Astroscope + DSLR = Gallery! (2 Viewers)

[Tord]

A rarity

Past Saturday was a good day at least from observation point of view, with 70+ species identified of which some rarities. Weather was misty so few good pictures unfortunately.

Among the rarities notably this Great Egret, a rare visitor on my northern latitudes (55 north). The IQ has flaws, air distortion visible, shot in between fog banks through almost 200 meters hazy air but still deserves sharing. Made my day.

SW80 + EC14/EC20
Crops of EM5 frames

 

[DanC.Licks]

We had at least 15 of those guys at our spot in Hungary last week! Plus Purple Herons, Grey Herons, Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets...etc etc...
Were those taken down in Falsterbo?

 

[Tord]

We had at least 15 of those guys at our spot in Hungary last week! Plus Purple Herons, Grey Herons, Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets...etc etc...
Were those taken down in Falsterbo?

Hi Dan,

No, these are taken at Krankesjön, a medium sized shallow lake ~50 km inland NE from Falsterbo. Great Egrets are rare visitors to Sweden, a few reports yearly, not many pictures taken as far as I know.

 

[DanC.Licks]

I remember how excited we were the first time we saw one at the North Sea a couple of years ago, and then to have a "swarm" of them in Hungary. They were all over the place! Like, ho-hum, another Egret....

 

[JGobeil]

Past Saturday was a good day at least from observation point of view, with 70+ species identified of which some rarities. Weather was misty so few good pictures unfortunately.

Among the rarities notably this Great Egret, a rare visitor on my northern latitudes (55 north). The IQ has flaws, air distortion visible, shot in between fog banks through almost 200 meters hazy air but still deserves sharing. Made my day.

SW80 + EC14/EC20
Crops of EM5 frames

It is always nice to photograph a new bird. We have those egrets here but they are not common so it is nice when we see one.

 

[Tord]

Common Greenshanks

By the end of the day mist was gone, and air was cooler making photography possible. Some late afternoon pictures from Falsterbo, where migrant birds will stop for refueling during the passage in spring and autumn. Here some Common Greenshanks.

SW80 + EC14
Distance 75 meters
EM5 @800 ISO

 

[DanC.Licks]

Were these out on the south tip? What is the area just south of the campsite like for birds? From the air (google maps) it looks promising.

 

[Tord]

These are taken from the place where the golf course ends. The large oval sand bar (Måkläppen) is a restricted area, no access is allowed except Nov/Jan/Feb. The coastal stretch south of the camping is a long sandy beach, not so good for birds (but nice for swimming, pending water temperature). Better is the lagoon starting 500 m SE from the camping.

 

[DanC.Licks]

Yes, the lagoon is actually what I meant.

 

[rferrieri]

some tests od my new system

Second time out with my new rig.

Stellavue 80mm f/7 aplanat + 2" GSO barlow + Olympus e-510.

See setups for detailed desciption and pics.

In my first time out the pics seemed a bit off in focus so I didn't post. Suspected that I needed to adjust the view finder diopter with the magnifying viewfinder eyepiece in place and leveraging the x10 live view for fine tuning. The shots posted today were taken midday. Not the best lighting.

for today's test I had a chance to get up to the north shoreline of Long Island during lunch hour. White herons were numerous in the grassy wetlands that abutt the shoreline. In the first pic the white heron was about 100 m. Shot 400 iso, exposure 1/1000 sec, slight cropping and levels adjustment. The second pic was a shot taken down the shoreline - about 1 mile away from my estimates. Shot 400 iso, exp 1/250 sec, uncropped, levels adjusted. Third shot the same with 50% crop. Pretty good reach!

I've found this bigger rig is susceptible to slight vibrations so I've started using the cabled remote shutterr release and also have the on board IS on set manually for 800mm.

 

[DanC.Licks]

Focus looks good to me. 100 meters of air is enough to soften up a picture though! Love to see some of something closer.

 

[Tord]

Some Waders from this morning

Went up early, was rewarded by some pictures with the low standing sun from side. Here a small selection of migrant waders.

SW80 + EM5
EC14 added for birds in water

 

[JGobeil]

Went up early, was rewarded by some pictures with the low standing sun from side. Here a small selection of migrant waders.

SW80 + EM5
EC14 added for birds in water

Nice ! I'll be photographing a lot of those in 3 weeks when I go for a 4 day outing at Ile-Aux-Basques, about 200 km NE of Quebec City.

 

[Tord]

Common Snipes

Shy and well camouflaged. With some perseverance and cautious behavior I have managed to take some decent pictures. Below pictures are taken over the course of the from the past 1.5 months

 

[DanC.Licks]

Love the snipes. Ever see/hear them doing their in flight wowowowowowo thing with their tail feathers? They look a little like F-14 fighter jets.

 

[DadraFromFrance]

The last photos with the Megrez 72 in Bretagne. With full frame anf no TC, i was a little to short... (I have try now with my new 80/480mm Astro-Pro with Kenko Pro x1.4...)

 

[Tord]

Some more recent pictures.

SW80 + EM5

The Marsh Harrier is unfortunately a long distance shot (100m), it would have been nice with even more details.

For the Kestrel I added EC20

 

[JGobeil]

Some more recent pictures.

SW80 + EM5

The Marsh Harrier is unfortunately a long distance shot (100m), it would have been nice with even more details.

For the Kestrel I added EC20

You are getting good with BIF. I particularly like the geese.

 

[Tord]

Thanks Jules,

The challenge is getting focus right, I am still in learning process.

I managed somehow (by luck I guess) to get focus on the Goose in the middle, whereas the two others show signs of being OOF if you look in detail. The distance was about 50 meters, the depth of field with the setup (600mm, F/7.5 and 4/3 sensor) should be around 1.5 meters (+/- 75 cm, according to DOF calculator). That's less than the distance separating the individuals.

The Harrier at 100m was easier to nail with a DOF exceeding 5 meters, but constantly on a fast move over the reed beds.

The Kestrel at 35 meters, 1200mm, F15 (DOF 40 cm) started hovering for a few seconds turning into a semi-static target (it was windy 10m/s), otherwise a sharp picture would have been virtually impossible, or would have taken a great deal of luck.

 

[DanC.Licks]

Just back from Hungary with 847+ pictures to sort through! Should be a couple of keepers...
Tomorrow......