available for the 7D and the Mark III here.