Osprey - Viera Wetlands

With the help of two member here (CDIVER2 & BIANCHI), I have returned from my Florida trip. They both gave me some tips so here are a few of the shots that I thought were amazing. I visited the Viera Wetlands per their advice. One piece of advice I should give is this place is almost impossible to find. Even with a GPS I thought it would be in the Garmin database but no luck. Good thing I have my Iphone with Ipad and personal hotspot so I could use the aerial photo of the area to find it.
Most of these shots were with the 400mm 2.8 II and a 1.4X iii extender. Canon body was the 5Diii. I know that on my next visit here, the pictures would be better as you learn every time you go out and shoot.
Shutter speed 1/1000 and about f8

I really wish #3 and #4 were sharper - DOF with two birds was very hard to control - I do like the 80° approach on #4.
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You got some great shots there Jeff. Glad you enjoyed Viera. Any more photos?

Great work Jeff. Viera is a great location, I just got home from my spring FL trip as well but the weather was poor on the days I had planned Viera so I headed home.

One suggestion I would make for action like this is to do whatever it takes to get your shutter speed to at least 1/2000th sec. at f7.1 or f8 (1/2500th is better yet). Your EXIF wasn't attached so I don't know what ISO you were shooting but ISO 400 or 500 should have done it in the bright light you appear to have had. Something else to consider is micro adjustment with and without your 1.4 TC. I shoot with the 500 but often I'll opt to shoot without the TC when shooting flight to avoid too much focal length resulting in clipped wings, plus Image quality is better without the TC. There are plenty of times when I wish I was at 400mm or less when shooting large birds in flight. Shooting less focal length also gives you the latitude to best tweak your compositions when cropping. It's tough to nail composition at high focal length when shooting action, especially in situations like your 3rd and 4th shot. It's also important to remember that with more focal length comes more magnification of movement introduced while hand holding. When shutter speed drops all that reach can really make getting sharp action/flight a struggle.

Nightbound,

Thanks for the comments - I was at 1/1000 and thought that was fast enough but as I see that was not. I did go to ISO 400 and it was between F8 and F11 - Set it in shutter priority at 1000 and let it pick the f-stop. I'm sure if I could go back again, they would be better. I think you are right, should have removed the TC. I did micro adjust the 400, just don't think I did it with the 1.4 TC on since I just got that before I left. I will need to investigate that.

If #4 and #5 were in focus and motion stopped a little more these would be my pride and joy in BIF pictures. Oh well, live and learn - that is what this is all about.

I remember the first time I took pictures of fireworks and thought I have great shots until someone at work showed me his so I went out the next weekend and nailed it. Too bad these wetlands are 1200 miles from my home.

Great job Jeff, looking forward to your shots from Disney and the Everglades.

Nightbound your correct, the weather has been bad all week, today a little better,I got out to do a little shotting, but right now its thundering and blowing rain. I was going to head up to Viera today, but I put it off till this Sunday, as thats when they are predicting nice weather.

What beautiful Birds.

woodzy wrote in post #15894884
Nightbound,

Thanks for the comments - I was at 1/1000 and thought that was fast enough but as I see that we not. I did go to ISO 400 and it was between F8 and F11 - Set it in shutter priority at 1000 and let it pick the f-stop. I'm sure if I could go back again, they would be better. I think you are right, should have removed the TC. I did micro adjust the 400, just don't think I did it with the 1.4 TC on since I just got that before I left. I will need to investigate that.

If #4 and #5 were in focus and motion stopped a little more these would be my pride and joy in BIF pictures. Oh well, live and learn - that is what this is all about.

I remember the first time I took pictures of fireworks and thought I have great shots until someone at work showed me his so I went out the next weekend and nailed it. Too bad these wetlands are 1200 miles from my home.

These are shots to proud of. I've yet to take a shot that I felt couldn't be better. Every day out is a lesson and a practice session for me.

You'll definitely want to micro adjust with your TC. The setting will be considerably different than the lens alone. My 500 is set at -9 with my MK IV and -4 with the 1.4 TC. You might want to try metering Manually using the forefinger dial for shutter speed and the back dial for aperture. By watching the scale in the viewfinder you'll quickly get a feel for how to nail exposure using both dials in conjunction with ISO.

If you aren't already using back button focus for flight work will help greatly with acquiring and holding focus. It took a while to get used to the change from shutter button focus to back button but I sure like the results I'm getting.

I grew up in SE Michigan so I know that long road trip all too well. I'm only about 8 hours away from Viera now and I still only get down that way once a year.

Great shots. Would love to get back to Viera again sometime.