Northern Harriers -- territorial dispute

Brian,

The action here is awesome!! I agree with you, this is really cool.

It was great meeting you in Bosque.

I think this is super cool!!!

I do have to ask why ISO 100 for birds in flight. Had you selected ISO 400 or even 200, there is little or no image degredation on the 10D and you would be able to increase the DOF by selecting f/11 and increase the shutter speed to 1/800 to insure a sharper photo.

Ditto EJ's comments. Even with film, ISO 200 would have been fine. Greater DOF and Servo AF with the central sensor on the head of the closest bird would have produced a prize winner.

A wonderful piece of action here. Too bad you didn't have EJ's advice and your AI Servo chops down ahead of time. This is good, but it could have been mind boggling.

aj

Great catch of the action! Another photography lesson learned in the heat of battle. Wish all of lifes lessons could be learned while having this much fun!

E.J. Peiker wrote:I think this is super cool!!!

I do have to ask why ISO 100 for birds in flight. Had you selected ISO 400 or even 200, there is little or no image degredation on the 10D and you would be able to increase the DOF by selecting f/11 and increase the shutter speed to 1/800 to insure a sharper photo.

Good to know ... I did not think ahead and paid for it. I keep forgetting how much you can get away with on the 10D. Coming from the D30 the goal was as low an ISO as possible.

So is a higher ISO a flight regular or were you referring specifically to the 10D?

I learned so much this trip -- can't wait to apply it all in the next one.

Fine shot, Brian. EJ took the words out of my mouth. The 10D has low noise characteristics, and 400 ISO on the 10D is as good or better than 200 ISO on the 1D. Without a dark BG, even 800 ISO is eminently usable.

I'm not going to make you feel any worse by telling you this could have been better(although the advice about increasing the ISO speed is a great reminder for me too).
I think that the action, the separation of the two birds and the composition still make this a unique and very interesting image.

Great interaction between birds!!! Congrats!!

Brian, preparedness can go along way in helping you obtain your photographic goals. Setting up the equipment ahead of time will allow you to concentrate on the moment at hand. Eliminate as many variables as possible beforehand, with exposure being the easiest in bright sunny conditions. Go through what if scenarios; if a harrier flies in front of the camera what do I need to do to best obtain the image?

Sunny f/ 16 for ISO 400 = 1/1600 @ f/8

In my experience, 1/800 is not sufficient to render erratically moving subjects tack sharp at extreme focal lengths. Servo AI focus is beneficial, as is the ring of fire (all point active) under these conditions.

Even with film it is best to always opt for a bit more noise/grain and a sharp image - over a noiseless one with a blurry subject.

Best, and go get'em,

Chas

Well Brian, It's all been said. Now you have to go back and do it agian . Seriously though, with the 10D I pretty much keep it at 200 (or higher if needed) I rarely go to 100 at all as 200 is so clean.

Having said that, you have caught some nice behavior here. It is not common from my experience to have harriers fighting like this in winter. Nice shot.

Chas wrote:Brian, preparedness can go along way in helping you obtain your photographic goals.

...

Best, and go get'em,

Chas

Agreed ... this was a very valuable experience/lesson and really made me begin to look more closely at the technicals before setting down to shoot.
Sounds like a potential for a good article -- 'How and what to prepare for before pressing the shutter'

Thanx Again,

Brian,

I was never in the right place at the right time to get a shot at ONE Harrier. Nice capture! It seems to me that being ready can be particularly difficult at a place like Bosque where you are somtimes surrounded by action and photo ops. It's difficult to concentrate on one type of photo and particularly difficult to change suddenly to a set up for a differnt type of photo. I guess it comes down to practice , practice, practice, and a checklist is not a bad idea too..

Brian, a great photo.

BrianS wrote:

Chas wrote:Brian, preparedness can go along way in helping you obtain your photographic goals.

...

Best, and go get'em,

Chas

Agreed ... this was a very valuable experience/lesson and really made me begin to look more closely at the technicals before setting down to shoot.
Sounds like a potential for a good article -- 'How and what to prepare for before pressing the shutter'

Thanx Again,

Hey Brian, I did such an article in a past life . Perhaps, I will do a part 2.

Best,

Chas

Great action, Brian.

To add to what others have said, I shoot at ISO 400 for 90%+ of my images. There's no down side to the faster ISO on the 10D.

Good to meet you. I look forward to seeing you again before too long.

jn

Chas wrote:

BrianS wrote:

Chas wrote:Brian, preparedness can go along way in helping you obtain your photographic goals.

...

Best, and go get'em,

Chas

Agreed ... this was a very valuable experience/lesson and really made me begin to look more closely at the technicals before setting down to shoot.
Sounds like a potential for a good article -- 'How and what to prepare for before pressing the shutter'

Thanx Again,

Hey Brian, I did such an article in a past life . Perhaps, I will do a part 2.

Best,

Chas

I'd love to read it if you happen to have a copy posted on your site. Thanx.

Nice work Brian, I have learned a lot from this posting.

Brian,

Nice shot. You captured some wonderful action.