Nikon D4 - Auto ISO (Fav Feature)

I've been shooting with the Nikon D4 now for about 9 months or so. Some of the cool features are:

1. Auto-Bracketing with gaps between shots of up to 3 stops.  You can shoot for an HDR, and in 3 exposures get either -2, 0, +2, or even as much as -3, 0, +3.
2. Bonus feature when bracketing is if you use the timer setting enabled, when you click the shutter for the first time it will take all the shots for you without having to depress the shutter again.
3. Being able to toggle the focus modes, and focus point count from outside the menus is nice.  It took a bit to learn but now it is easy to recall how to adjust things.
4. ISO adjustment is pretty straightforward with the D4, and the addition of being able to toggle Auto ISO on and off from the switches and dials works well.  You can enable/disable Auto ISO by holding the rear-ISO button and then turning the Front sub command dial.

And there it is, my favorite feature of the D4: Auto ISO.

The way I have come to use it is in two modes: Aperture Priority and Manual Mode.

Auto ISO in Aperture Priority works as you would expect - you set the aperture and the shutter speed changes depending on the available light and value you've set for Auto ISO and minimum shutter speed.  I have this set to 1/focal length.  So at 200mm it tries to maintain 1/200th of a second.  And at 500mm it tries to maintain 1/500th of a second.  As with normal Aperture Priority mode, the EV adjustment will tweak the brightness of the exposure up or down as it is adjusted + or -EV.

The down side to Aperture Priority is all you get to control is the Aperture.  And indirectly you can control the shutter speed if it gets low so that it will roughly match your focal length.

This will work with many cameras that support Auto ISO, but it works very well with the Nikon D4 since it allows greater control of how Auto ISO engages (focal length) and how clean the higher ISOs are.  I have my max ISO set to 10,000.  That's a pretty big number, and the image quality will suffer some, but in light that is that low, the ISO is upped and the camera does its job trying to get a sharp image based on focal length.

What I've described so far is great, you set the Aperture and the minimum shutter speed based on focal length (plus some EV adjustment) and the camera does the rest.

Here's how I really like to use Auto ISO though:  I shoot in Manual mode!  In manual mode I set the shutter, and the aperture.  The Auto ISO will NOT enforce the focal length adjustment since the shutter speed is manually set.  But it will cap the ISO at the max that has been set.  The exposure will also be adjusted to + or - EV even though the camera is set to manual!  The camera will operate like it does in aperture mode where EV is taken in to account, unlike in regular manual mode. 

In Auto ISO and Manual exposure mode I control the shutter, the aperture and the exposure bias via the EV adjustment.  The ISO will fluctuate up and down to meet the intended exposure.  The ISO will be adjusted both up (as expected to boost sensitivity) and down (to not blow things out).  This might be a bit unexpected, but it will allow you to go from say manual ISO at 400, to enabling Auto ISO and the resulting exposures might have ISO from 100 to 10,000! 



What this then allows is for in normal to mixed light, you can get the camera to operate at the cleanest ISO possible.  In manual mode with Auto ISO, the only thing the changes is the ISO, and it will go to the lowest value that attains the proper exposure.  And if the conditions change greatly, so will the ISO (up the max already set).

Here's another example of full manual with Auto ISO enabled.  This is shot at 1/60th of a second at f/13 and the ISO auto adjusted to ISO 140.  For these shots what I really wanted to control is the shutter speed to get a good pan, and then the f/stop to get more DoF (so focus would be more forgiving at slow shutter speeds).

That's it, probably my favorite feature of the D4 - AUTO ISO!

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Nikon D4 - Auto ISO (Fav Feature)

Snow Geese in DE MD VA area 2012

Last year (2012) was an odd year for Snow Geese. There were some here and there but it seemed like the largest group was in the Prime Hook NWR DE area. Counts were roughly 200,000!


I managed to get out there a couple times and saw the most I've seen anywhere. But there were so many that they came and went and were all over the place so I doubt I ever saw the "full" group.



