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 Look at the squirrel! by Jenseales, on Flickr  Barrier by Jenseales, on Flickr
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Sep 5, 2013 04:49
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Casu Marzu posted:Owns. Is that one of those gigantic, bash someone's head in and keep shooting lenses? xzzy posted:Oh oops, I totally ignored the post and went straight to the flickr exif. On Pentax DSLRs, when you mount a manual-focus lens then turn the camera on with the shake reduction active, it asks you what focal length it should use for shake reduction. It's a little side-scrolling menu you go through; when I took those shots I just slapped the monster onto the camera (really, more like slapped the camera onto the monster - it weighs about 8 pounds), jumped out of my tent, and started frantically focusing and shooting. I don't even know what aperture it was at - the lens is old enough it doesn't have an automatic aperture, you can watch the depth of field increase as you twist the big ring.  500mm f-4.5 (2 of 2) by Execudork, on Flickr Later, I was carrying that lens/camera in one hand and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun (Remington 870) in the other - and the camera felt like the better tool for intimidating polar bears. That day, I fired both in the general direction of a bear - but only the gun was loaded!  (forgot I'd taken out the memory card to move photos onto my computer when the bear showed up and everybody hit the panic button)
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Sep 5, 2013 06:04
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What the heck do you have going on that wild bears willingly approach? Everything I've ever been told about bears says that unless they've grown used to humans (read: getting food from them) they actively avoid us. In my experience this seems to hold true. Or are polar bears more curious than other variants? I've really only been in proximity to brown or black bears.
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Sep 5, 2013 16:03
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Polar bears generally give no fucks.
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Sep 5, 2013 16:08
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Death Valley, CA   
VendaGoat fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Sep 5, 2013 |
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Sep 5, 2013 19:17
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It's often said that polar bears are homo sapien's one true predator. Food is that scare up north that they will try to eat you if they see you. Anything that isn't a larger polar bear is fair game... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1218255/The-polar-bear-invited-dinner.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21847507
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Sep 5, 2013 19:18
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ExecuDork posted:Thanks! Holy balls that's a lens. I want one now.
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Sep 5, 2013 19:53
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xzzy posted:What the heck do you have going on that wild bears willingly approach? William T. Hornaday posted:Polar bears generally give no fucks. Near Churchill, Manitoba, the self-described (probably accurately) "Polar Bear Capital of the World" there have been enough of various types of encounters between humans and polar bears that some number-crunching yields good data. I was told about 3% of bear-human encounters in that area are predatory - the bear is actively hunting a human. I've talked to a few people who have had such encounters (the story rapidly gets to "and then we got back in the truck and drove away"), they say the experience is deeply spooky. Not actively terrifying - I've never met anyone who has said they've been charged or mauled by a bear - but rather worrying. The bears we encountered - "Marvin the Morning Mischief Maker", "Buster the (Accused) Boot Stealer", and perhaps one more (they lack really obvious distinguishing marks, except size - Buster was bigger than Marvin) - seemed mostly curious. Curiosity for a polar bear mostly means "I wonder what that tastes like", so it's best to treat any bear with extreme caution / lots of loud noises. I punctuate my sentences with 12-ga slugs fired into the air instead of exclamation marks when talking to bears, so far that's worked well - more potential photos of bear asses than bear faces. I fear meeting a bear that's grown used to shotgun blasts (!!!) because there are only two options if you can't convince a bear to walk away - all of the government advice says "aim for centre of mass".  Casu Marzu posted:Holy balls that's a lens. I want one now.
