[gary88]

Ferrari by garyhebding, on Flickr

[UdubBadger]

#becausefreeBTM

[M_Six]

#becauseWTFareyoutalkingabout

[UdubBadger]

Chi stuff

#youwouldntunderstandcountryboy

[Chewy734]

stupid hashtags...

[MaximusJ]

[dcstep]

Nice one J-F. I really like the light and emphasis on the flowers, but good detail on the bee.

[MaximusJ]

Thanks Dave. I had a hard time getting a nice shot of that bee. Too many flowers to dig in so he was constantly moving. And those buggers are moving FAST when they decide to move.

I've planted some flowers and put up some bird feeders to attract some more subjects this summer. We got a couple hummingbirds hanging around. I couldnt get proper shots of them last summer (But I was using automatic mode on my d5000) so the only shots I got were blurry. (Go figure)

One of my photog goals for the summer is to snap a sharp pic of one of these. I will get nicer pics with my 24-70 then with the 70-200 tho. (This pic is from the 70-200).

[dcstep]

The 70-200mm is great for bees, flowers and hummingbirds. Add a 1.4x or 2.0x Teleconverter and a 25mm Extension Tube to increase magnification and get even closer. Use the zoom to get the bee close to focus and then literally move the camera in and out to get perfect focus. The DOF is really shallow, but the bee will snap into focus when you get the distance right. It only takes a little practice.

With hummingbirds, it's often good to sit there near their feeder and wait for them to get used to you and come close. Find out what flowers they like and put some in near the feeder. It's easier to get shots on the feeder, but shots on flowers are much better to look at.

For all these subjects, don't be afraid of ISO 800 in order to get your shutter speed in the 1/1000 to 1/2000-sec. range.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

I dont know if its common to all DSLR, but my D7000 doesnt AF very well when using extension tubes. So I had to manually focus everytime i've put a tube on. But the DOF is so shallow when using more then 30mm, sometimes a part of my subject is OOF. 24mm was perfect for me (used on my spider shots in last contest). And with more then 24mm, you have to be danger close to your subject to get a focussed shot.

As for the lens itself, the problem I had with it is the focus distance. The bee shot i've posted is the closest I could get before going OOF. So I think I will get clearer shots with the 24 70 and extension tube, but will be short on the focal range. I'm gonna have to trial and error on this.

The TC is the next thing on my shopping list. I just need to get a nice deal on the version III of Nikon's TC. I've seen a comparo of the two lasts versions and the II version is not even worth looking at compared to the version III.

[panicos81]

.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

I dont know if its common to all DSLR, but my D7000 doesnt AF very well when using extension tubes. So I had to manually focus everytime i've put a tube on. But the DOF is so shallow when using more then 30mm, sometimes a part of my subject is OOF. 24mm was perfect for me (used on my spider shots in last contest). And with more then 24mm, you have to be danger close to your subject to get a focussed shot.

As for the lens itself, the problem I had with it is the focus distance. The bee shot i've posted is the closest I could get before going OOF. So I think I will get clearer shots with the 24 70 and extension tube, but will be short on the focal range. I'm gonna have to trial and error on this.

The TC is the next thing on my shopping list. I just need to get a nice deal on the version III of Nikon's TC. I've seen a comparo of the two lasts versions and the II version is not even worth looking at compared to the version III.

I use Canon ETs with my Canon lenses and the all "Report" EXIF. When the effective aperture gets smaller than f/5.6, then AF will slow dramatically or stop. I suspect the same is true with Nikon prosumer bodies.

With shallow DOF you want to get the eye in focus and you do this by physically moving the camera in and out. Take lots of shots and try to get either head-on or side views, where the shallow DOF is less of a worry. It's interesting to observe that if you get the eye in focus and show lots of details around the eyes, no one worries about all the OOF stuff.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

When I do that, I shoot in continuous. So even if the prime shot is OOF, you have chances to get one that is dead on focus and doing so prevents you from having to reshoot the pic.

Besides, you never know what kind of unique event you could snap by doing so.

[gary88]

BMW E28 M5 by garyhebding, on Flickr

[UdubBadger]

nice gar, whole foods lot?

[gary88]

M5 night at the manhole.

[The1]

Originally Posted by gary88

M5 night at the manhole.

is that the bar badger likes to go to?

[UdubBadger]

only cuz I hear you dance there on occasion

[The1]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

only cuz I hear you dance there on occasion

can't believe you keep missing me. Tuesdays and Thusdays are your best shot at catching me there.

[The1]

my late addition to the pile of super moon photos. 100% cropped with the 7D and 100-400mm lens.

it's a bit dark, but I didn't want to bring up too much noise with brightening it too much.

Also, it was the day before the super moon. But you pretty much can't tell the difference.

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by The1

can't believe you keep missing me. Tuesdays and Thusdays are your best shot at catching me there.

I don't want to interfere with you and Chewy's date nights

[The1]

they are special.... But 3 are better then 2!!!