Astroscope + DSLR = Gallery! (1 Viewer)

[Paul Corfield]

Paul, till June 23. Might get a nice day or two by then.


Dreadfull out now...

Looks like a couple more wet days for you and then should be dry for the foreseeable future.

Paul.

 

[Paul Corfield]

A couple more taken with the Fujinon TN. The first image is with the TN mounted as close to the camera as possible giving 1.8X and the second photo is with a 45mm macro tube between the camera and TN to boost the mag. The second image here is around 2.6X. With even longer tubes the mag can be taken up to around 4x, still with very good results. Both from around 7m range.

Paul.

 

[Tord]

Arctic Tern

I am rather pleased with this one, although I wish the light direction was more favorable. These guys are swift and panning to keep them in frame is a bit tricky.

TS102, 60% of E-M5 frame

 

[Tord]

Common Whitethroat

Emerging from the scrub and posing nicely for a few seconds, just enough to acquire focus. Sometimes you are lucky. The framing is not that great so I simply cropped off the left half to create a portrait format.

TLAPO804
E-M5

 

[Paul Corfield]

Emerging from the scrub and posing nicely for a few seconds, just enough to acquire focus. Sometimes you are lucky. The framing is not that great so I simply cropped off the left half to create a portrait format.

TLAPO804
E-M5

Nice Tord. I've never knowingly seen or heard one.

Tern was good too.

Paul.

 

[JGobeil]

Emerging from the scrub and posing nicely for a few seconds, just enough to acquire focus. Sometimes you are lucky. The framing is not that great so I simply cropped off the left half to create a portrait format.

TLAPO804
E-M5

Very nice and sharp. Beautiful BG

 

[Tord]

Nice Tord. I've never knowingly seen or heard one.

Tern was good too.

Paul.

Thanks Paul and Jules
In my home area Common Whitethroats are often seen, or rather, heard. If the habitat is the right one (scrub and thick bushes), something we have a lot of both in the wild and in semi-managed recreational areas. We have Lesser Whitethroats too but in smaller numbers, they are even harder to get a glimse of.

 

[JGobeil]

With and without TN

The first photo, an Eastern Kingbird, was taken with the SW80ED and the EM-1. ISO 800, 1/2500 sec, distance about 8-10 m. No cropping except to reduce the width of the image. Light processing in LR. This is probably my best photo ever with this scope.

The second one is a Black Tern, an uncommon bird here in Quebec. This bird is about the size of a Robin and was about 100 m. away. Also ISO 800, 1/2500 sec. Substantial crop to 40% and heavy processing in LR. Not a great photo but it made my day since this is a new bird for me. This would have been impossible with the Panasonic 100-300mm.

I wanted to see how far I can push the SW80ED with a TN. I used a 1.5X TN made from a Canon 100-200mm zoom with 56mm of spacers between the TN and the camera, giving 2.32X, or 2784mm EQ. The Tree Swallow was shot ISO 800, 1/250 s, distance about 7-8 m. Slight crop to 75%, light processing in LR.

Regards
Jules

 

[Tord]

Whinchats

Nice photos, Jules. The Black Tern is rather good I think, considering they rarely come close enough to shore for any meaningful photography. Not to mention how swift they are...

Did some casual photography yesterday on the way home from work. TS102, E-M5 ~50% crops. It was obvious the male Whinchats did not appreciate my presence so I did not attempt closer range shots.

 

[JGobeil]

Nice photos, Jules. The Black Tern is rather good I think, considering they rarely come close enough to shore for any meaningful photography. Not to mention how swift they are...

Did some casual photography yesterday on the way home from work. TS102, E-M5 ~50% crops. It was obvious the male Whinchats did not appreciate my presence so I did not attempt closer range shots.

Hi Tord,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, those Terns are swift. You always end up taking the photo in the zig when they are in the zag...

Your photos are nice. I particularly like the second one with the black BG.

Regards
J

 

[Tord]

Common Terns

With favorable winds the past days it has been possible to come within full frame range using the short scope, almost too close as you can see. With little room for mistake the slightest delay through the viewfinder puts the panning and framing at risk. The lovely light and detail make partly up for that so I decided to share.

E-M5
TLAPO804

 

[JGobeil]

With favorable winds the past days it has been possible to come within full frame range using the short scope, almost too close as you can see. With little room for mistake the slightest delay through the viewfinder puts the panning and framing at risk. The lovely light and detail make partly up for that so I decided to share.

