December 15, 201411 yr Silver-eared Mesia at a watering hole, Mae Wong NP. Av mode; 1/250sec; ISO2500; F4.5; F/L300mm; off axis flash fired. These are a real challenge for me and I like the way this looks. I avoid flash like the plague as a rule but there are times you just have to go with it. I see you have the ISO pumped up and quite a fast sync speed (faster than my gear will cope with. Did you dial the flash down or fire on auto? You seem to have kept the illumination limited to the central region (which I very much like as it focuses attention). Did you need to do much editing?
December 15, 201411 yr Silver-eared Mesia at a watering hole, Mae Wong NP. Av mode; 1/250sec; ISO2500; F4.5; F/L300mm; off axis flash fired. These are a real challenge for me and I like the way this looks. I avoid flash like the plague as a rule but there are times you just have to go with it. I see you have the ISO pumped up and quite a fast sync speed (faster than my gear will cope with. Did you dial the flash down or fire on auto? You seem to have kept the illumination limited to the central region (which I very much like as it focuses attention). Did you need to do much editing? Can't recall which flash mode I chose as I kept switching between Manual and HSS. This was probably HSS with minus 3-stops in an attempt to provide fill flash only. The waterhole was under deep shade and it would be near impossible to get a shot without motion blur without the flash. The flash head was triggered wirelessly with a pair of Yong Nuo triggers with the head displaced about a meter above and off axis of the camera. This was edited only with ACR. The parameters adjusted were exposure, brightness, contrast, white balance, clarity, saturation and then sharpened. No noise reduction at all.
December 21, 201411 yr Silver-eared Mesia at a watering hole, Mae Wong NP. Av mode; 1/250sec; ISO2500; F4.5; F/L300mm; off axis flash fired. These are a real challenge for me and I like the way this looks. I avoid flash like the plague as a rule but there are times you just have to go with it. I see you have the ISO pumped up and quite a fast sync speed (faster than my gear will cope with. Did you dial the flash down or fire on auto? You seem to have kept the illumination limited to the central region (which I very much like as it focuses attention). Did you need to do much editing? Can't recall which flash mode I chose as I kept switching between Manual and HSS. This was probably HSS with minus 3-stops in an attempt to provide fill flash only. The waterhole was under deep shade and it would be near impossible to get a shot without motion blur without the flash. The flash head was triggered wirelessly with a pair of Yong Nuo triggers with the head displaced about a meter above and off axis of the camera. This was edited only with ACR. The parameters adjusted were exposure, brightness, contrast, white balance, clarity, saturation and then sharpened. No noise reduction at all. under those circumstances you did a stirling job. i know to well how hard it is to 'illuminate' a small bird in a dark, dank gully.
December 21, 201411 yr Popular Post Silver-eared Mesia at a watering hole, Mae Wong NP. Av mode; 1/250sec; ISO2500; F4.5; F/L300mm; off axis flash fired. These are a real challenge for me and I like the way this looks. I avoid flash like the plague as a rule but there are times you just have to go with it. I see you have the ISO pumped up and quite a fast sync speed (faster than my gear will cope with. Did you dial the flash down or fire on auto? You seem to have kept the illumination limited to the central region (which I very much like as it focuses attention). Did you need to do much editing? Here is the same bird out in the open at Mae Wong, feeding in the bushes beside the camping ground.
December 28, 201411 yr Popular Post I'm not having much luck uploading pics lately. Try again. Took the Canon 6D with a 400 5.6 out for a test run yesterday. Got a pic of a pair of great Crested Grebe and a couple of Welcome Swallows. A better version of these can be seen here: http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-vPQbb/i-p36SnrJ
December 28, 201411 yr Popular Post Farmers burned and flooded the field next door and dozens of cow egrets came in for a feed. Lovely to watch them and I set my video camera out there in the midst of them. Here is one screen grab:
December 30, 201411 yr Popular Post Chainat - bird park - august 2011 P8190167_chainat_musee_oiseaux by vanhouten1, on Flickr P8190164_chainat_musee_oiseaux by vanhouten1, on Flickr
January 2, 201511 yr Popular Post Back in the land of OZ I'm working on a photographic record of an extraordinary event taking place right in the container terminal area of the Port of Fremantle. The Fairy Terns are described as under threat and their numbers have declined rapidly in recent years. They are now an unusual sighting along our SW coastline. However, in the last two years a colony comprising approximately 20% of the entire SW population has taken up residence in the Fremantle port Authority precincts. The Authority has set aside a tiny area for the birds, having concreted over their last years site. http://stevekeeling.smugmug.com/Category/Animals/The-Fairy-Terns-of-Fremantle-W/ The above site has some pics and I will be adding to these almost daily as I gather enough for publication.
January 2, 201511 yr MH...Good on ya man...the world loses many species per year due to human encroachment. Nice to read something positive being done in a busy place.
January 6, 201511 yr Popular Post The same bird , top of Phupalek National Park P1000038_phupalek_paon by vanhouten1, on Flickr P1000042_phupalek_paon by vanhouten1, on Flickr P1000045_phupalek_paon by vanhouten1, on Flickr
January 8, 201511 yr Popular Post Looks unimpressed to have a photo taken? IMG_0661.JPG unimpressed? angry!
January 8, 201511 yr Not sure of this rare species - any suggestions? bird.JPG Quite rare that one matey...usually they're all over our car park & grass after the grass cutters leave. I thought we were the only ones to have em!
January 9, 201511 yr Popular Post Not sure of this rare species - any suggestions? bird.JPG Quite rare that one matey...usually they're all over our car park & grass after the grass cutters leave. I thought we were the only ones to have em! I like the Tree Sparrow - a bit neater looking than the House Sparrow.
January 10, 201511 yr Not sure of this rare species - any suggestions? bird.JPG Quite rare that one matey...usually they're all over our car park & grass after the grass cutters leave. I thought we were the only ones to have em! I like the Tree Sparrow - a bit neater looking than the House Sparrow. And just think MH...the Sparrows originated in the UK once upon a time. I guess you could say they're the UK's largest, in terms of sheer numbers, export! About the only place I have never seen one was on the Antarctic continent when there around the turn of the century. Then again I wasn't looking for sparrows either...just didn't notce any...too cold? Hah!
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