I’m sitting in a kayak at the Sammamish River mouth on Lake Washington. Three hundred or so Common Mergansers flock nearby─in the slough fishing, roosting on the lake or flying in-between. The heavy birds fly at 40 mph up and down the tree-lined slough, a gauntlet that challenges the electronic viewfinder (EVF) and auto-focus of […]
I biked to the local Ace Hardware last week and picked up a pair of suction cup mounts. Ace sells USA Progrip® Suction Cups online for $4.79/pair; free shipping if you pick it up at a local store. The rubber cup diameter is 3”. They have a ¼-20 female thread, so to mount a ball […]
Nice sunset. When a buck passed by in the foreground, it could have been captured within the scene by zooming out a bit, followed by a quick switch to a wildlife-appropriate Custom Shooting mode. I had neglected that set-up, and I missed the shot. If you haven’t taken advantage of the Canon Custom shooting modes […]
Edited 5/16/2012 Re: Case 5 On a recent shoot with the Canon 5D Mark III, I was photographing a Yellow-rumped Warbler, hand-holding a 500mm f/4 from a kayak. Routine for me—and should be routine with the new 5D III—but the camera failed to pick up the bird. I was on the bird with a focus […]
We all make decisions about photography gear based on perceived need, cost or cost-effectiveness and—as pro photographer John Shaw pointed out—the “lust factor”. I’m guilty on all counts. Here’s what I did last month. Spring is always a transition. In our local (Kirkland, WA) watershed park, Indian Plum blossoms early. Next up are the dazzling […]
Mt. Rainier National Park. A conventional 24mm could capture this shot (maybe), but seeing it is far easier with the TS-E. With the conventional 24mm, the depth-of-field preview button darkens the viewfinder too much; an alternative, an in-camera (digital) test shot evaluation, is time consuming. Near-to-far focus that’s not attainable with a conventional short telephoto […]
I bought a Canon 7D in December, and have used it for some tough bird in flight (BIF) shooting, as well as for perched but flighty songbirds. My hope for the 7D was that I finally had a camera that could nail a high percentage of BIF shots, images that my primary camera, the Canon […]
I looked at upgrading my Canon 50mm f/1.8 II this month, a lens I don’t recall seeing in the lens kit of professionals, or, in recent years, hobbyists. 50mm is a standard focal length for 35mm SLR’s, and f/1.8 a common aperture that goes with it. The 50mm f/1.8 was once the standard kit lens […]