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Posts Made By: Jeff Hapeman

February 20, 2005 03:45 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Finally got the 500mm

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
grin

Not the best photo, but the weather was lousy today and there just weren't any birds out. This is a crop of about 1/4th of a 1Ds Mark II frame. Lots 'o pixels to deal with there.

This was hand-held and shot with the Canon 1.4x teleconverter. The IS works pretty good for shooting at 700mm.

Jeff

February 20, 2005 06:44 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Dark-eyed Junco

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
Trying to make the best of another lousy day. It is snowing pretty heavily here in southern WI right now, but I wanted to get more time in with the new 500mm lens since I will be out of town a lot the next few weeks.

This was taken from my front porch, where I was shaded from the snow and the Juncos were coming in to the feeder. Canon 1Ds Mark II, 500mm f/4L IS, ISO 200, f/6.3 1/125s, +1EV. Mounted on my Gitzo 1325 with Wimberley Sidekick, and used my 580EX w/ a Better Beamer for fill and a catch light.

I continue to be very impressed with the sharpness of the 1Ds Mark II. This is a full-sized crop of about the middle 30% of the frame. There are advantages to lots of pixels.

Jeff

February 22, 2005 04:47 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Great Horned Owl

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
While technically and artistically this shot is lousy, it is remarkable for this reason: I saw the profile of this owl sitting on our garage roof, took the camera upstairs and guessed at the manual focus point and exposure settings, and just fired. That it was even close to the right focus is amazing, and that the exposure is good is a testament to the E-TTL2 metering system in the 1Ds Mark II. This is ISO 1600, BTW, no noise reduction. I had a Better Beamer on the flash, which extended the reach.

Jeff

March 11, 2005 06:00 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Birds in Southern CA

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
I was in San Diego for bidness this week and had one free day, so I lugged the 1Ds Mark II and 500mm f/4L IS out. Unlike Sledz, I like tripods. I have a Gitzo 1325 carbon fiber pod that is relatively light. I used a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head with a Wimberley Sidekick. I used a 580EX with a Better Beamer for fill and a catchlight in the eyes. It was also pretty cloudy...so the extra light helped. I could have never taken these handhled with the low light.

First up is a Western Gull, pretty close up; this is reduced more than 75%.

Jeff

April 11, 2005 03:49 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Song Sparrow up close

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
I am borrowing a friend's 2x TC and on a whim yesterday, I attached it to my 500mm with the 1.4x TC already on there. The results amazed me--it was very sharp. I did not expect the 2x by itself to be sharp--but stacked??? I have to get one of these. This is a reduced version of a full-frame image from the 1D Mark II. It was shot at ISO 500 to get a fast shutter speed (even with IS, at 1400mm you need to shooting fast), but the Canon of course does very well with the noise.

Jeff

April 16, 2005 06:31 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Deep Sky

M82 w/ STL-1100Xm and Meade 16"

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
OK, the Meade 16" clearly has way too much coma for this camera :S . The guide stars look like little seagulls...very tough to guide. Still, I think this came out all right for shooting at over four meters of focal length at near sea level in WI 8O .

This is four hours of total exposure, 6x20 minutes L, 4x10 minutes each color. I should add some HA for the red tendrils...but the guide star would never make it through the filter >sad .

Jeff

April 18, 2005 01:51 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Savannah Sparrows

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
I was at the Buena Vista Grasslands Natural Area in central WI on Sunday to photograph Greater Prairie Chickens--images of those to come shortly, but I have 6.5GB of RAW files to process and sort through 8O --and I am still tired from getting up at 2:30am to get out to the blinds. However, I did take time last night when I got home to process a few images. Some of my favorite shots of the whole trip are these Savannah Sparrows. They are a grassland bird that you don't often see--unless you know where to go and are looking--and like all small passerines, can be very difficult to photograph.

There were literally thousands of these guys on the grasslands (there are 45,000 acres in the preserve, and there has to be at least one of these per acre), but I only managed to get close to three of them. These are three of my best shots. I really like the ones where they are singing their hearts away--spring is clearly here grin !

April 20, 2005 02:07 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Sandhill Crane

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
Another image from Sunday--Buena Vista Grasslands. I don't often get this close to Sandhill Cranes, but there was a pair right off of one of the dirt roads through the grassland marshes.

Canon 1Ds Mark II, 500mm f/4 IS w/ 1.4x TC.

Jeff

April 20, 2005 02:09 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

And why not an American Robin?

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
I swear that if these were rare, we would all be raving about how beautiful they are...

Canon 1Ds Mark II, 500mm f/4 IS w/ 1.4x TC.

Jeff

April 22, 2005 02:47 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Greater Prairie Chickens: Displaying Male #1

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
OK, I finally got around to picking through my 2.5GB of RAW files from my trip to the Buena Vista Grasslands this past Sunday. I went specifically to see the Greater Prairie Chickens on their leks. This is the last area where these birds remain in the wild in WI, and the habitat is intensively managed to keep the birds present. There are probably no more than a thousand of them, all within an area of about 50,000 acres. One hundred years ago, there were millions across the state... .

Anyway, you can participate in population studies by sitting in the blinds and counting males, females, matings, mapping the leks, etc. These are *small* blinds--about 4x4x8 feet (height, width, length), and they cram four people in there . I reserved two spots so I had room for my gear. You are taken to the blinds about 4:30-5:00am, and the chickens arrive shortly thereafter. The sounds are amazing, and can't be described...the displays are wonderful. I was plagued by fog that made my imaging very difficult, but it cleared up near the end of the morning (7:00am or so). The warm color of the images are the result of the early morning light; contrast was tough due to the remaining haze.

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