Today's Eagle Shot - Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

I got out kayaking on the Potomac River again this morning. I saw quite a lot of wildlife, including a muskrat that swam to within a few feet of my kayak, and a giant snapping turtle that nearly touched it. Both were too close for me to focus with the big lens. I also watched a herd of deer grab their morning drink at the river's edge.

 

Here's the best shot I got today, of an immature bald eagle.

Immature Bald Eagle, by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

iso 220, f5.6, 1/1250 sec.

 

You can click on this image to see it larger on flickr.

 

Man, am I lucky to have access to such a beautiful place to paddle on weekend mornings at sunrise.

 

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Great Egret - Nikon D810 and Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR Lens

And here's my best bird-in-flight shot from Sunday's paddle trip.

Great Egret (Ardea alba), by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR Lens

iso 200, f5, 1/1250 sec.

 

I watched this beauty, and his/her nearly-identical partner, approach me from far way, flying downriver toward my kayak. I was lucky enough to get the focus just right on this shot, and capture the wings spread wide. This camera / lens combination is just astounding. It's what I've been working toward for years in gear for nature photography.

 

I find myself tempted to try the new Nikkor 200-500mm f5.6 (Click Here), a much lower cost and lower weight solution, but it's not going to provide image quality like this. And, that extra stop of light gathering (f4) in my lens really matters.

 

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Another Corn Crib Shot - HDR

I added one more shot to the corn crib set, this one a high dynamic range (HDR) image from inside the corn crib.

 

Inside Looking Out, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Lumix 20mm f1.7 Lens

HDR from three separate exposures

 

I'm looking forward to getting refamiliarized with the GX7 on my upcoming vacation.

 

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lions, tigers, and... BEARS! Oh, My.

Okay, no lions or tigers, but on the drive in to my local kayaking spot here in Northern Virginia this weekend, I did see foxes (4), deer (dozens), and a black bear!

 

Black Bear (Ursus americanus) in Suburbia, by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

iso 3200, f4, 1/125 sec.

 

Keep in mind, this is in Northern Virginia, where the townhouses and strip malls are rapidly gaining on the trees in number. It was a pleasant surprise to see this beautiful animal here. Also a little troubling. I'm concerned for his (her?) future.

 

It was just after 6:00 AM, and the light was low there in the early morning shade. I didn't have time to make adjustments, other than to crank the iso up as far as I felt comfortable with. Luckily, that got me to a shutter speed where one or two exposures came out sharp, even though I was handholding the big 200-400mm lens, zoomed to 400mm.

 

The approximate focus distance is 29.9'. That bear could cover that distance in less than one second. Thankfully, he didn't.

 

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Live Music Concert- Scott Miller at Jammin' Java - Shot With the Nikon Df

Last Sunday (July 19, 2015), I went to a live music show at one of my favorite venues, Jammin' Java, in Vienna. (Click Here) to check out Jammin' Java. They have a very full schedule of interesting shows. Most importantly for this evening, Jammin' Java is indoors. It was still in the 90s and very humid outside, even after sunset.

 

 

Scott is a very interesting guy - professional musician and Virginia cattle farmer. (Click Here) to check out his website.

 

Once again, my Nikon Df is the master of darkness. Shooting with my favorite prime lenses (28mm f1.8 AF-S, 50mm f1.4 AF-D, and 85mm f1.8 AF-D), I was able to shoot at either 1/125 or 1/250 of a second and still have enough depth of field to be useful. This meant iso values of 3200 or even 6400 - no problem at all for the Df. I love this camera.

 

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Farm Cats

My Mom recently visited me, and we went to Antietam National Battlefield for some sightseeing. While we were there, we met these farm kitties.

 

Farm Cats, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor Pre-AI 55mm f1.2 Lens

iso 160, f4, 1/60sec

 

I love the cat looking out from under the barn at right.

 

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River and Roots Festival - Great for Kids of All Ages!

I love music festivals. But, size matters. The huge ones can be a bit much. My two favorite festivals, ever, are held every year at the same place - Watermelon Park in Berryville, VA.

