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Thread: New to this forum

  1. #1
    Marshall Faintich
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    Default New to this forum

    Hi,

    I just joined this forum. During the past three years I have taken 100,000+ wildlife photos, starting out with a Sony H5 + 1.7x, and then moving to a Canon 400D + 400mm L f/5.6, and then upgrading my camera body to a Canon 50D. I still use the 400D with other lenses for travel and special applications.

    I am the official photographer and the senior birding editor for the Rockfish Valley Trail, part of the Thomas Jefferson Loop of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail system. I am the author of A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Wintergreen. The Wintergreen area is the 15-mile long Rockfish River Valley and the surrounding mountains in Nelson County, Virginia, located about 30 miles southwest of Charlottesville. This area includes the Wintergreen Resort community, the Rockfish Valley Trail, the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch, and the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Reliable birders have documented more than 200 species of birds in the area.

    Feel free to visit my web site, www.symbolicmessengers.com, and take a look at some of my photos. All of the wildlife photos with filenames ending in Cxxxx are 400D shots, those ending in Dxxxx are 50D shots, and there are a still a few H5 shots on the site.

    Cheers,

    Marshall Faintich

  2. #2
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    Marshal,
    Welcome!

    (It looks like we have similar backgrounds.)

    Roger

  3. #3
    Axel Hildebrandt
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    Welcome to BPN, Marshall! I look forward to seeing some of your images on the forum.

  4. #4
    Marshall Faintich
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    Default Your web site has super photos!

    Hi,

    Just visited your web site - outstanding photos! I especially liked your homepage photo. Are all of your astrophotos taken with digital cameras? Other than a few lunar shots with my Canon 400D/50D + 400mm, I really haven't done any astrophotography for more than a decade. The days, or should I say nights, of 15 minute exposures of invisible moving objects or trying to focus on a planet using eyepiece projection at 16,000mm and f/80 are long past - photographing wildlife is a lot more fun.

    I recently modified my Celestron-8 for terrestrial photography with a focal reducer to change it to 1250mm f/6.3, but need to wait until next autumn to try it out at the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch - too heavy to carry on hikes.

    Looking forward to learning about some new techniques and equipment on this forum.

    Cheers,

    Marshall

  5. #5
    Marshall Faintich
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    Hi Axel,

    My first reply was actually in response to Roger Clark's reply, but thank you as well. You also have some great photos on your web site.

    Cheers,

    Marshall
    www.symbolicmessengers.com

  6. #6
    BPN Member Chris Ober's Avatar
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    You too eh? :) I was in awe the first time I calculated out the focal length and f-stop with eyepiece projection. I've got a C8 too and just swapped out the fork mount for a german eq mount. Would be interested to see the performance with the reducer in place. The attempts I've tried using the scope without one for terrestrial have results been pretty poor but I'm probably doing something wrong.

    This is probably the best I've managed with the planetary stuff http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2181/...6d76c98a_o.jpg

    Have you played with any of the modified webcam stuff yet and registax?

    Quote Originally Posted by Marshall Faintich View Post
    The days, or should I say nights, of 15 minute exposures of invisible moving objects or trying to focus on a planet using eyepiece projection at 16,000mm and f/80 are long past - photographing wildlife is a lot more fun.

    I recently modified my Celestron-8 for terrestrial photography with a focal reducer to change it to 1250mm f/6.3, but need to wait until next autumn to try it out at the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch - too heavy to carry on hikes.

    Looking forward to learning about some new techniques and equipment on this forum.

    Cheers,

    Marshall
    Chris


    0 .· ` ' / ·. 100
    I have a high sarcasm rate. Deal with it.
    include('sarcasm.php')

  7. #7
    Mike Moats
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    Hey Marshall, welcome to BPN, have fun:)

  8. #8
    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Welcome aboard Marshall! Now let's see some of those images make it on to BPN...:)

  9. #9
    Marshall Faintich
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    Chris wrote:

    >You too eh? :) I was in awe the first time I calculated out the focal length and f-stop with eyepiece projection. I've got a C8 too and just swapped out the fork mount for a german eq mount. Would be interested to see the performance with the reducer in place. The attempts I've tried using the scope without one for terrestrial have results been pretty poor but I'm probably doing something wrong.