On one particular occasion I went hunting for a group that had left the refuge proper, any group really. And I found a couple groups in fields about 5 or 10 miles out.
This group was north west of PHNWR:




I don't know what 2013 holds in the way of Snow Geese. I heard there were some at Bombay Hook last month, and I think I saw a photo with a small number from Prime Hook recently...

But where are the huge number of Snow Geese in 2013? If you know, please share you info in a comment.

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Snow Geese in DE MD VA area 2012

Peregrine Falcons in Wildwood New Jersey

I went to Cape May NJ this weekend and stayed in Wildwood, which
is just up the coast from Cape May.

Yesterday morning when heading out to shoot for sunrise in Cape May, I heard what I thought could be a Peregrine Falcon atop the building next to where I was staying. Without any light, I couldn't really judge it but had just a hunch. All I could see was something, hawk-like, perched along the edge of a roofline. The call sounds like a PF to me, but I am not so good at judging calls, especially at 6am in the dark.

On a side note, that's one of the things I learned with experience - know that you don't know things. It is too easy to take a tiny thread of evidence and jump to a conclusion... While it is somewhat comforting to feel like you know everything and can ID this or that bird, it is actually counter productive because it can stifle the urge to actually learn more (because you think you know it all already, and can then make a judgement which you then want to defend.)

Anyway, back to my in the dark spotting of a possible Peregrine Falcon. So, that was yesterday, today I slept in and left my hotel a bit late, around an hour after sunrise. I decided to sleep in and relax - since I had already shot: sunset, sunrise, sunset, sunrise, and sunset in a row.

As I left I heard the same screeching/calling coming from the same spot atop the neighboring building to where I was staying.




So, with some light and this being the second time I thought I heard a PF, I got to a better vantage point and spotted this guy.




Within a few minutes of checking this guy out, I realized there was actually a second Peregrine up there to the right. Before I could try to get both in a photo, the second one took flight and sort of circled over me and then went back to the roof area.



As luck would have it, this was a banded bird and my quick shots seem to show a black and green band, with 22 on black (top) and b? on green (bottom).

The banded bird then flew in to what looked to be a hidden gutter - so my guess is that this pair is calling this building home. It is a somewhat new building in Wildwood, and would make sense that they would pick it. It is around 13 stories tall and the neighboring building I was in was just 5 stories.





I've reported the sighting and location to NJ Audubon folks so hopefully they can get more info on the spot and determine whether or not they are actually living/nesting at that location. I will be sure to check it again as well as the beach nearby - I have heard stories of PF's catching and eating prey along the beach and would certainly like to see that for myself.

-Jon
--50--

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Peregrine Falcons in Wildwood New Jersey

Not in a rush anymore

For quite a while I was in a rush. A panic, motivated, rush, to see, shoot, get, photograph, share. I'm not anymore. It took about 4-5 years of that before it really changed.



So, what was previously a daily task of posting an image, something hopefully grabbing, something cool, is now a weekly, or monthly, or who knows task. I really no longer feel a drive to share. I feel a drive to try to take good images. But not to share, not to 'feed the machine' or keep 'posting to flickr daily'.

I don't know that I am shooting any less. Maybe slightly here or there, but I'm still trying to get out and could be shooting 100's a day, nearly a couple thousand over a weekend when I am at it.

The photo in this post is a foliage shot from Vermont taken a couple years ago. I did not post anything from this trip prior to today.

One of the things I've hoped to do is to shoot during an event, a season, and then share just prior to it when it happens again, say a year or two later. This is now one of those things, I waited about 23 months to finally post some foliage images.

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Not in a rush anymore

Osprey update June 30, 2011

I haven't been to visit "my" nest in a couple weeks. Last I checked the 3 chicks were doing well.

(6/19/2011)



I visited tonight and was met with a sad sight. One of the 3 osprey died, and is still in the nest.

(6/30/2011)


The chick in the background was really bothered by the situation, just looking at its sibling that wouldn't move any more. And it bothered me too.



I couldn't tell what the cause was for sure until I got home and reviewed the images closely, but I had a suspicion. I thought maybe a hook from a snagged fishing line had managed to be eaten by the osprey. But it appears that the osprey chick got tangled in the line and died from that.

There wasn't much to do, but I reported it to someone that can hopefully get a visit from someone that can remove the dead bird.