 

River and Roots Fun, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 28mm f1.8 AF-S G Lens

iso 1000, f2, 1/125 sec.

 

The Watermelon Park Fest, held every September, is the larger of the two. (Click Here) to read more about it.

 

I made the photo above at the River and Roots Festival in June, also held at Watermelon Park. This one's smaller, but so much fun. Large enough to attract major acts (the headliner this year was David "Dawg" Grisman), R&R is small enough that there's no stress or hurry to be anywhere. Wonderful. This year, I only made it out for the first day of the festival, going home in time to miss the deluge of rain, yet also missing Dawg and many other great musical performances.

I shot with my Nikon Df, and enjoyed trying out my new 28mm f1.8 AF-S lens. In the shot above, it allowed me to capture enough of the scene to share how it felt, but still shows the emotion and wonder on the little girl's face. I had to get pretty close to pull this off, but not uncomfortably so.

 

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Impossible Project Instant Film - Color 2.0 Beta

I recently picked up a like-new Polaroid 600 series camera, just for fun. I've wanted to support the Impossible Project, who's restarted a factory making instant film for the 600 and SX70 cameras. (Click Here) to check out the Impossible Project.

 

 

I've shot a little of their black and white film in the past. This time, I ordered a triple pack of a new beta-version color film (2.0 Beta to be exact). I've shot one pack of it, and I like it.

 

Looks like Merlin the Dog wants a sip of Coke.

 

As you can see the color is a little on the yellow side. It has nice subtle tones, and reasonable saturation. I took these at the Waterford Store in Waterford, Virginia, in the exact place where I'd photographed my lovely daughter several years before.

 

It's fun to know that instant photography is still available to us. I like the mix of the immediacy we're used to with digital, and the uniqueness of film.

 

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And Another From the Handley Library - Fujifilm GS645S

 

Young Adult, by Reed A. George

Fuji GS645S, Kodak TMax 400 Film

 

I absolutely love how this image turned out. The "Young Adult" sign on the back wall was a bonus; I didn't even notice it when I was shooting the image! Too funny.

 

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The Handley Library in Winchester, Virginia - Fuji GS645S Medium Format Rangefinder

I have happily re-entered the Fujifilm camera owners crowd. No, I didn't buy an X100... I re-bought a camera that I had owned in the past, the 6x4.5 medium format film rangefinder GS645S. With a slightly wide angle (38mm equivalent) 60mm f4 lens, this is one perfect little travel camera.

 

I shot a 15 exposure test roll of TMax 400 in my new camera in Winchester, Virginia, last weekend.

 

Handley Library, by Reed A. George

Fuji GS645S, Kodak TMax 400 Film, Red Filter

 

The Handley Library is in my opinion by far the most interesting architecture in Winchester. Built in 1913, it strikes me as a little piece of Europe in rural Virginia. I shot this image with a 2-stop red filter, to darken the bright blue summer sky and bring out the contrast in the clouds. I think it worked.

 

Here's a shot from inside the library, in which I was attracted by the light rather than the subject.

 

Inside the Handley Library, by Reed A. George

Fuji GS645S, Kodak TMax 400 Film

 

I think this image demonstrates what I love about this camera. A wide range of tones, and sharpness that is as good as it comes, if you ask me. Not bad for a 30 year old film camera. I'll write more about the camera in coming days, but suffice it to say the GS645S is a wonderfully compact, if not sturdy, high quality imager.

 

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More of a Story in Wildlife - Nikon D700 and 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

I wrote recently about a personal challenge to myself, to move my wildlife photography from mere "find the animal and shoot it" to telling at least part of a story. In photography, the story doesn't have to be complete. In fact, sometimes, if the story presents more questions than answers, that can be a good thing. That's kind of the case here.

 

At the end of a kayaking trip, as I shoved my boat up to the shore, I saw a clump of feathers bouncing around on the bank. Not sure what I was looking at, maybe an injured bird?, I decided to look closer, and shoot. Here's what I saw.

