Teleconverters and My First Owl Image (Female Great Horned Owl)
I spend a lot of time along the river in my city, and have become accustomed to the wildlife I see in the area. I especially love the Eagles and Ospreys that visit each year. I don't normally come across Owls, and so finding this sleepy mother Owl was a treat. The time of day and the Owl's position placed a huge challenge on getting a good image.
I had my Canon 7D along with the 300mm F4 L lens in my hand while I walked in the park. A fellow wildlife photographer saw me and pointed out the Owl sitting fairly high up in the tree. I rushed in and took a few images with the 300mm lens, but it just wasn't close enough. In my backpack I keep my 1.4x and 2x teleconverters, as well as a monopod. So I took out the teleconverters and tried different combinations. After going through the images at home I was surprised to find that I liked the photos that I got with the stacked teleconverters.
Basically the setup order looked like this, starting with the body: Canon 7D + 1.4x + 2x + 300mm
The exposure settings were as follows:
ISO = 1000
F-stop = f14
Shutter = 1/250
I had the IS turned on, and using the monopod I was able to get a few images that were keepers, but at 1/250 it was a challenge. I was manually focusing using Live-view. The total focal length used is 840mm, and that's not including the 1.6x Canon crop factor.
Now, the image is actually a combination of two shots. With the stacked tele's I couldn't fit the whole Owl in the field of view. I ended up stitching two images together to get the full bird in the photo. This is a little trick that Arthur Morris pointed out in one of his lectures (he had a picture of a bear that was stitched together as a panorama in order to get the whole bear in the shot --- brilliant).
I was rushing at the end to beat the light and didn't think any of the images with the extreme combination would be keepers. Now I wish I had properly composed that last shot to avoid cutting off the tail feathers, but I'll take what I can get for now. I had to edit out a few of the branches using photoshop.
Given that this is a stacked converter, the IQ is quite decent at least at this reduced size. The shooting angle is quite steep and the owl was sleeping, so from the image stand point, it is not so cool. If I were you, I'd not have bothered with stacking the teleconverters since you were relatively close and I suspect the IQ would have been better with just 1 converter. Next time try to find something at a less steep angle. Not sure if you food have stepped back and still see the owl. Loi
Moe - first impression the bird is too large in the frame. If you had gone further back you would have reduced the angle at which the bird was captured. Alternatively you could have used one TC and it would have been big enough in the first place. I mage quality and exposure looks good. In terms of a technical exercise I think you did well.
I don't see this as an aesthetically pleasing image, and like Jonathan said it was more a technical exercise because of the birds awkward position. I wanted more detail in the talons for my own personal documentation, and the stacking gave me what the lens or 1.4x alone didn't. And mind you there were various factors affecting each image I took, and my "steady" hands probably screwed up the wider shots. Stitching the images together was something I thought of while reviewing the images at home, hence my disappointment with the cut-off tail feathers.
Teleconverters are always a challenge, and I know they have limitations. And when you combine that with the limitations of the 7D in low light situations, you get an even greater challenge. I just wanted to post a situation that was geared (pun intended) towards gear and my first up-close chance with an Owl. I've seen them before, but never with a camera in hand.
I wonder what the general consensus on teleconverters is on this forum. Do you hate them and would never own one, or do you keep one or two in your bag? I'm just thinking (or typing) out loud. This is one question I should post under the equipment section.
I have the 1.4TC111 and 2.0 TC 11. Only recently bought the 1.4 TC 111 because I intend buying the new 100-400 to which it should be well suited.
Since I have gone full frame I use the 2x with my 500mm without hesitation, I just ensure a fast shutter speed and I have never had negative feedback regarding sharpness/quality - quite the reverse in fact.
In short I do not hesitate to use them but if I can get away without using them then this has got to be a better option because no matter how little image quality must degrade when adding more air to glass surfaces.
The 2x 111 TC is reputed to be better tan the 11, but unless you take two images of the same subject with both TC I think kmost people would be hard pressed to tell them apart, possibly one may require a tad more contrast to compete with the other. The 111 series is also supposed to offer quicker AF but using a 500 and a 2x TC for BIF shots it not really a good idea.
Yes, a good technical exercise, and yes, a great view of the talons. Like the others, I am not crazy about the steep angle...but the light, and details look good. Question: Were these original vertical? If not, you could have fitted th tail that way...
The original images were taken horizontal, I wanted to get a little more breathing room to the left, and keep the main branch in the image. I like how it looks. But you make a good point, I should have taken a few vertical photos to avoid the tail being clipped.
Now that I think about it, I have a habit of taking most of my images horizontal. I gotta work on that habit….
A nice image with very impressive detail for stacked TCs. I wouldn't have thought you could use them successfully with that f/4 lens. I would expect better IQ with only the 1.4x, then probably no need to stack. But in a situation where you are going to stack, no need to limit it to two frames. Three would also work, but best if you go to manual focus and exposure to get better matching in the frames.
Thanks for the feedback Diane. Good point about the stacking, why stop at 2 if you have a static subject. And I use to be sceptical using teleconverters with the 300mm F4 lens, but it's one sharp lens (well at least my copy). You need to be accurate with your manual focus, that's where live-view really helps. It's surprising what details you can pull out, especially if you're just looking to document wildlife. And yes, definitely keeping things in manual mode is key so that you don't screw up the exposure.
Teleconverters and My First Owl Image (Female Great Horned Owl)
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