My first sighting and thus my first captures of this beautiful bird..
Crossed paths with a few other photogs out looking and sighted one a good quarter mile away.. It stayed put, enjoying the sun until we trekked over to it...
All shot with Sigma 500 + modified TC14E on D300, tripod mounted in Mongoose 3.5a. Manual Exposure. Images appear a bit soft to me...I've been struggling with the 500/TC combo...just can't get the sharp image I know this kit is capable of. Going to scout the Snowy out again tomorrow morning and try with the Sigma TC...
C&C encouraged...
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Congrats on the first captures of a snowy owl. They all look great to me, and I could add nothing that would lend to a better shot. I especially loved the "yawn" shot.
Congrats on the first captures of a snowy owl. They all look great to me, and I could add nothing that would lend to a better shot. I especially loved the "yawn" shot.
Thanks!! A bit more sharpness in the images is needed given the shutter speed and effective aperture, I am sure something is a miss in the Sigma / Nikon TC combo...it should be far sharper on such a brightly lit motionless target. I'll have another go at it tomorrow!!
I'll see if the modified Sigma APO EX 1.4 TC is any better...if so, I'll pick up a second and modify permanently.. Once modified it doesn't work well with the 2.8 lenses so I'll likely need two TC's.
With a Nikon TC14EII, I won't shoot it any wider than 7.1 unless I have to as the sharpness suffers somewhat. This is with Nikon glass and I don't know how it plays on Sigma lenses.
I have found the Sigma 1.4 to be awfully good with the 150, so I'm assuming it may play better than the Nikon TC with the larger Sigma.
Thanks. It sure was work to get to this bird... After about ten images I turned to one of the two other people who stalked it with me and said... "i'm done..if it lifts off, I'll be very happy with what I have.." and proceeded to fill a 2 gig card...
Thanks Rich. A little different than Wingo. No way she was coming to us like the Eagles often do! I was hiking in the sand dunes, through ankle deep icy water with the ocean wind blowing. What blast!!
Thanks Allan. Got a good ten to twelve in that series..but much like people when they yawn, the facial contortions ruined most of the other images.. one eye open, one rolled up into her head, a crocked tongue...funny.
very nice Series! I like them a lot. In terms of sharpness, I belief that a white bird (if he is not frame filling) is very difficult www.blende20.zenfolio.com
With a Nikon TC14EII, I won't shoot it any wider than 7.1 unless I have to as the sharpness suffers somewhat. This is with Nikon glass and I don't know how it plays on Sigma lenses.
I have found the Sigma 1.4 to be awfully good with the 150, so I'm assuming it may play better than the Nikon TC with the larger Sigma.
I think you're right Jim. Here's the scoop... I have the Siggy 1.4. I've taped off the contact to allow it to AF on the 500, but then it's useless on my 2.8 Siggy glass, so I needed to buy a second dedicated TC for the 500 (one taped off and one not). Rather than have two Sigma 1.4's I thought it prudent to diversify in the event I migrated to Nikon big glass so I bought the TC14e, modified it to work with the Sig500, and kept the Sig 1.4 for my other Sigma lenses. It works fine, but doesn't report proper exif, and I fear it's a bit soft.
So, I taped off the contact Saturday night and mounted the Sigma 1.4 on the 500, but Sunday I had no luck in finding the bird and weather was too spotty for ducks and too windy for the small birds. No test shots with it. My frame of reference is how well my 300/2.8 plays with the Sigma 2x TC. If I can duplicate that IQ with the 500 using the Sigma TC, I'll be very happy.
Yes, I have stopped it down..results are better. But my only decent images were of small birds within twenty feet...(wish I knew how to rebuild a tail feather cluster ). So, I know the combo is capable of a sharp image..I think this one was with a D2X with the same support. But it seems that as camera to subject distance increases the IQ or the bodies ability to lock in fine focus decreases..
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Lucky to shoot one? Lucky to see one!! and on my first trip out!! Special thanks to the gentleman named John who tracked this bird with me..without him I might have missed it!
South shore of Long Island. Thanks! It was a perfectly clear day, constant light. Once the histogram indicated a good exposure I switched to manual in anticipation of the launch. If the exposure for the bird is locked in, it won't matter what background i have..I'll still have the right exposure for the bird. Worked like a charm!
We met last year at Berger Bros. Photoshop seminar. Where did you shoot the Snowy Owl? On LI? Love to try to shoot it if its local. I'm on the North Shore.
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