 

 

Now, the camera saw it much more clearly than I did at the time. What you're looking at is two birds (Carolina wrens?), fighting it out. And I don't mean play fighting. These two were not only using their sharp beaks against each other, they were actually clawing at each other's eyes! As they continued, and even ended up in the water, here's how it looked.

 

Crazy, right? And here's the final, and crowning shot. Bird rage!

 

Bird Rage, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

 

As they finally split up and ended the fight, with one bird chasing the other off into the bushes, I just couldn't keep up with the big lens. I missed a couple of other interesting shots, but do feel that these show the event pretty well.

 

Does anyone know if I have the species correct, or what these vicious little birds were doing to each other?

 

I'm happy to have caught some very interesting behavior in this sequence.

 

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Fire! At the Leesburg Car Show

Yesterday, I posted some images I took after dark at the car show in Leesburg, Virginia. Just as we were leaving, one of the business buildings in town caught fire. More emergency vehicles than I knew existed in the area converged for the fun. Here are some images I made of the event, using my Nikon Df and Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS lens.

 

This is my favorite shot of the event. I love how sharp the firefighter's face is, the police car and fire truck in the foreground, and the burning building and ladder crew in the background. This one deserves a nice print.

 

Here are some other images I made in the few minutes we hung around.

 

 

My understanding is that luckily no one was injured in this fire. I feel fortunate to have had the Df and f1.2 lens with me; there wasn't much light to work with. I hope these images tell the story well!

 

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Summer Evening Games - Zeiss SW, Biogon 25mm f2.8

In order to test out a new film, Agfa APX400, that my friend Dennis Gallus gave me, I wandered into this place in Leesburg, Virginia one night last week. The place is called Shoes.

 

 

Literally located in an old shoe repair store, Shoes is now a coffee shop and restaurant. In the summer months, they open their outdoor dining area, complete with a bocce ball court. These nice people put up with me photographing their game as the sun went down.

 

 

 

This last one shows the emotion of that winning moment. That's about as exciting as bocce ball gets!

 

Shooting this roll at the box-indicated speed of iso 400, I found this roll to be mostly underexposed. I had to bring all of these shots up quite a bit, which emphasizes the grain. Now I'm not against grain, mind you. In fact, I kind of like the look.

 

I've now shot a test roll, exposing the film at 100, 200, and 400. We'll see if I can find the right exposure and developing times for this particular film. After all, I have 100' of it to shoot!

 

The beautiful Zeiss Biogon 25mm lens is a perfect mate for the slightly oddball Zeiss SW camera, a 35mm body with built-in meter, but no rangefinder. The SW is designed for use with wide lenses, where focusing is not critical because of huge depth of field. (Click Here) for an article about the SW on Shutterbug's website.

 

You can either just guess the distance to your subject and set your lens focus based on the markings on the lens body, or you can use an auxiliary rangefinder. I guessed. I think the 25mm is about the longest lens I could reliably use in this way, but could do okay with a 35mm in a pinch. It gets much easier when I mount up the Voigtlander 12mm f5.6. That lens has pretty much unlimited depth of field. You can set the focus once and shoot all day.

 

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My Second Shot at Parkour Photography

Back in March, I had the opportunity to photograph some local practitioners of parkour, which is basically acrobatics in public places. (Click Here) to see that post, in which I used my Nikon F2SB and black and white film. I enjoyed it immensely, and they appreciated seeing the photos.

 

Last night, I went to one of the practice sessions for a larger group of DC Metro Parkour members. Here are some of the shots.

Parkour, by Reed A. George

 

While I shot a few of these images with my Nikon Df, most were made with my Micro 4/3 Lumix DMC-GX1 and Bower fisheye lens. All used flash to freeze the motion.

 

I recently came very close to selling off my Micro 4/3 gear, since I just have not been using it much. That, and the fact that the new Lumix LX100 (which also uses a Micro 4/3 sensor) is so capable, it replaces much of my interchangeable lens Micro 4/3 gear on travel, made me consider selling all of it. I did sell several pieces of gear, but decided to keep a smaller set of Micro 4/3 bodies and lenses. Specifically, I kept the most compact lenses, and the ones that are special in some way. The Bower fisheye is an example of that - I don't have a fisheye lens for any other camera system, so I kept it. It sure came in handy last night!

