SEARCHING IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE: speed

It's in my blood.
Since I was given my first camera, when I was a little kid, I have always been fascinated by capturing in a shot what my eyes were seeing around me. The beauty of nature or the smile of a friend, an event or an emotion... Precious pearls to be framed in a photo. Whether freezing a movement or moving the stillness, looking at normality through a different angle or portraying the exceptional, I can choose different perspectives, I can catch reality. I think this passion is in my blood, I inherited it from my Grandpa and then from my Dad, and it has always had a great influence in my life. Come and follow me in my journey searching impressions of life.

Showing posts with label speed. Show all posts

Sunday, April 16, 2017

The King

The Kingfisher, a blue rocket that dives at incredible speed and precision to catch the fish. This beautiful bird is not rare but being able to see it fishing is not that easy, especially considering its speed. I have seen this bird diving from the top of a big tree, 15 meters high, into a small pond and still catch the fish, of course all in a flash.

Taking pictures of the Kingfisher is great: the shape and colors of this bird make it a perfect subject for a nature photographer. However, even if a portrait shot is already a great picture – considering the beauty of this bird – taking a shot in flight is the ultimate goal of every photographer. And considering the speed of the Kingfisher, that is no easy task. So... of course I tried to do that.

Because of how fast it is, the camera must be set on a very fast shutter time – to be sure to freeze the bird's flight 1/3500-1/4000 sec is recommended – and it must be pre-focused on the spot where we think (or hope) the bird will dive. Autofocus would be really tough and all the water drops would anyway fool the lens view and make the camera focus off the real subject. The fast shutter time often prevents the photographer from being able to use a small aperture and depth of field is critical, especially when using a telephoto.

Here are my first results in this attempt of taking a good photo of the Kingfisher either diving or emerging from the water with the catch. The light was not that much, and to try and have a good depth of field I had to raise the ISO quite a bit. I even risked lowering the speed to a value, still pretty fast, but not completely safe. However, the fact that I took the bird while exiting the water, allowed for shots with no motion blur because the bird was slowed down by the fish and by the effort of flying out of the water.

They are not perfect, but I am pretty satisfied at the moment. And of course I will try again, looking for the perfect shot... wish me luck!

350mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO6400 -0.33

350mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO16000 -0.33

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Hunting Among the Water Lilys

It was not until I saw the shots I took, that the strength of the Squacco heron during hunting showed up so clearly. The bird walks over the Water lily leaves looking for its preys, very slowly, scanning the water, then suddenly springs into incredible action. That's the best moment to shoot to take very dynamic pictures. Also, since the weight of the bird tends to make it sink while walking on the floating leaves, you can predict when this heron will spread the wings to "stay up" and that is also another moment when you fire your shots. The mating season is a good moment because it brings a very colorful plumage and also the beak is colored of a bright blue, and that makes the photos more interesting.

I took pictures during two different moments with different conditions in the setting and lighting. The first time the Water lilys were all in bloom giving the setting a wonderful look. The light was harsh, though, because it was midday. The second time it was early morning, so the light was nicer, but it was later in the season and the flowers were almost all gone. Both times there were multiple challenges. I had to keep a fast shutter speed to freeze the bird's movement and at the same time a narrow aperture was needed to keep the subject in focus: Especially when the bird was springing towards the camera, the focus was very critical. The light was source of other problems, but also of opportunity. The harsh light of midday created often a back-lit effect with very interesting results. The high contrasts, however, requested some post processing work to balance the white of the wings vs the rest of the colors.

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO 320

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO 320

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2000sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1600sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @490mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @490mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @533mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 800

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Kingfisher Paradise

Having read about the Oasi di Cervara and about the Kingfishers living in that area, I was very curious to go and see myself, hoping to be able to take some good shots of these beautiful birds. It's not very close to home, it takes three and a half hours to drive there, so I decided to leave on Friday evening to be already on location on Saturday morning, ready to go to the hide.

It couldn't have been a better decision: The place is lovely, the structure very efficient and the couple of Kingfisher had been quite active during the two days I spent there.