And to be expected, mom was still mom, and yipped a couple times. And dad came by with a fish, circled a few times, and then delivered a fish. And then mom fed the (2) chicks.

Life goes on.

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Osprey update June 30, 2011

Have Fun - Flickr

Every few days or weeks I notice that someone has favorited one of my flickr multi-image posts, and often especially this Red-Tailed Hawk set of posts.





There was someone on flickr, and it hit facebook too, where ppl turned posted individual images in to posting collages or multi-tile images one post at a time....



I first saw it on flickr, but soon realized ppl were doing something similar on facebook to create sets that when viewed as thumbnails created a single image.

Whatever you do with your images, have fun. Post. Print. Sell. Share. Donate. Take images and do something with them - and have fun.

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Have Fun - Flickr

Maine Osprey 2011

My brother has been getting in to photography a lot lately and found an awesome spot for Osprey in Maine. There's a river and a run of fish going on now, and well, the river's pretty narrow and there's lots of fish and osprey. It's an awesome spot.

A half hour's walk through the woods and then there it is.



Continued...




In a few days I've gone a few times and spent quite a few hours there. There are all show with a 500mm handheld and cropped some...



The spot is setup pretty nicely, by late morning the light is working its way to the side of the river and behind the spot to shoot from.






While there my brother and I were both initially put off because of some hikers and people fishing there along the river. But after a while, I realized that by this not being an untraveled spot the osprey are actually more accustomed to people being around.

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Maine Osprey 2011

All I get is butt shots!

Ok, so, I haven't posted in months. I ran in to someone today and they said "All I get is butt shots!"

I think I might be able to help, and this seemed a like a good topic to tackle.

It just so happens that while browsing past images this one struck me. I had already done the edit, and tonight framed it and added a logo.



So, first thing is - sometimes a butt shot is ok and cool.

But if what is happening is that every time you see a bird it flies away, then yeah, that's a problem.

Birds will do what they are doing until they want to do something else. If you are not there they will do their own thing. If you are there, you can either watch and see what they'd do on their own, or you can influence things and then see their reaction. The trick really is to be observant, and to tell when your presence is affecting things.

With some observation, you can start to guess at what might or might not cause the flight-response.

I've even used that simple premise as a way to get CLOSER to birds. Here's how - if I see a bird, I'm watching, and I see someone else on a trajectory towards me and the bird, I will back off. Give the bird lots of room, so I am no longer a part of the equation. Then I (sometimes, and sometimes succeeding) have tried to predict what the person approaching might do, and what the bird might react by doing. Then I've moved and sat or positioned myself in a non-threatening position, and waited. It doesn't always work out, but some times it does.

Butts shouldn't always be seen as a bad thing.



But if that's all you get to see you need to rethink your approach and try to think like the bird a little.

If you are approaching to the point that the bird always flies away, then, you need to not approach so close and learn to read the birds better. Some birds don't like friends and will always fly away (like a kingfisher) but others will tolerate you if you do it right.


Other things you can do to limit your impact when out looking for birds are:

turn off cell phone

travel alone

put the sun at YOUR back

secure your car keys so they make no sound

secure your camera gear so it makes no sound

wear camo or colors that don't jump out (contrast-wise) while out shooting

Good luck,
-Jon

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All I get is butt shots!

Cape May - Skimmers and Light

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/


Cape May is a hot spot for bird watching during fall migration. The way the state tapers off to the cape/point of New Jersey acts like a funnel where birds follow the land south and end up there, running out of coast/land and then momentarily stuck to think it over.

According to the local bird watchers who are in the know, approximately 80% of the birds that pass through the cape are immature/juvenile birds. The main reason being it is easier to migrate south 100% over land, avoiding the Delaware Bay and the water crossing. Adults know enough to take the easier inland route, while the first year birds don't. These young ones can cross but they have to stop and think about it, and then muster up the courage to make the trip over the open water.

In 2009 I made a couple trips to Cape May and this year I did 6 or 7 trips (multiple days each trip). The migrating hawks and falcons, and little birds / song birds (passerines) are most people's favorites. And they are mine too, except for the black skimmers, they are so fun to watch, and offer such great chances.



