Trying out some new things..

[danc]

For the first time in about 35 years, I didn't go fishing this May long weekend. It was a combination of things that kept me home this weekend. My boat wasn't ready. The forecast sucked. And this rare shift work that I've been on is taking it's toll on me. Saturday's near blizzard kept me indoors for the day, but today was bright, calm, and warm. So I went for a drive with my camera to test out a new lens that I picked up last weekend. It's a 70-300mm (140-600 film equivalent on my system). It needs lots of light, but I had that today. The first thing that I tried out today was to try to get a few "silky" flowing water shots. I stacked an ND and a polarizer filter on a 40-150 mm for this. I didn't get a lot of great shots. It was just that bright out to slow my camera down enough to get the results that I was looking for. But I went extreme and did a bunch of HDR's in my attempt. Here's the two that I liked best. I need more practice with this.

 

 

 

Next I went to a conservation area on Lake Superior looking for birds in flight. But besides a few Seagulls and Cormorants, there wasn't much to see. But I found this guy out in the frigid waters. The ice has only been off for a week or so. I don't know what you call this activity. It's not wind surfing. It's not para sailing. Para surfing perhaps? Anyways, it was a great opportunity to try out my new lens. All shots were hand held and most (if not all) were at full 300 mm. I was quite generally pleased with these. This guy was wayyy out there from where I was standing.

 

 

 

 

 

[brandon]

looking good Dan. for the silky shots, try to either shoot at dusk or dawn or in areas with lots of trees. basically anywhere that is darker than broad daylight. The ND + Polarizer is also a good start. I've tried a few HDR photos with the silky water type idea in mind and haven't been as impressed with them as I was with the same shot taken normally.

 

they're lookin good tho....keep em comin

[danc]

Thanks Brandon. I pulled out everything I had in my bag today for the silky shots. F-22, ISO 100, and the stacked lenses. My low budget SLR is known for blowing highlights, so the HDR helped in that regard. As you advised, I now know that I require less light than I was dealing with today. I'll get it right sooner or later. Right now I don't have the time to go fishing, let alone photography.

 

Cheers Bud. Looking forward to more from you as well.

[Whopper]

Awesome shots Dan

 

The guy wind surfing is nuts, I know how cold it was

[alphaalpha]

he was "kite surfing" its called. something i have been wanting to get into for sometime now but haven't had the time or cash to get started.