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Sep 6, 2013 01:44
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ExecuDork posted:I got mine for about $500 + shipping (shipping was about $60 from Minnesota to Saskatchewan, the box was about 2 1/2 feet long), it's m42 mount and the identical lens is available in K-mount; I've seen that lens for about $1000 on eBay. From the picture Mr. Despair posted (and rumours on-line) I gather you can get m42->Canon EOS adaptors. I don't know if those will let you focus to infinity but "not quite infinity" on that lens is out around 500 feet according to the scale focus marks. Certainly it's the cheapest way I know to get reach at non-stupid apertures. The other people I was with would stop pointing their cameras at the wildlife and instead take pictures of me when I pulled it out. I should be able to get some of those photos. Whats the minimum focus on that monstrosity? I had a SMC Super-Tak 400mm M42 mount that I used when I was first getting into wildlife photography and the mfd on that was something ridiculous like 20ft. Have you tried it with teleconverters? Here's a couple of dumb animals that let me take their picture:  Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel  Black Tailed Jack Rabbit  Pronghorn
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Sep 6, 2013 03:42
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Minimum focus is listed as 10m (30 feet), not that many animals are willing to be that near to somebody swinging one around. It's just barely hand-holdable, on a bright, sunny day. I picked up a gimbal head for cheap from Dealextreme, I was honestly a little surprised it works as well as it does with my monster lens considering it came from some upstart Chinese company (I suspect there are dozens of startup companies in China trying to break into various niche applications, such as tripods & heads) and cost $100. I'd like to play with a teleconverter, Pentax made one with the K-mount version of my lens in mind back in the day. Actually there are two (1.4x and 2x), both with a glass element that extends quite far into the body of the lens, meaning only a few really long telephotos are compatible. The rear element on my lens is about 4 inches from the camera body so there's plenty of room! I often see newer 1.4x, 1.7x, and 2x TCs on eBay for cheap, but they look pretty trashy. I don't have any pictures of non-bird, non-insect wildlife edited at the moment, and looking forward through my pile of Arctic pictures I don't think I'll be putting up my other hare, fox, bear, and muskox pictures for quite a while. I'm going to Montana for a week on Saturday, with a bit of time set aside, so hopefully I can get some more Great Plains critters in the meantime. I'll stop clogging up this thread with no-picture / wall-of-text posts. EDIT: Goddamit, 800peepee51doodoo, you're just flattening this thread and the bird thread these days. Awesome pictures!
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Sep 6, 2013 05:03
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Butterflies are flitty assholes. Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) at the Oronoco Prairie SNA by dedianmn, on Flickr dedian fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 14:18
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Elephant grazing in morning light. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.
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Sep 6, 2013 14:37
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 20130510-IMG_0839 by Jenseales, on Flickr  20130510-IMG_0999 by Jenseales, on Flickr
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Sep 6, 2013 14:55
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Amazing Nat.Geo video of a encounter with a leopard seal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxa6P73Awcg Can't wait for my chance to swim with sea lions in the Galapagos.
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Sep 7, 2013 09:23
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ExecuDork posted:
I kinda wanna toss it on my ME super to just have the most ridiculous setup ever. If I didn't already have a 100-400, that would definitely be intriguing.
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Sep 7, 2013 12:43
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 Swift Nesting, Portland by Ashade76, on Flickr http://audubonportland.org/local-birding/swiftwatch
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Sep 15, 2013 06:51
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 Photogenic Iguana by torgeaux, on Flickr  Definitely a Dinosaur by torgeaux, on Flickr
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Sep 24, 2013 04:17
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Some top drawer photos of Alaskan Grizzlies by British Photographer Danny Green.
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Sep 25, 2013 22:53
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Fuzzy Bunny Butt Bunnies 2 by Execudork, on Flickr
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Oct 4, 2013 00:37
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 Elephant Seal
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Oct 8, 2013 07:26
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Arctic fox in summer colours Visits from a fox 5 by Execudork, on Flickr
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Oct 11, 2013 00:42
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Thats a nice lookin' fox.
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Oct 11, 2013 06:31
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Is that elephant seal at Aņo Nuevo, or one of the other colonies? Chubby Cheeks by Icybacon, on Flickr
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Oct 12, 2013 21:01
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Its from the Big Sur colony. I'm hoping to go back this christmas when the big males are kicking up a ruckus.
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Oct 13, 2013 04:08
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 "Wild" pony in the Grayson Highlands
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Oct 14, 2013 03:12
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A new monthly e-magazine dedicated to wildlife photography (with a bit of general natural history) has launched; first three editions will be free. It has some respectable contributors and I found the first edition a decent read (and it increased my desire to visit Yellowstone in the snow). http://wildplanetphotomagazine.com/ Pablo Bluth fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Oct 15, 2013 |
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Oct 15, 2013 19:56
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 i think i hear someone walking around in the backyard by wallofinsanity, on Flickr
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Oct 15, 2013 21:44
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So some elephants have won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013. The winner. Pablo Bluth fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Oct 15, 2013 |
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Oct 15, 2013 22:34
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Pablo Bluth posted:So some elephants have won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/category.do?category=15&group=1 This guy lives semi close to me, I saw he had posted he had won on facebook. Pretty cool to see.
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Oct 17, 2013 16:50
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Well I just supported the redsnap kickstarter so I can get the wildlife kit. I am so excited by the idea that I can put a infared sensor on my camera. Going to use my 35mm lens to shoot wildlife at scent stations. Anyone do anything like that before?
