Motif: High-key Common Nighthawk

[Harold Davis]

Take one piece of advice from me. Forget the camera bodies!! buy the best dang lens you can afford!! i kicked myself continuously for about two hours this afternoon!!!! i was in a swarm of nighthawks. probably about sixty of them!! i didnt even know what they were at the time. heck, i thought they were killdeer.:o they fly like large martins. very erratic.

started with the bigma, just about threw it in the canal. no AF!! then switched to the 18-200VR. while not very fast, it is faster than the bigma. wishing i had the 70-200 2.8:(:( it's a fairly large crop, but i think it held up OK.

D300, 18-200VR at 200mm, f/6.3, 1/1600s, +0.7EV, ISO 640

thanks for looking and listening to the rant. comments and critiques are very much appreciated!!

[Cheryl Flory]

I need to learn how to do these high key images, so I can't comment on that, but wow--great eye contact! and love that wing spread. how about a small frame around the image? or don't you do that with this type of image?

[Harold Davis]

it's all about the bg sky. needs to be bright white. that's it!! just expose for the bird properly and you should have a high key image!! will give you a funky looking histogram, spiked all the way to the right, cause the sky is totally blown out!!!

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Very nice H. Looks like you did well this afternoon.
Looking forward to see you tomorrow.
Regards,

[Desmond Chan]

Take one piece of advice from me. Forget the camera bodies!! buy the best dang lens you can afford!! i kicked myself continuously for about two hours this afternoon!!!! i was in a swarm of nighthawks. probably about sixty of them!! i didnt even know what they were at the time. heck, i thought they were killdeer.:o they fly like large martins. very erratic.

So they are small, I guess?

started with the bigma, just about threw it in the canal. no AF!!

That bad, eh? What focal length you were using with it?

then switched to the 18-200VR. while not very fast, it is faster than the bigma. wishing i had the 70-200 2.8:(:( it's a fairly large crop, but i think it held up OK.

It did, Harold ! Good job !!

As an aside, personally I think high key images are those that don't contain full black, colors may look kind of washed, like looking through fog, soft and dreamy, like those posted by Al.

[Gus Cobos]

Daktari,
You did well considering you changing lenses so quickly...:D:p;):) I always tell you guys that your eyes are always better than your bodies...:eek: Camera bodies come and go; lenses don't. Concentrate on buying the best glass possible and you do the rest...Its not the camera body; its the photographer behind the best glass that you can afford...:D:):cool: Anyway, You did very well, I like the image; you have sharp details and a good capture angle...:cool:

[Lance Peters]

Fantastic MR H - the crop has stood up really well. Love the eye contact and the wing spread.
awesome

[Harold Davis]

desmond, i'd say that their wingspan was about 8-10" wide. as far as the focal length, probably between 200-300mm on the bigma. just would not pick them up with the AF. i was even pre-focusing and it still just wouldnt cut it. i certainly gave it a shot. i tried 51, 21 and 9 point AF on the D300. 21 a little quicker, but not the answer.

thanks everyone for the comments!!

[Harold Davis]

cornell says that the wingspan should be between 21-24". i sure didnt think they were that big, but i guess they could have! sure were fast!!

[Katie Rupp]

The crop held up really well, Harold. Good detail and no HAP for this one!

[Kristin Brown]

I love it!
Kristin

[Dave Slaughter]

Nice image, Harold. It's hard to get good flight shots and these guys move almost as fast as swallows.
I use the bigma's little brother, the 170-500 lens, a lot (I also use a canon 400mm f5.6). For those reading this post, and Harold, correct me if you disagree, I would have to say that these lenses are not crappy but do have limitations. They are slow, and the autofocus is slow, so they are best used for "bird on a branch" type of pictures in good light. Having said that, I've gotten some very sharp shots at 500 mm at about a seventh (or less) than the cost of a canon 500mm prime. Forget the flight shots with them, however.

[Harold Davis]

dave, you are absolutely 100% correct!!!!!!! i could not have said it better!!

[Alfred Forns]

Great point Harold !!!!! Glad you brought up the AF issue with those lenses !!!

Excellent example of a high key image !!!! Proud of you !!!!