Falconry Day

[pault]

Re: Falconry Day

Here's one of mine

[Ian]

Re: Falconry Day (move to permanent thread)

Very impressive shots Ian is there much cropping going on and were these taken with SAF or CAF? Thanks John

This was the most cropped of my shots:

Cropped:



Un-cropped



There is plenty of detail there

I only had the 75-300 @200mm

Ian

[Ian]

Re: Falconry Day

Here's one of mine

I like the blur in the wings while the eye/face are pin sharp A nice pose!

Ian

[pault]

Re: Falconry Day

Now that I'm getting the hang posting pics, here's some more

[Ian]

Re: Falconry Day

The look of concentration on the owl, eh? Plus that wingspan is amazing!

Ian

[Zuiko]

Re: Falconry Day

It was rather a day of reckoning for me. In the dim and distant past I've photohraphed birds of prey in flight at similar falconry displays with a modest degree of success. This time I was rubbish. Or it could be the camera; this time I was using an E-M5 whilst before it was an E-3. Tempting though it is to blame my equipment, I have to be honest and admit it is a measure of my physical deterioration. For a start, most of the time I couldn't react fast enough to acquire the bird in the frame, and when I did my panning ability was woeful.

Initially I was using a 75-300mm borrowed from Ian, which is almost an exact equivalent of the 70-300mm that served me so well on the E-3. However, it quickly became apparent that I no longer have the ability to use a lens of this magnification. Even with IS switched on the viewfinder image was juddering like a reed in a gale. I decided to sacrifice magnification for usability and reverted to my own 40-150mm, which was a little easier for me to control. I did get the impression that even if my own ability had not deteriorated the E-3 would still have been better for this type of subject but it's now clear to me that this is academic because realistically my BIF days are over.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the day or the challenge; on the contrary, it was great fun and nice to meet some new faces as well as familiar ones. Here are a few that I salvaged from the train wreck of my memory card.

First, a couple of some of the group in action:






Getting down low for the best angle



I can take 'em if they're sitting still!






Just to prove that I can still get an occasional sharp BIF - well almost!






At the end of the day, relaxing with a coffee. Also an opportunity for me to have a quick play with the 17mm f1.8, courtesy of Ian. Seems to be a great little lens that would be ideal for street work.


Many thanks to Ian, Andy and the great folk at Fens Falconry for a really enjoyable and rewarding day.

[sapper]

Re: Falconry Day (move to permanent thread)

After about a dozen shots I was very surprised to discover my first keeper so early!



I have now created a gallery category for 'Fens Falconry, 9th March 2014' under 'Events' - if you could use this category when uploading your shots from the day I would appreciate it

And to share on the forum by all means use this thread - more to come!

Ian

Love this Ian, wished I could have come, next time hopefully.

[drmarkf]

Re: Falconry Day

Yes, going through one's shots on screen is a humbling experience!

As others have said, I likewise have an extremely low rate of just-about keepers from BIF, but loads of really nice stationary and ground shots that I'm mostly yet to go through. I also took about 1200 shots, mainly with the Panasonic 100-300 for BIF.

I knew I was getting a low rate of in-frame and in-focus images, but I stuck with it in the hope I'd improve: I did, but it was a damn slow process! I suspect I'd have done better with the 40-150.

I used the Oly 75 f1.8 and the Panasonic 12-35 for closer shots and portraits, and both were clearly ideal - the 75 especially since you didn't have to get too close to perched birds, and the bokeh is magical.

A few examples:

[benvendetta]

Re: Falconry Day (move to permanent thread)

BNIF - Ural Owl


Regards. Barr1e

That is very nice. Just shows how important catchlights are to any portrait.

[Ann1e]

Re: Falconry Day

I think I may well spend the rest of the day on the naughty step as the pix I am about to post do not incorporate much of the information imparted by our excellent tutor Andy. Many thanks and sorry Sir.

I did start the day with most of the recommended settings, etc., in place and did have some limited success. However, I will take the info forward and practise hard!

Very many thanks, also, to Mike, Chris and Ross for their friendly hospitality.

So far as the first posting on this thread is concerned, I doubt anyone would have trouble working out which one is me, even if we didn't manage to get into conversation!

1. My, what big hands you have -



2. Ooh look, a daisy! (This pose reminds me somewhat of Orville, if you are old enough to remember him!) -



3. It's all mine, mine, mine! (The expression says it all!) -



All taken with the OM-D, E-M1, 2 and 3 with the 75-300mm lens, the first with a 45mm.

Regards,
Ann1e

[Ian]

Re: Falconry Day

Mark - I really like those last two - fantastic

Ian

[Ian]

Re: Falconry Day

Ann1e - the last on is a bit gory but ever so funny in a rather odd way!

Ian

[drmarkf]

Re: Falconry Day

Mark - I really like those last two - fantastic

Ian

Many thanks, but I only got a couple more BIF images that I consider reasonably good, about another half dozen that were barely OK, and the remaining 900 were b-awful!

Most of the decent ones were head-on, so I need to work on my panning, I guess. I thought I'd be reasonable at it, having done a lot of motorsports shooting over the years, but clearly the technique is completely different.

[pault]

Re: Falconry Day

Barrie
The Ural Owl is a crackin shot.

[oly_om]

Re: Falconry Day

Great to see people getting some fantastic results - all nice when folks have found the instruction helpful and effective. I'm going to write an article for e-group and FTU about settings and techniques soon. My photos are weeded out (about 200 from 600 taken) and processed (about 40 or 50 I quite like of the 200). All of this comes down to knowing the right tricks and then practice, practice, practice! Uploading photos soon!