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Oct 18, 2013 03:10
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That looks extremely cool. I bought a Zigview earlier this year and so far I haven't done much with it. The motion sensor is the main reason I bought it, hoping to set up my camera outside my tent and snap a polar bear or arctic fox should one come wandering by. My camera's battery died after only a few hours, though, and nothing showed up. It worked OK taking self-portraits as I drove past, with a bit more practice I should get the hang of that.
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Oct 18, 2013 05:06
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Finally out shooting again. This was in Catalina State Park outside of Tucson. I was trying out my new 100mm 2.8 macro. Regal Horned Lizard by jadeilyn, on Flickr I didn't even see the ant when I took the shot and it is now almost my favorite part. I might bump the exposure on this one. I waffle between thinking that it's too dark and that it's fine.  Zebra-tailed Lizard by jadeilyn, on Flickr  American Lady? by jadeilyn, on Flickr  Plateau Fence Lizard by jadeilyn, on Flickr
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Oct 20, 2013 03:53
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Yesterday I watched a coyote hunting voles in nice early morning light. This guy was successful every time he leapt and offered several opportunities to capture him hunting. I'm kicking myself because I was shooting him with a paved road between us and the heat waves from the road killed all my other shots of the coyote mid-air. This is the only one that turned out at all.  Jadeilyn posted:Finally out shooting again. This was in Catalina State Park outside of Tucson. I was trying out my new 100mm 2.8 macro. InternetJunky fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 14:16
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Quote is not edit.
BioTech fucked around with this message at 19:33 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 19:30
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Haven't posted since the first page, but I went back to Africa. Did gorilla tracking in Uganda this time. The gorillas were absolutely amazing, but it wasn't easy to shoot on that location. Very dark because of the thick forest, light metering is wonky because of the strong shadows combined with really bright patches where the sun came through. We got to them after climbing uphill through dense jungle at high altitude for a few hours, so I was really exhausted. Must've thrown away 200 shots because I was shaking. With them constantly on the move it wasn't really possible to set up some shots, just take what you can get. Plus you gotta keep watching your feet with all the undergrowth, so moving around with the camera ready was no option either. It got better when they moved towards the river. I caught my breath by that time, the ground was mostly rocks so no chance of getting caught in something and no trees in the river, so the light was much better because there was no roof of leaves. I am really happy with the results, but they definitely could have been better.      Elephant, because Africa. Not a bush elephant, but this one was quite aggressive nonetheless. It kept trying to charge us, but we were in a boat so that didn't really work out. Lots of trumpeting, posturing and sudden sprints towards the water before backing off.   This is probably my favorite shot of the whole trip. Gorillas are slow but always moving, the chimps on the other hand were really modeling. This alpha male came down from the trees at some point and didn't mind us at all. He was being groomed, completely relaxed, just watching us with some mild curiosity but not caring enough to get involved. Most of the other chimp shots have the same jungle-shooting issues as I described above, but this guy went into a clearing and everything just came together perfectly.
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Oct 20, 2013 19:32
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Amazing. Those gorilla portraits are stunning and I love the pose of that chimpanzee. What a great opportunity.
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Oct 20, 2013 20:25
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800peepee51doodoo posted:Amazing. Those gorilla portraits are stunning and I love the pose of that chimpanzee. What a great opportunity. Even if you were in a boat I don't know how close I'd want to be to a bull elephant making threat displays like that. Wonderful shots!
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Oct 20, 2013 22:32
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Those jungle shots are goddam fantastic and you should stop with the apologies already. Amazing. But... one or two of the gorilla shots look a little purple. Maybe it's my monitor, maybe it's your white balance.
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Oct 21, 2013 03:11
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Thanks for the kind words, everyone. ExecuDork posted:But... one or two of the gorilla shots look a little purple. Maybe it's my monitor, maybe it's your white balance. You probably mean the two up-close portraits, right? I wanted to get the colors more like the last gorilla shot because I do prefer the darker fur, but I'm both bad and lazy when it comes to editing. If it doesn't happen within a minute or so I usually save and continue with the next shot. This whole project feels finished to me and I'm working on other things, but you are right and I should get back to those two. Winter here is not very interesting to shoot and I have few trips planned, so I'll mark those to check again when I hit a lull.
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Oct 21, 2013 08:16
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I got up close to a blue whale last week, that was a pretty amazing feeling. Common Dolphin  Hypnotized fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Oct 23, 2013 |
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Oct 23, 2013 16:24
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