Innocence in the wild

[ucci]

Called this one "Innocence in the Wild." Not very good, I accept. Best I could come up with at the time. Equally sure others could come up with something more appropriate.
It was a very cold, wet day. There was a mob of roos, very wet, quite bedraggled and looking most miserable, trying to shelter from the weather on the lee side of the hill beside the house.
Taken with TV setting ( either 1/100 or 1/50th sec. Can't quite remember which) using a Sigma 500mm zoom and tripod, canon 7D frame.
Thanks for viewing and for any comments you might care to make.

[jiro]

A good quick shot, Ken. I think, in this kind of situation, you can get a more decent shot if you will try to crank up your ISO until you can get a good shutter speed that is 1/length of zoom you have. So, with your setting, it should be at least 1/800 second if you are shooting at the max zoom of your Sigma. Loved the expression you captured on that jumper.

[Bobobird]

Lovely expression.

[ucci]

Lovely expression.

Thank you

[ucci]

A good quick shot, Ken. I think, in this kind of situation, you can get a more decent shot if you will try to crank up your ISO until you can get a good shutter speed that is 1/length of zoom you have. So, with your setting, it should be at least 1/800 second if you are shooting at the max zoom of your Sigma. Loved the expression you captured on that jumper.

Thank you Willie for helpful comment. Not sure I know how much ISO to use. In the past I have used automatic setting or 100 because of supposed noise problem. My camera can set to an ISO of around 6000. I have never set it above 400. Have to experiment and see how much I can push it. But 1/800 of a second seems pretty fast. But I am going to give it a go. Thank you!

[jiro]

The reason I recommended a fast 1/800 second shutter speed is because your 7D is a 1.6X sensor frame camera. I don't know if your Sigma 500mm lens has a vibration reduction mechanism inside but it would sure help by using a slower shutter speed than 1/800 sec. From your shot, I think the issue is camera shake. It's OK but it would look much better if it is in focus, Ken. Just a suggestion. I heard that a 7D can go as high as ISO 3200 and still perform well. Good luck on your shooting, Ken.

[ucci]

TI don't know if your Sigma 500mm lens has a vibration reduction mechanism inside but it would sure help by using a slower shutter speed than 1/800 sec. From your shot, I think the issue is camera shake.\)

Yes it does Willie. Thank you for your most helpful feed back.

[FrankMi]

Hi Ken, it might be worth your while to take a number of shots under controlled settings to see how far you can raise the ISO without getting objectionable noise.

You don't need a perfect composition or subject as the goal is to review how much noise is created under the various settings. You would want to do your test shots on relatively bright, normal, and dark scenes as the maximum ISO can vary with the amount of highlights and shadows.

You might also want to experiment with low verses high contrast scenes as well. Your goal would be to identify what you might use for the maximum ISO for various types of images and tuck that away in your memory bank for when you need that extra exposure or shutter speed.

For example, I know that I don't want to exceed 800 on darker shots but can go to 1600 on normal brightness with my D3100. I have also learned that I can use a higher ISO for a busy scene than I can for a bland scene. Your results will vary with both your camera and your personal taste but this should give you some additional latitude for those times when you need to use a higher ISO.

[Geoff F]

Ken said that he was using a tripod which should have helped so maybe subject movement was also an issue.

But with big lenses it can be difficult to obtain perfect shots, even with a tripod, when using slow shutter speeds; particularly if not using cable release or mirror lock up, which can cause problems when taking quick wildlife shots.

Wind movement on the camera can also have an effect.

I usually find that I can go up to Iso 800 or a little more if the light is good and I merely want a faster shutter speed. However, increasing Iso to compensate for poor light can easily cause noise problems at 800.

[ucci]

I usually find that I can go up to Iso 800 or a little more if the light is good and I merely want a faster shutter speed. However, increasing Iso to compensate for poor light can easily cause noise problems at 800.

Thank for great tip and helpful advice