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Hi All
Back from trip..took this shot from a moving boat out off Cape Hatteras, on a day long pelagic trip...tough shooting that day, high winds and 5 foot swells. Thsi was a gorgeous bird too bad it stayed far off. Still not happy with 200-400 with D300, but now its in Nikons hands...so I was using D70.
D70 200-400 f/5 1/2500 +0.3 No VR Monopod 50% crop
Photographing flying seabirds from a boat that is pitching and rolling in the swells is challenging. The bird appears sharp and I like the classic one-wing-up, one-down pose though it is angling slightly away from you. The background conveys the mood of the ocean swells. There appears to be a lot of noise in the water and a bluish cast to the image.
Fully agree with Steve. For photographing from boats you might be better off without the monopod. The birds moving level are fairly easy but anything up and down is difficult. Also if the engine is running the vibrations will be transmitted up the monopod !!!
Thanks for comments. Any idea how to prevent the blueish cast...and what causes it? or is it just the water color in Gulf Stream reflecting back?
I've made a small reduction of blue and brightened up only the bird from original. Looking at post I still see a little change..but it looks a lot brighter on my monitor at home before upload?
Color casts can be corrected quite easily with levels in PS or by adjusting your white balance in Lightroom.
Hi Paul!Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfred Forns
I hope you had a really nice trip. I think Alfred made some good points. Just some thoughts to add, I have also found that the "extremes" of the ship (top, front end, back end) tends to pitch and move much more than an more "central" position. So even if it is impossible to find a "calmer" position, I like to at least try finding a position closer to the centerline of the ship. I also like to find something stationary, like a post to wrap my legs (around for stability) ... I find that the stationary sensory contact then helps my moving arms/ lens to flow along better with the rocking/pitching motion of the ship.
Sorry to hear about your 200-400 ... what kinds of problem were you having?
The 200-400 works much better on the D70, on the D300 focus is not working as well as I'd like...lens is about 5 years old, I did some checking with a focus chart and found at close range it front focuses terribly on D300. I sent it to them to check focus and give unit a good cleaning...maybe a newer chip...they will let me know soon..Thanks