 

I'm planning to continue to work on creative techniques for photographing this exciting sport.

 

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Some Wildlife From my Kayak - Nikon Df and Nikkor 300mm f4 AF-IF Lens

I have an older Nikkor internal focus 300mm f4 lens. I have been tempted to upgrade it to the AF-S version, but mine is so good, I just haven't seen a reason to do it.

 

Yesterday, I loaded my Nikon D700 and 500mm f4 Ai-P (manual focus) lens and matching gargantuan Gitzo tripod that I picked up very used and very cheap, along with my Nikon Df and 300mm f4 and Tamron AF 1.4X tele-extender into my kayak and paddled out. I ended up never using anything but the Df and 300mm. Instead of setting up my tripod near my favorite osprey nest (even though the birds are on the nest), I decided to paddle further up the creek and explore.

 

Stopping to rest in the shadow of a steep bank, not five minutes later I saw a swirl in the water, followed by a head coming to the surface. Thinking that it was likely a beaver, I started shooting. The sound of the camera clearly alarmed the animal, who quickly went under water, then returned to the surface looking straight at me. It was a river otter! The first one I've ever seen in the wild. He actually raised high out of the water to get a good look at me. I was ready, with my Df set to lock exposure with the rear button, meter set to spot metering, and auto-focus ready to go. Here's one of the shots I got.

 

 

River Otter, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 300mm f4 AF-IF Lens

iso 1100, f8, 1/1000 sec.

Another otter passed through very quickly a minute later.

I had the camera in auto-ISO mode, and exposure in M. So, I had a fast shutter speed and optimal f-stop already set. The camera chose the ISO. With the Nikon Df, I could shoot with confidence, without worrying about digital noise from the relatively high ISO setting.

 

I've printed this image at about 10"x15" and it looks just great.

 

I've got some more images from the morning kayak trip, and will share them in later posts.

 

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An Evening with Travis Book of The Infamous Stringdusters

A couple of weeks back, I got the opportunity to spend a Sunday night at my friends (Morgan Morrison and Fiddlin' Dave VanDeventer)'s house, listening to Travis Book, a member of the "newgrass" band The Infamous Stringdusters, play solo acoustic guitar and sing for us.

 

I photographed the Stringdusters a couple of years back, in Alexandria, Virginia. (Click Here) to see those pics.

 

Here are a few images from the Sunday night house concert, all made with my Nikon Df.

 

 

 

 

Travis was on his way to Colorado for a recording session. We were very lucky to have him come up to Northern Virginia a day early, spend the night at Morgan and Dave's, and play for us. I also got a copy of his new solo CD, "Alice." You should get yourself one.

 

What a great way to spend a cold Sunday evening.

 

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Polar Bear Plunge - For a Great Cause

 

Last weekend, I happened into an unexpected event in Reston, Virginia, a polar bear plunge. It was a charity event, for the benefit of Camp Sunshine, a place where families with children battling cancer can go to relax and enjoy time together. (Click Here) to read more about the event.

 

As luck would have it, I had my Leica M9 and my Rolleiflex 2.8F with me. This post will show my color pictures, all taken with the M9 and Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm f1.5 lens, and a few with my new Leica Elmar C 90mm f4.

 

While it was unseasonably warm last Saturday, the water was still plenty cold. Here are the safety divers, clearing the diving hole of ice.

 

 

As you can imagine, an event like this attracts an interesting crowd of contestants.

 

 

When the event started, things got lively. I had a great location to shoot from as well.

 

 

People generally looked happy going in, shocked coming out, and downright uncomfortable after that.

 

 

And now, here are two of my favorites. First, my favorite shot of the jumpers.

 

 

And here's one of the crowd reflected in the icy water.

 

 

It was a very nice unexpected surprise, and I'm glad I was there to photograph it. I think I am indeed falling back in love with my Leica M9.

 

I'll post some images that I made with the Rolleiflex 2.8F tomorrow.

 

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