    >This is probably the best I've managed with the planetary stuff http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2181/...6d76c98a_o.jpg

    >Have you played with any of the modified webcam stuff yet and registax?

    I have only done a very limited test with the C-8 used for terrestrial photography. Here's a comparison of a woodpecker hole in a tree about 200 feet away - one shot with the C-8 at 1250mm f/6.3 400D manual focus and the other from almost the same location with my 50D + 400mm lens at f/8.0 autofocus.

    http://www.symbolicmessengers.com/Mi...mm_compare.jpg

    I think that neither shot is really that great, but both yield about the same results. The C-8 shot has a bit more noise, but the 400mm is slightly less sharp. The real test will be a hawk at 1000 feet away or even more distant.

    Your Mars photo looks better than the ones I took in the 1980's. Haven't done anything with modified webcam stuff yet and registax.

    Cheers,

    Marshall Faintich
    http://www.symbolicmessengers.com

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marshall Faintich View Post
    Hi,

    Just visited your web site - outstanding photos! I especially liked your homepage photo. Are all of your astrophotos taken with digital cameras?
    Thanks, Marshal
    Most of the ones on the page are digital camera images. The ones marked 2000 and earlier are film.

    Quote Originally Posted by Marshall Faintich View Post
    Other than a few lunar shots with my Canon 400D/50D + 400mm, I really haven't done any astrophotography for more than a decade. The days, or should I say nights, of 15 minute exposures of invisible moving objects or trying to focus on a planet using eyepiece projection at 16,000mm and f/80 are long past - photographing wildlife is a lot more fun.
    Digital cameras have higher focal plane resolution than film, so the need for 16,000 mm is no longer needed (been there-done that). For example, with a Canon 50D with 4.7 micron pixels and 1000 mm focal length gives you 0.97 arc-seconds/pixel. So 3000 mm is pretty much more than you would ever need (0.32 arc-sec./pixel).

    Here is Saturn with a 500 mm f/4 + stacked 1.4 and 2x TCx (1400 mm with a Canon 10D):
    http://www.clarkvision.com/astro/saturn.03.02.2004/

    Quote Originally Posted by Marshall Faintich View Post
    I recently modified my Celestron-8 for terrestrial photography with a focal reducer to change it to 1250mm f/6.3, but need to wait until next autumn to try it out at the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch - too heavy to carry on hikes.

    Looking forward to learning about some new techniques and equipment on this forum.
    The problem with telescopes is focus and focus tracking. Back in the 1990s I demonstrated that my homebuilt 6-inch Newtonian had sharper images than most telephoto lenses, but the problem was getting a good focus. Now with live view, that problem is solved. But you still only have manual focus.

    I bought my 500 f/4 L IS lens in 2000 mainly for the purpose of astrophotography but with the idea of some wildlife too. I call it a "Life Changing Lens" because it opened up so many new opportunities. I could also call it a lens that drains the bank account, and not just the purchase. Opening up so many opportunities has led to many many photo trips, all over the world, and that costs far more than the lens. But it has been a wonderful ride (and will continue to be). And astrophotography has taken a back seat. Being at remote locations, like the Serengati, Alaska, and other places is much more fun than freezing in a cold night sitting under the stars (but that is still fun too).

    A supertelephoto lens with autofocus and predictive autofocus tracking of modern cameras opened up action photography that I would never have been able to do with a manual focus telescope. So the cost of the super telephoto in my opinion was small compared to the opportunities and fun it has brought me. And I get more exercise carrying all the heavy gear ;). (I'm not trying to sell you on anything--that's just my story.)

    Roger

  11. #11
    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Welcome aboard Marshall. Looking forward to seeing some of your pictures. Marina

  12. #12
    Co-Founder James Shadle's Avatar
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    Howdy and Welcome to BPN!

  13. #13
    Fabs Forns
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    Red carpet welcome, looking forward to seeing your images :)

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