Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: Photography in the BWCA :: Any advice on getting good shots of a loon?
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BlueWingOlive |
Bracketing will allow you to take multiple shots of your subject while using different exposures. This is a nice safety valve if you did not have the appropriate exposure setting. I will usually set my camera +2 and -2 stops. In addition, once you have your three photos, you could layer them to create a high dynamic range (HDR) photo. If you have enough memory in your camera, I agree with lmislinski. Shoot using RAW. As far as getting within close enough range goes. Patience, being calm and moving slow. Birds will usually become more relaxed if they feel less threatened. So as for that Loon shot; best of luck! I too am waiting for that shot, but this is what I have so far: if interested, here is a link to my nature photos: My Photos On Flickr |
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lmislinski |
Bear bait is spot on regarding difficulty in getting a good exposure. Because of the high dynamic range you'll capture with a loon (deep black to bright white), it can also help if you're shooting while it's cloudy. Otherwise you'll have to sacrifice detail in either the shadows or highlights. Personnally, I expose (shooting digital) to just barely clip the highlights. I also shoot in RAW format. This allows me to recover details in post processing from the highlights and then boost the shadows without adding too much digital noise. Hope this helps. |
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Chilly |
Think about it this way, taking a pic of a goose in yer city park is easy but getting with in a 100 yards of one in North Dakota, not so much. |
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jwartman59 |
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starwatcher |
loon eagle in flight quote Wind-in the-Face from Quiet Journey Mk, I have to confess, these are not truly my shots. I was only the facilitator for my daughter-in-law. Our trip last July was through the S-chain. First trip for my son & his wife. Primary goal was relaxation and photography rather than fishing. On this particular day on North Bay, near the exit/entrance to the S-chain, I paddled slowly while she sat in the bow. We stalked this eagle, very slowly, for hours. Really. She used a 270mm zoom lens that she had to hold very steady. When it finally lifted and flew, she clicked off about a dozen shots at a time. A lot of them were out of focus to some degree, but some were pretty good. You've seen some of the better ones. Same with the loon pics, etc. The beauty of digital photography is not having to worry about film developing and expense. In 7 days she took over 1100 shots, of which only about 300 were good and about 50 were, in my opinion, stunning. It changed me; I'll never go to Quetico again without a good camera, and I'll always take time to use it. I can re-live that trip so much better than with just a journal. I'd like to find time to produce a trip report like the ones HoHo does. They are spectacular because of his skillful combination of prose and photography. So, now you know. Glad you've enjoyed. WiF |
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Jimi |
So patience is the biggest component I think while luck plays the part of a bird appearing. If you have a decent zoom lens I'm sure you'll get some great shots this summer. |
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snakecharmer |
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jenrobsdad |
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Savage Voyageur |
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Kendra |
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knitsocks77 |
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bear bait |
my 2 cents would be to get as low as possible so you can get an eye level perspective. hope for good light and be careful with exposure as it's tricky to keep the details in both the light and dark areas of a black and white bird. i'd take a meter reading of a middle tone object in the same light as the loon and bracket 1/3 stop over and under. good luck!! |