Post by Romy Ocon on Apr 12, 2020 5:30:14 GMT
The Grey Wagtail that I saw a few days ago has become a regular guest at a watering hole along the banks of the Bued River. Its visiting hours are now quite predictable, allowing me to set up a make-shift blind so I can capture it quite close.
For this job, I brought out my old EF 400 f/2.8 IS from its storage box - its 3.0 meter MFD and its extreme sharpness at wide open even with a 2x TC should be very useful. The combination of long focal length and close shooting distance should melt the background and foreground elements very nicely.
My old 5D MIII gets mounted as well - I need relatively fast shutter speeds to freeze the actively foraging bird, and sometimes I had to bump up the ISO to get the Tv fast enough. The larger FOV is likewise very helpful when trying the locate the forager while shooting in a prone position. There are plenty enough pixels with the 5D MIII to allow me to crop later in PP, and still retain the ability to make large prints.
Finally, I had to support the whole shooting rig (over 14 lbs.) with a bean bag which is lying on the ground. To protect my beer belly while shooting prone, I used a flattened cardboard box. I suffered from a terrible stiff neck after a few minutes of shooting, but it's a lot of fun.... certainly making the Covid-19 lockdown more bearable.
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Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea, migrant)
For this job, I brought out my old EF 400 f/2.8 IS from its storage box - its 3.0 meter MFD and its extreme sharpness at wide open even with a 2x TC should be very useful. The combination of long focal length and close shooting distance should melt the background and foreground elements very nicely.
My old 5D MIII gets mounted as well - I need relatively fast shutter speeds to freeze the actively foraging bird, and sometimes I had to bump up the ISO to get the Tv fast enough. The larger FOV is likewise very helpful when trying the locate the forager while shooting in a prone position. There are plenty enough pixels with the 5D MIII to allow me to crop later in PP, and still retain the ability to make large prints.
Finally, I had to support the whole shooting rig (over 14 lbs.) with a bean bag which is lying on the ground. To protect my beer belly while shooting prone, I used a flattened cardboard box. I suffered from a terrible stiff neck after a few minutes of shooting, but it's a lot of fun.... certainly making the Covid-19 lockdown more bearable.
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Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea, migrant)
Habitat - Streams and forest roads at all elevations.
1. Shooting info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, Philippines, April 12, 2020, Canon 5D III + EF 400 f/2.8 IS + EF 2x TC III, 800mm, f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/800 sec, manual exposure in available light, bean bag on the ground, near full frame resized to 1500 x 1000.
2. Shooting info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, Philippines, April 12, 2020, Canon 5D III + EF 400 f/2.8 IS + EF 2x TC III, 800mm, f/5.6, ISO 640, 1/640 sec, manual exposure in available light, bean bag on the ground, major crop resized to 1500 x 1000.
3. Shooting info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, Philippines, April 12, 2020, Canon 5D III + EF 400 f/2.8 IS + EF 2x TC III, 800mm, f/5.6, ISO 1600, 1/640 sec, manual exposure in available light, bean bag on the ground, major crop resized to 1500 x 1000.
4. Shooting info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, Philippines, April 12, 2020, Canon 5D III + EF 400 f/2.8 IS + EF 2x TC III, 800mm, f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/640 sec, manual exposure in available light, bean bag on the ground, major crop resized to 1500 x 1000.
I'm hoping this fellow will stay around until its molting throat turns fully black..... then it becomes more photogenic.
