On the Hunt

Gallery: WildlifePosted June 14, 2011156 views5 comments

Hi again, everyone! Wow...my spring got a little crazy so I've been AWOL from the critique forums for too long! As Jenaya recently posted, we've just returned from our annual family trip to Yellowstone, and I thought I'd post at least a couple images before we take off for a few days in beautiful Kananaskis Country in W-SW Alberta in hopes of finding a few grizzlies.

I'm sure there's no shortage of coyote pictures on NPN, and I'm not even sure this is my best from the trip, but I really liked the pose this guy gave us while he listened intently for critters under the snow. Something about this image captured a mood that I like.

Larger version provided and is much better as you can see his eye, but as you can see the image is not as tack-sharp as I'd like...I had let Jenaya use my 300mm and after we were done photographing this guy we switched lenses on the way to the truck and just happened to look back as he struck this pose...I swung and got the shot, but didn't nail it (also the reason I didn't have time to adjust my shooting angle a little better). :(

Thanks for your time and comments!

Nikon D7000
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED w/ TC-14EII converter
ISO 200
1/800sec @ f/5.6
-0.7EV to control highlights on snow
Cropped to about 80% of original

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on June 14, 2011 at 10:23 AM

Very nice, really shows the coyote in its winter environment. I like that you have detail in the snow, coyote and the BG. I do wish there was a bit more detail in the snow at the bottom of the image, and those bare branches in the upper left side are somewhat distracting for me. But, I would have like to have taken this shot! Thanks for sharing, well done all things considered and thanks for the story behind the image.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on June 15, 2011 at 12:55 AM

Welcome back again John, I missed you and Jenaya being here with us :^)

Although the more obvious shot would have landscape, I really like that you went for a portrait especially seeing as you were able to get into the frame the tops of those (I guess!) young trees. The fact that this image appears to be as much about the habitat as it is about the Coyote lessens the need for a level of sharpness in the animals greater than what you've acquired here with this IMO. I also very much like that, small as it is, there is a discernible catchlight in the eye one can see in larger version.

All in all, very nice work as per usual, eager to see more soon :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on June 15, 2011 at 8:09 AM

Hi John,

I quite like the feel and lighting of this shot. I like how the frame is split between the snow in the foreground and the amount of space allocated to the trees (and, of course, the positioning of the subject). To me the vertical composition looks natural and I suspect if I saw the scene I would have also gone vertical. I do wish the branches in the upper left corner weren't there, but that's certainly not a deal-breaker. In a perfect world I wouldn't mind seeing a tad more white-on-white detail in the snow, but again...no deal-breaker!

In terms of the sharpness - it doesn't look too bad at this size, but I'm guessing any softness in the image is a function of shooting wide open with the TC. While I haven't used that specific lens with the 1.4x TC, every other lens I've tested with that TC must be stopped down between 2/3 and a full stop to attain close to maximum sharpness (i.e., stopping down more does very little in increasing sharpness).

Cheers...thanks for sharing this - looking forward to your next post already...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on June 15, 2011 at 6:43 PM

Thank you, John, Ashley and Brad!

Just a quick comment about the Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED and TC-14EII combo. Up until this particular combination I abhored the use of teleconverters because of the massive loss of IQ, and when I did use them I always stepped down if at all possible. But this particular combination has blown me away! There is a SLIGHT loss of IQ when using the teleconverter, but I mean SLIGHT. I cannot believe the fidelity and sharpness of images shot wide-open with this lens and converter combo! So I'll take full responsibility on the loss of sharpness on this image, particularly as all the other images taken with this same combo are tack-sharp. I'm not sure if I just missed on focus or my quick movement to get the shot resulted in a less-than-perfect capture, but in the end, I just liked the feel of this one with the graceful pose of the coyote.

Thanks again...

John

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on June 15, 2011 at 7:14 PM

Hi John,

I think we're in agreement that the 1.4x TC works very well with a few lenses - I also find that the 1.4x TC works REALLY well with both the 200mm f2 and the 400mm f2.8 lenses. As a matter of fact, I actually prefer the 200 f2 plus 1.4x TC over the 300mm f2.8 (tho' it's 20mm behind) AND I like the 400 f2.8 plus 1.4x TC MORE than the 500mm f4 (and the 400 plus TC gives you 50mm more). In both cases stopping down only 2/3 of stop gets you to great sharpness - not much of a penalty! But I STILL think the TC is more to blame for the slight loss in sharpness (it WAS wide open) than YOU are (hey. take the excuse/compliment and run with it!!).

Cheers...nice to see you back in the gallery...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments