Carmen's Tale & Handholding the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS Lens

A Tale of Carmen

Last week I received an e-mail from another old student, Carmine Narine:

Good Morning Mr. Morris,  You may not remember me but I saw your blog online and decided to reach out as I have thought about you many times during the last 20 years.  I attended PS 106. You were my 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade teacher. My name is Umawattie Narine but I went by Carmen.  I remember our trips to bird watch at Jamaica bay and the stencils and sketches of birds we did.  But most of all I remember the stamp collection we started. I still have it!   I wanted to let you know that back then I wasn’t very confident but you made me feel important and smart. You were the best teacher I have ever had.  We once listened to Les Miserable in class and when I saw the actual play- I cried and I felt ahead of my time. I know that sounds strange but I felt so good that I knew everything about it because I had a teacher who not only taught us Math and English— you taught us about life and art.   You always had confidence in me and it gave me confidence to strive to be better in all things.   I hope this email reaches you and that you are well.  Thank you for everything you did for all the kids whose lives you touched.   Carmen

After I wrote Carmen, she wrote back to me:

Good Morning Mr. World Famous Bird Photographer!   I work in Ad Operations for Conde Naste.  I manage the ads on our websites and make sure the clients’ campaigns serve and perform well.  It is fun and I love it worked at The Weather Channel and the NBA doing the same thing.   I am so sorry to hear that Mrs. Belsky died,  and yes, I do remember her.  Her class came a few times on our class  trips.

I don’t have a picture from our class but I have attached one that should help. I ended up graduating valedictorian from the 6^th grade. I was in Mrs. Lowe’s class.   I have read your Blog- that’s actually how I found you- I was so excited!!   I am so glad you are doing well and I will continue to follow your Blog. A friend of mine is also a photographer and I tried convincing him to take up Bird Watching.   Carmen

I wrote Carmen back telling her how proud I am of her.  It is of course quite rewarding to hear from my old students.

Handholding the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS

Recently I have begun handholding the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS /EOS-1D MIV combo to good advantage.  I have been using the principles taught to me by my friend, Posse member Jim Neiger.  The advantages of handholding are that you are more quickly and easily able to get on the action than if you were using a tripod.  Especially when it would be necessary to move the tripod before starting to photograph a new situation.  And it is easier to frame fast moving birds (especially those that fly somewhat erratic patterns) and to frame and follow frantic action  when handholding than it is when working atop a tripod.

Do know that it is only necessary to hold the lens up for short periods of time, say 10-20 seconds at most.  Before raising the lens it is best to support it in some manner to prevent fatigue.  Jim’s mantra is “practice, practice, practice” so that when you raise the lens you are able to get right on the subject.  I have been after Jim for a year or two to put together “The Guide to Handheld Photography With Big Telephoto Lenses.”

In the opening White Pelican image in this post it would have been impossible to get as low as I wanted low with the tripod-mounted 800 on the crowded pier that the IPT group was working from.  So I simply sat on the edge of the dock, supported the lens on my bent knee when waiting for the situation to improve, and then raised the lens when the big, beautiful birds swam into the perfect position.  In the relatively low light situation I supported the back of my left wrist and hand again on my bent left knee.  (I did not realize that I had been working at such a slow shutter speed; my technique must have been perfect!)   Do compare the light and the exposure data with that of  the similar White Pelican image at the top of the February 19 post below; that one was created in full sun.

The handheld 800 image above was also created from a small boat. Handholding made it relatively easy to follow the bird in flight even at close range.  Ron Mayberry was kind enough to take Lou Newman, Denise Ippolito, and me out for some rookery photography in Sarasota Bay on the morning of my Sarasota Audubon presentation a few weeks ago.  (Ron and Lou will be joining me on the 2nd Midway trip; I am posting this from the Orlando Airport on my way to Honolulu.)   Using a tripod on a small boat with four folks is pretty much out of the question so the decision to handhold was a good one that enabled me to create a rather cool image.  Here I used the central AF sensor.  Always use AI Servo AF for photographing moving subject.

Note:  As a Canon Explorer of Light I am and have been a paid Canon spokesperson since 1996.