Theme : Juvenile Bearded Vulture a Landscape Portrait

[Wayne Niz]

Hi All,

A fantastic visit to Giants Castle a name given to a part of the Drakensberg Mountain range in Kwa Zulu Natal South Africa. They have a well situated vulture hide from where various birds of prey are often viewed. The main attraction however are the few Bearded Vultures that live in these mountains as they are now critically endangered in Southern Africa. I was fortunate to spot 2 adults and 3 juveniles and managed to get quite a few pictures. Unfortunately during the day and a half visit only one of the vultures actually landed relatively close to the hide but soon left after persistent harassments by a gang of thug crows. Did get to do a whole bunch of BIF pictures though which was awesome. The vultures are gliders so opportunity for wing position other than "pancake" is almost non existent. They are super efficient with the use of thermals and wind - they need to be with a wingspan that can get to 2.6m.... This pic is a crop from one of the BIF pictures that I managed to get

R5
600 ef4 ii
1/5000
f5.6
iso 1250
Sticks and gimbal

[dankearl]

Wow, very cool shot. A lot of nice detail and cool crop..

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Wayne, can you post the FF version, there might be another crop option, as this is a wee bit tight as presented IMHO!!!!

Detail is there, but wonder if it's just a little too sharp?

TFS
Steve

[Wayne Niz]

Hey dan

Thanks very much they are awesome subjects

[Wayne Niz]

Hi Wayne, can you post the FF version, there might be another crop option, as this is a wee bit tight as presented IMHO!!!!

Detail is there, but wonder if it's just a little too sharp?

TFS
Steve

Hey Steve,

This was one of the last of a burst of pics that I took while panning with the bird as he was descending, so as you can see pretty much stuck in the bottom right corner, but will be very intrested to see what your thoughts are. I have also left the image as is without any processing other than the Dxo raw conversion, so you can see the detail pre Topaz Sharpening.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Wayne, sadly for me, it's just too tight at the foot so no real opportunities unless you crop hard in.

As I said earlier detail is there, but in the OP it's just too sharp in my book creating sharp, had edges, the second posting is better.

Thanks
Steve

[William Dickson]

Different for sure....I actually quite like the OP...not much more you could have done here Wayne....Sounds like great fun..

Will

[John Mack]

Well, I can see why it's called a bearded vulture. I can also see why you choose this crop after seeing the original.

[Dorian Anderson]

The crop is what is it given the full frame, but the detail is just amazing. The feathering is beautiful. I am hoping to purchase an R5 later in the year, so this gives me a lot to look forward to, especially compared to my 20MP DX2!

[Wayne Niz]

Hi Wayne, sadly for me, it's just too tight at the foot so no real opportunities unless you crop hard in.

As I said earlier detail is there, but in the OP it's just too sharp in my book creating sharp, had edges, the second posting is better.

Thanks
Steve

Hey Steve
Thank you for your input, I really was looking for a "portrait" shot and this was the closest pic that I got to show the detail of the vultures beard which sets it apart. The sharpness of the image is really mostly as shot, the before and after using Topaz was actually very slight, but I take your point.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment
Cheers

[Wayne Niz]

Different for sure....I actually quite like the OP...not much more you could have done here Wayne....Sounds like great fun..

Will

Hey Will
It was an awesome day and I really feel honored to have seen these majestic beasts

Thanks for commenting
Cheers

[Wayne Niz]

Well, I can see why it's called a bearded vulture. I can also see why you choose this crop after seeing the original.

Hi John
Objective achieved then for me
Cheers

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice close up details. looks natural to me

but the crop is awkward and isn't working for me. given the FF nothing you can do to salvage this one.... You need to catch him earlier when he is not so close and big in the frame...it is going to be tough to make keeper flight shots shooting off a tripod.

TFS

[Wayne Niz]

The crop is what is it given the full frame, but the detail is just amazing. The feathering is beautiful. I am hoping to purchase an R5 later in the year, so this gives me a lot to look forward to, especially compared to my 20MP DX2!

Hi Dorian,

The R5 is a beast... and if you have a few EF great whites they will work seamlessly. I cannot compare the R5 to other systems as I have never tried them but I think it is a really good camera and with the 600 ef ii with the TC 1.4 iii or the 2 iii it will give you all the range you need. I would not get the R6 ( I also have one as my second shooter with a 100-400 that I normally have with me) as although it is a fantastic camera in its own right, the 20mp is limiting when you need to crop.
The R5 compatibility with EF lenses actually makes it a bit of a bargain to be honest as I think the EF lenses are freely available second hand and even new the pricing is very competitive. I do not use video other than the odd bits so I cannot comment on the overheating issue - it certainly from a stills perspective never been an issue. The battery life is also way understated I think they say 300 pictures, I have the grip with two batteries and you will get 10 times that with two batteries...

It is a stellar camera in my view and worth the wait

Cheers

[Wayne Niz]

very nice close up details. looks natural to me

but the crop is awkward and isn't working for me. given the FF nothing you can do to salvage this one.... You need to catch him earlier when he is not so close and big in the frame...it is going to be tough to make keeper flight shots shooting off a tripod.

TFS

Hi Arash,

Thank you for your comments, really was just using this particular pic for the portrait, I will be posting more "technically acceptable" pics that i think I did manage to get. Hand holding a 600ef ii for a whole day you are going to need to spend some time in the gym

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Arash,

Thank you for your comments, really was just using this particular pic for the portrait, I will be posting more "technically acceptable" pics that i think I did manage to get. Hand holding a 600ef ii for a whole day you are going to need to spend some time in the gym

I used to handhold the canon 600 II all day long. Not difficult if you shoot efficiently.

A lighter handhold lens gets you much better flight shots than a tripod mounted lens. This is the first thing we teach in the field. Any flight photographer whose salt is worth anything will tell you the same.

BTW this is a head shot not a portrait really. ;)

[Steve Kaluski]

I am hoping to purchase an R5 later in the year, so this gives me a lot to look forward to, especially compared to my 20MP DX2!

Hey Dorian, if you can, 'test drive' the R5 before you buy. Also, one of the biggest factors is light and what you shoot in on a regular basis, the R5 needs more SS than you think and if light is of a premium, then 1DX2 would suit your needs, no need to change, or perhaps think about the R6, also is it only Social media you upload images too, or do you sell too? Having mega pixels is nice, but 21mpx is fine too.

The R3 is getting pricey, around $6k I would guess and not the 'Flagship', plus who knows on the R1 and what that might be on both price and delivery date.

I shoot with the 1DXMK3 & R5, but chop and change depending on the conditions, in that way it gives me scope depending on the light, but also what I'm shooting, as 'Mirrorless' is oh so nice if you have skittish subjects, especially when they are within metres of you.

The R5 has a very 'extensive' menu, far greater than the 1DX's, it's definitely not a camera you take straight out of the box, so think about Artie's guide, albeit I've not seen it, but you do need a good referral on setting it up, I've hone mine many times to suit my needs now over the last 9 months. Finally as Wanye mentioned, buy the grip, additional battery, but I would also suggest the Control Ring mount adaptor and a minimum of a 128 CF Express card, plus second card.