For the occasion, I brought a Canon EOS 1D X because of the higher frame/sec rate vs my 5D MkIII (12 vs 6) so I could have better chances to catch the Kingfisher in flight. The light was not 100% ideal the whole time and I had to push the ISO of my camera quite a lot in order to have short enough a shutter speed to frame such bullet-fast birds. Trying to freeze the birds in action, called for not longer times than 1/3200 or 1/4000 sec and depth of field was very important as well, to get a higher probability of having the subject in focus. I couldn't keep it that fast when it was darker, and many times I got shots not perfectly frozen (so I am not posting that many in flight, here). The high ISO required also often caused loss of detail and thicker grain.

After a few times, I could tell the bird's behavior and know from which perch it would dive or where it would go after a missed catch, but sometimes it would surprise me diving from a tree or from a distant perch. It's incredible how fast and precise the Kingfisher is, how it can spot, target and catch a fish from such a distance and so fast, usually piercing it with its pointed beak. Another wonderful perfect creation of God: how wouldn't you be amazed?

I am quite happy with some of the shots I took, but I consider these more like a first test, rather than top captures, and I hope to be able to go back and take advantage of what I learned from this first experience, hopefully with full sunny weather. Many thanks to Erminio for his kindness and hospitality.

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/4.5 1/4000sec ISO 1600

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/4.0 1/4000sec ISO 2000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/5000sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/6.3 1/1250sec ISO 1000

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Running on the Water

That is the main impression I got when I saw the Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) for the first time: A funny – still beautiful – bird running fast on the surface of the water. Of course that was just an impression given by the speed of the bird and by the shallow water where it was looking for food, but the reflection and the very high pace created a very realistic effect.

Framing it through the lens was not easy at first, because of such an erratic and fast step, but luckily it kept going back and forth between two groups of vegetation, passing in front of the hide a few times. It was a little challenging to catch him in the right spot at the right moment. I wanted to have the reflection in the water, possibly at least one paw lifted to show the large and wide digits – to make the pose more interesting – and have it in the right light to enhance its colors. I took as many shots I could and considering it was the first time, I was quite happy with them, even if I realized I could have chosen an even faster shutter speed to freeze it better – also because I didn't have at hand the bean-bag to reduce vibrations.

I had the opportunity to shoot the Water Rail again, and this time the bird was more calm, probably less worried because the area around was quiet, and it didn't run as much, allowing me to take a few shots without the need of quick panning with the telephoto.

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF400mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x III@560mm f/8 1/1250sec ISO 320 +0.33

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF600mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x III@840mm f/8 1/2000sec ISO 500

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF600mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x III@840mm f/8 1/500sec ISO 250

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF600mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x III@840mm f/7.1 1/1000sec ISO 400

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF600mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x III@840mm f/6.3 1/640sec ISO 500

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Sparrow Hawk

At first, I wasn't thinking of posting this image because, despite a short exposure time and good depth of field, it came out blurry and backlit. But now I changed my mind and I am going to share this shot with you since it's my first photo capture of a sparrow hawk.

Like the photos of the previous post, this has been taken at the Bosco di Vanzago.

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM @400mm f/14.0 1/1600 sec ISO 640

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Burst of Color (or Hummingbird 2)

When I left for my summer vacation, I thought I would post new photos every week, looking forward to shooting a lot in nature, searching for interesting landscapes and beautiful wildlife. But it turned out that I planned my vacation too much as a continuous "on the go", mainly linked to different events – sorry, Denise! Do not misunderstand, I had a lot of fun and, yes, I did fill my cards multiple times shooting thousands of pictures, but just slightly differently from what I had thought. I simply didn't have enough time to do everything, including sorting, editing and posting pictures on the blog! So, that's the reason why you didn't see that much in the past few weeks. :-(

I am now back on the blog to share new pics and even though I'll certainly post shots from the events I was telling you about, I was actually able to sneak in the incredibly packed schedule a couple of "nature" days, and I would like to start with one of my favorite subjects.

One of my early posts, back in March 2013, showed you my first shots of a hummingbird. Nice pics, something I was happy with, but nothing like images of the birds in motion which could fully show the beauty of these feathered friends. Luckily, I have been able to try again when I visited the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, in Irvine, California, where I shot some nice pics, catching these little birds "in flight".