E-M5
TLAPO804

Terns in flight are beautiful. The second photo is lovely. Congrads.

 

[Tord]

Terns in flight are beautiful. The second photo is lovely. Congrads.

Thanks Jules.
A re-crop of the clipped one to have the crop look intentional. Is that better?

 

[JGobeil]

Thanks Jules.
A re-crop of the clipped one to have the crop look intentional. Is that better?

Yes it is better. Some photographers seem to specialize in those extreme crops. Personnaly I try to avoid it unless it focuses on part of the subject, like a portrait of the head and neck, which I do quite often.

Or you could do something like the attached photo... I did it rather quickly in PS and, when done with care, it can be quite seamless. Of course, on such a large part of a wing, it is pushing it too far but it it is a good trick to recuperate wing ends. A better way is to recuperate the missing part from another photo if you shot a burst.

Regards
Jules

 

[Tord]

Yes it is better. Some photographers seem to specialize in those extreme crops. Personnaly I try to avoid it unless it focuses on part of the subject, like a portrait of the head and neck, which I do quite often.

Or you could do something like the attached photo... I did it rather quickly in PS and, when done with care, it can be quite seamless. Of course, on such a large part of a wing, it is pushing it too far but it it is a good trick to recuperate wing ends. A better way is to recuperate the missing part from another photo if you shot a burst.

Regards
Jules

Even better. Unfortunately no other frame is usable for this purpose, even though I fired a burst at 9 or 10 fps. The change in direction was lightning fast, previous frames are OOF and in next frame the wings are folded as it dives for the prey.

 

[Tord]

Always be prepared!

I had a spare hour and made an improvised, ill prepared visit this site just outside town with a slight hope encoutering a Marsh Harrier, and with some luck an Osprey. I wasn't well prepared and missed a golden opportunity. Not one, but a pair of Osprey in favorable light conditions, making an entrance at low altitude, followed by display behavior and successful fishing as Grande Finale.

The first is a full frame, TS102 handheld. Operating this 7kg beast without support is not easy.

By the time I had the scope on tripod, changed battery(!) I was just too excited to calm down and focus on the task. The second and third are the only acceptable ones of the first Osprey. All the pictures of the second one are crap. I am so disappointed making a big mess of it all...

 

[DanC.Licks]

Just got back from Scotland. Here a couple of quickies....
Question: How do Razorbills kiss?

Answer: VERY carefully....
...and a pair of flirting Fulmars


The bad news is that the weather never really improved over the first dreadful week on Mull. It was fair to poor the whole time. Cold! The vegetation is a good 4 to 6 weeks behind, and the number of birds is maybe 10% of what we have seen in the past at the same locations even several weeks earlier in the year. But still, we loved it and I was able to get some pictures. We even had some bright sunny patches between the rain storms and showers, and after the first week, it stayed very cold and windy, but mostly dry and often sunny.
The GOOD news is, that my IR filter on my E-M1 worked 100%. I got NO NEW SPOTS on my viewfinder, even though I took no special precautions, neither while shooting nor while walking, usually carrying the camera facing down mounted on my Canon 400/5.6 that was fastened to a neck/shoulder strap. BIG relief! I was able to shoot normally without having to worry whether I was going to burn the EVF as soon as the sun hit it from behind.

More pictures to follow. I would say I shot 90% with the 400/5.6, with and without the 1.4x TC, and the other 10% with a 75-300. To be honest though, I wish I had bought a Canon 7DII for the trip. I missed SO many shots because of not being able to focus quickly enough and not being able to stop down for more depth of field. Was really frustrating sometimes.....
Time for some more thinking.....:-C

 

[DanC.Licks]

Saw this pair of White Tailed Eagles on Mull.

According to Google Maps they were about 300 meters away. Canon 400/5.6 + 1.4x Extender on Oly E-M1.

 

[Tord]

Rooks

We have quite a few of these birds around (I personally like them). Found a coastal location with an intensive traffic back and forth, all of them following more or less the same path along a ridge offering a shelter from the western wind. I guess they have been gathering food and are bringing it back to the colony (first picture indicates this).


TLAPO804
E-M5, 75% crops

 

[DanC.Licks]

Smart birds! Hard to nail against the sky like that. You can only compensate so far before the edges start getting fuzzy. This is where the latest Nikon sensors shine, especially on the D750 or D810. Absolutely amazing what you can pull out of the shadows with those sensors. Canon looks lame in comparison!