Douglas Squirrel

[Gail Spitler]

Hi All
This is my contribution to the squirrel collection. BTW there is a lovely short essay by John Muir about the Douglas Squirrel. It is on the net at http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/the_mountains_of_california/chapter_9.html

I was testing my Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens on a Canon 30D. I am often frustrated by the lack of sharpness and the difficulty this lens has in finding the AF point. I am also experimenting with keeping the ISO as low as possible but keeping the shutter speed up. That ain't easy with all the valley cloud we get this time of year.

Comments and suggestions are much appreciated.
Cheers
Gail
Canon 30D with EF 70-300 at 280mm, 1/400 sec at f/5.6, eval metering with 0 comp, ISO 200

[William Malacarne]

Nice BG colors and sharpness of the subject......Maybe crop about halfway up the post on the bottom.

Bill

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Gail Lovely squirrel !!! Just the perfect head angle and makes such a difference. Expression is cute and love the tail !!

I think you might be better raising the ISO to 400 since picking up one full stop is a big deal !! Here you could have stopped down an extra stop to make the image even sharper. The top "L" lenses perform well wide open but most other you will find a difference. Could set up a newspaper and photograph wide open then closing one, the two. Same thing you could do with the ISO and see at which you start noticing differences !!!

..... btw agree on the bottom crop then you could take a little from the top tightening the image but still having lots of room !!!

[Cheryl Flory]

wow, I wish my lens that I am frustrated with its lack of sharpness, was as sharp as this!!
great image! gotta love the whiskers and the hairs at the ear tips. :)

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Gail:

Sharp photo in all respects, great detail and colours.

No nits . . .

Well done

Uncle Gus

[Dave Leroy]

Hi Gail, Really nice photo. I think you have done very well with this lense. It is such a nice size and weight and the range sounds ideal. I was not satisfied with mine, sold it, and saved up and got a 70/200 f/4 IS and am just starting to use it here on the wet coast.

I too like the crop.

Dave

[Harold Davis]

nonda will be proud of you here!! fantastic all around!! nicely sharp, well composed and a subject that is as cute as they get!! great job with that PROBLEM? lens!! you sound like me!!

[denise ippolito]

Gail, Great colors and sharpness!!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Gail,
I like the capture. you have good color rendition and sharp details. I like the perch and your head angle and eye contact is dead on. The background colors are sweet. I also cast my vote for taking off about 1/4 from the bottom, and a tad from the top to focus all the attention on your subject...good show...:cool:

[Gail Spitler]

Thanks for the suggestion about the crop and for testing the lens. You would think it would be easy to get a lens in the 50 through 300 mm range (give or take) that was sharp and didn't weigh 5 lbs or more. It certainly is easy to dream about. The worse thing about this lens is that the AF is slow and it sporadically seeks a new AF but can't find a focus. That isn't a problem for landscapes but getting wee flighty birds in focus and keeping them in focus is a frustration. I had hopes that the new Tamron 28-300mm might be a good walking around lens but haven't been convinced by any of the reviews so far.
Thanks again, most helpful
Gail

[SeanKP]

Love it Gail. I'd just crop a smidge from the top but otherwise leave as is.

Cheers.

Sean

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Very nice Gail, I like it as presented. Like the earth tones and greens. It has a delicate feel to me.

[Lance Peters]

Gail - Like it as it is - Gorgeous BG.

:)

[Nonda Surratt]

NICE catch! One of the hardest of the tree squirrels to catch still. Love the pose, perch and BG.

'Think' this might be a N.A. Red sq. Basically same as the Douglas except for the white underparts and eye rings. You have them both in your neck of the woods, wonderful little guys.

[Desmond Chan]

One sharp and clean image !!!

[Gail Spitler]

Thanks again for the generous comments. Nonda I think you are right about the species. Thanks for the suggestion. My mammal field guides are packed away as we try to finish a home reno project.
Gail