Last year I shot the skimmers a lot at sunrise and sunset and this year I did the same. Trying to get the flock and some nice light together is what makes them extra special. The skimmers might sit on the beach most of the day doing next to nothing, but around sunrise and sunset they are full of action.



As the fall season passes most of the early skimmers to leave are mature ones. By November the flock of black skimmers in Cape May is mainly juvenile birds.




Birds of Prey
This year I finally got to experience what the big big push of birds is like - seeing hawks and falcons on the frequency of seconds, not minutes or hours. Seriously. All this year it was just a couple of the days I was there, and one especially, when the action was just crazy.

The best days I had were a day or two after a storm passed through, with the backside of the weather creating winds out of the ~west which groups up the migrating birds along the coast. Perfect.



Next year I am going to visit lots again, and I will try to focus more on the migrating birds of pray. It is (too) easy to split time between them and the skimmers. Most of my visits this year were in October, and next year I am going to go a bit more earlier.

--50--

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Cape May - Skimmers and Light

Chincoteague NWR, Fall 2010

From: http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

A couple weeks ago I had my most productive visit to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.

The thing that set the visit apart was the morning encounters I had with some herons and egrets.





Color and good light makes normal things special, and great things extra special.

I've taken lots of heron and egret photos but really just about none when there was such magical light. Two things combined - the sun was rising behind me a bit, and there was a touch of fall foliage in front of me. The two combined to bathe these birds in light and color.





Shooting at Chincoteague can be a little tough, mostly because lots of people go there, and they are often tourist types that see someone or some thing and stop and all get out at once. On the day I got these shots that happened a couple times and I left and came back hoping the birds that all flew away would come back - and it sort of worked.

While there I also saw the roughly 1000 snow geese, and a few skimmers, hawks, falcons and some shovelers and other ducks...

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Chincoteague NWR, Fall 2010

Hide and Seek - Cape May NJ

From http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

My plan to hide a bit and have hawks or falcons land near my at the beach in Cape May worked.

I managed to get a handful of shots of this kestrel eating a dragonfly.






And this Video:

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Hide and Seek - Cape May NJ

Bodies, Glass, and Making Images

I have very few hobbies, and in the past 5 years photography has gone from something I do with a point and shoot every awkward once and a while, to something I eat, sleep and breath probably more than most folks.

Averaged over 5+ years I shoot about 200 images a day - I haven't updated that stat in the past 6 or 8 months, but it has to be consistent and around 200 still. In 5 years I've past a few hundred thousands shots and hundreds of outings. It is that persistence and repetition that makes more and more things second nature.

Gear
In 5 years I've now bought 5 bodies (d70s, d200, Fuji S5, D300 and D300s) and even more lenses but nothing huge until 2 years ago I got the 200-400mm f/4 VR lens.

The 200-400mm lens is pretty sweet and I've meant to do a review / write up, but Thom (ByThom) has one that is way more detailed than I could make and he's right on. Very good lens, struggle with converters and is weak at long range optically.

But with that and all of my other gear, I've always managed to take images with whatever I have that I like, that keep me going, motivated to learn and keep trying.

This is with a D70s and 70-300 G lens, with one off camera flash, through glass at the zoo.


With lots of time and work, and gear, I broke down and got a 500mm f/4 lens. It should be a big leap gear wise / optically over the 200-400mm. I plan to hand hold it often - and have been actually working out in an effort to hand hold the 200-400mm longer and with less strain, and the 500 is just a pound or so heavier. (If I end up carrying both around at the same time I might just need a formal Gym Membership).

Skimmers at Sunrise - Fuji S5 w/ 200-400mm f/4 vr:


Always want more, and don't blame the gear - every setup is capable of producing amazing images be it a Holga or a Hasselblad.

Probably one of the biggest things I've focused on in the past 12 or 13 months is learning to see and understand light, sunrise and sunset, and how that is key to images that aren't "Normal" or "Average". The good light is not at mid-day when it might be easiest to head out for some shooting.... Sunrise or bust.

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Bodies, Glass, and Making Images