Room for One

[Steve Canuel]

From last Summer, I got this Cormorant just after he popped up out of the water and onto this perch. Water was choppy because of passing thunderstorms with the sun momentarily poking through some holes in the clouds. 40D, 400DO + 2xTC, f10, 1/500s, ISO 400, +1/3 EC, tripod, MLU, cable release, cropped from top, bottom, and right.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Steve, I was reading about the 400MM DO, I rarely see it used with the 2X TC combination. Wow, 800MM of FL with this setup (not to mention 1.6 factor), I assume this is a rather large crop.

The exposure looks good given the weather, is it a bit underexposed or just shadow highlights. Looks good anyway you slice it. Nice composition, forward and looking back out of frame. Great HA, eye and pose - sweet picture.

[Grace Scalzo]

Steve, I like your title and the bird's beautiful eye. On my monitor, it looks as if you could open up the dark areas a bit and see if they have some details.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Steve, you are right, no room for anyone else on that perch. Typical cormy pose, and interesting eye colour. I know you enjoy the country, do you have water spots close to where you live?

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Steve,My Dad, just bought the same lens, and we have a question for you, your capture is very sharp indeed. Did the 2 TC AF , or dd you have to MF, and if AF works, i suppose anything over F8 would AF, is this Correct???
Don

[Steve Canuel]

Thanks for the comments.

Jeff,
Not a large crop (probably 85-90% of original) but a little taken off the top, bottom, and right.

Grace,
I seem to be preferring darker shadows than most with my recent posts :)

Don,
I had to manually focus this shot. I also used mirror lock up and a cable release. Obviously not for use with too active subjects. With good light I can focus through the viewfinder but its easier to use Live View as long as you can see the screen in the ambient light. Engaging the IS helps stabilize the image for focusing but I usually turn it off after I get it focused. The 2xTC will AF with a 1-Series. (I did get AF on occasion with the 40D and a non-reporting Quantaray 2xTC. An $80 experiment that now serves as an extension tube :) ).