Show your Bird Portraits

Success at last! Last year in Halifax NS, I didn't get a single shot of a loon. Arrived in Halifax today after lunch and soon after got this shot of one on a lake at the bottom of my son's garden. (7DII + 100-400mm II + 1.4xTC)
 

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Jack, the details of the head are lost until you look at the full image and so here is the 100% crop of the face. I am now a convert to using the 1.4xTC III on the 7DII + 100-400 II - a complete turnaround from my first opinion.
 

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Thanks Alan,

As it turns out I'm not a convert to my 1D4 which was a choice as opposed to the 7D2. Of course there are aspects I love but its low light, higher ISO grain is not one of them. So my question for you is do you have any samples such as this loon, where the ISO is higher and you're not thrilled. Recently a fellow offered me his 7D2 plus a bit of cash for the 1D4 but I declined. A little off topic here so if you PM that might be better but some others might be interested in some more sample bird shots if you have them illustrating what I'm getting at. Thanks.

1000th, F4, ISO 800 300 2.8 II X 1.4 4896 X 3264 to 1505 X 907 One caveat, I did only roughly AFMA regarding focus.

Jack
 

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Jack
My 7DII tends to be used at iso 640 and not above, and I use DxO prime for noise reduction. So, I don't have examples at higher iso. Here are two more shots from this morning; the loon below (in better lighting) and the moon above. Both iso 640.
 

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Thanks Alan,

Having been reintroduced to photography via a Nikon crop and then my 6D FF I have seen both the reach advantage and the large pixel advantage. Funny you should mention ISO 640 because that's the highest I'd prefer to shoot with the 1D4 but I am almost always getting forced to at least 800 and sometimes 1250.

I clearly feel shortchanged relative to my 6D at ISO 1250 - simply not satisfied. I tried to stay away from ISO 1600 with the 6D but clouds and end of day and winter all would tend to press me into it unless I was willing to sacrifice shutter speed - not possible with BIF and even some forest shots in sunlight.

That has a poor guy like me getting gas over a new 1DX MII. Any comment?

Jack
 
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Cormorant eating fish in Halifax Harbour (with the "u" in both Canadian and British English) + 100% crops on 7DII + 100-400II + 1.4xTC
 

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Jack Douglas said:
Thanks Alan,

Having been reintroduced to photography via a Nikon crop and then my 6D FF I have seen both the reach advantage and the large pixel advantage. Funny you should mention ISO 640 because that's the highest I'd prefer to shoot with the 1D4 but I am almost always getting forced to at least 800 and sometimes 1250.

I clearly feel shortchanged relative to my 6D at ISO 1250 - simply not satisfied. I tried to stay away from ISO 1600 with the 6D but clouds and end of day and winter all would tend to press me into it unless I was willing to sacrifice shutter speed - not possible with BIF and even some forest shots in sunlight.

That has a poor guy like me getting gas over a new 1DX MII. Any comment?

Jack

Jack, I go above ISO 1600 rather more often than I'd like. Part of this is due to the Tamron 150-600's f/6.3 aperture, but mostly it has to do with the environment where I shoot (wooded areas) and my desire to "get the shot" given my limited time. Maybe I should get the 300 f/2.8 + 2x = 600 f/5.6 ::)

The shot below is fairly typical of my portfolio. I shot it while on a conference trip, on a monopod instead of a tripod, which I prefer but would have been awkward bringing into a large conference room.

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Taiwan Hwamei (Garrulax taewanus), a laughingthrush
 
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Hank, I thoroughly love the 300 2.8 II except for the weight, which I gladly accommodate but that still is borderline in cases that you site. However, I have only mastered DPP and so do not have the advantage of what other software allows. Last winter I got moose shots that ended up at ISO 1600 and 2000 and I was so disappointed. The subject and how full the frame is, is critical to a quality photo in that case, and moose hide and 50% cropping left me annoyed.

Yes, we have been spoiled by the quality we get from the likes of the lowly 6D and higher level cameras and it seems to me we are on the edge where just a little more high ISO capability and we'll get a lot more good shots in the bush of small subjects (birds). I'm going to sell my 1D4 and wait.

Jack
 

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Click said:
scyrene said:
A rare transatlantic stray, a ring-billed gull that's made it across to Britain.


Very nice close-up. Well done scyrene.

Thanks!

IslanderMV said:
scyrene said:
A rare transatlantic stray, a ring-billed gull that's made it across to Britain.
Nice shot ! And for all of us living in North America - Your welcome !

Thanks! I'll try to shoo some of ours back your way - a Mediterranean gull maybe? ;)
 
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