Homer IPT - Perched Eagle headshot from Moving Boat - Focusing Technique

[Mark Farnan]

Howdy all.

Homer Eagles again. Fraid I failed in my 'post a day' effort however now that I am back, here are some more from the trip.

Canon 1dIV with 800mm f5.6, + 2x converter
f11 @ 1/1250/s Manual focus, no flash. Manual mode.
Tripod, Mongoose head. Shot from bow of the Boat.

Minor Adjustments only in Lightroom, no sharpening. Slight asthetic crop. (happy to post the full frame if anyone would like)






As this was shot from a moving boat, getting it sharp was always going to be a challenge. Here were the issues, and what I did.
- Shot from a Boat, with several people moving around on it, and a light swell
- Boat was moving back and forth as the skipper worked the current to keep us in perfect sun angle positon with this fella, with nice background.
- Couldn't actually get any closer, as he would fly away. (and he did later when we tried)
- Manual Focus only with the 2x, no focus tracking at F11.

Solution (cause I really wanted the headshot on this guy at as many pixels as I could get. )
- Waited till we were moving forwards in the cycle, both to open the right background, and because forwards was going to be WAY easier than backwards.
- Focused normally (manually), on the bird, using the focus notification in the 1D4 to know when I was close.
- Backed the focus off a bit so I was slight FRONT focused.
- Held down the trigger as the boat moved forward for a couple feet.

Once we had moved appox 3 feet. I stoped shooting, adjusted the focus and framing again, and did another shoot. (Framing was all over the place as the boat moved and rolled).

In effect, used the boats movment to "focus bracket" to get the shot.
I have about 8 razor sharp shots of different poses using this method, so can confirm it worked, and was not a 'once off'.


There are a number of forums on the net, which carry on about lens sharpness, the fact that 'all teleconverters suck', you can't focus manually with a DSLR, the 800 + 2x is not sharp, etc etc.
I belive this is a good demonstration that most of the technical arguments, much pixel peeing, and all the rest, often fall flat in the face of what is possible IN THE FIELD.

Below is 100% crop of the birds eye and Bill. I belive this meets any definition of 'sharp' that I use at least, but please, you be the judge !!



All Comments welcome.

Regards

Mark.

PS:. Incase anyone was wondering why I was using a 2x, it is cause I wanted a tight headshot with lots of pixels.
Yes, I did shoot this bird without the 2x as well, I did 800 alone, 800 +1.4x and 800+2x, also 70-200 with 1.4x for environment.
He was just Gorgeous in the morning light.

[Doug Brown]

Impressive sharpness for such extreme focal length on a moving boat! Thanks for sharing your technique!

[Doug Brown]

Forgot to ask you a question: 2x III or II?

[Mark Farnan]

Both 1.4 and 2x I was using all trip are mk III's.

Regards

Mark

[Jim Crosswell]

Beutiful image Mark! I like the sharpness, details and how the Eagle stands out from the BG.

[Grace Scalzo]

Impressive work, Mark. You created a very pleasing image. Thanks for explaining the challenges and your methods for overcoming them.

[Doug Brown]

Both 1.4 and 2x I was using all trip are mk III's.

If you can pull off f/11 with the 2x III, the results can be pretty impressive!

[Arthur Morris]

Mark showed some really good thinking to create this one as the boat was indeed moving at all times and pitching a bit. I never even thought of the 2X.... Mahhhrk (he traveled from Australia to join the Homer IPT) is a pleasant guy, always smiling. And y'all know how I feel about happy campers. He is so tall and so wide that I told him that if he comes on another IPT that I was gonna charge him double!

Mark, as digital images are inherently unsharp as compared to film images it is best to sharpen your JPEGs for posting. I recommend Unsharp Mask at 0.3 between 130 and 200 for most 1024 wide images.

I did not know that pixels could urinate..... ("much pixel peeing"). Best also to avoid the internet experts.... According to them none of my lenses are sharp and none of my cameras can focus accurately. Not to mention TCs as you mentioned .

It was great meeting you chap. And great seeing you here.

ps: baited.

[Tom Rambaut]

Great image Mark and shows what is possible - since starting to use a 2x with my 500mm I have not taken it off. Lovley detail in the whites and smart looking bird to boot.

[Mark Farnan]

Mark showed some really good thinking to create this one as the boat was indeed moving at all times and pitching a bit. I never even thought of the 2X.... Mahhhrk (he traveled from Australia to join the Homer IPT) is a pleasant guy, always smiling. And y'all know how I feel about happy campers. He is so tall and so wide that I told him that if he comes on another IPT that I was gonna charge him double!

Mark, as digital images are inherently unsharp as compared to film images it is best to sharpen your JPEGs for posting. I recommend Unsharp Mask at 0.3 between 130 and 200 for most 1024 wide images.

I did not know that pixels could urinate..... ("much pixel peeing"). Best also to avoid the internet experts.... According to them none of my lenses are sharp and none of my cameras can focus accurately. Not to mention TCs as you mentioned .

It was great meeting you chap. And great seeing you here.

ps: baited.

Hehe excuse the Typo's !.

I agree on the sharpening, I did not sharpen these JPeg's as they were for demonstration out of camera.

Was a great trip.

Regards

Mark

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

yes to incredibly sharp and perfect exposure. well done.

[Michael Lloyd]

On it's own, without the background information, the shot is awesome. Knowing that it was on a pitching boat and shot with an 800 x 2 makes it amazing! Nicely done!

[denise ippolito]

Mark, Great job with the sharpness and getting in tight for this one!