Swans and Geese

[ladyups]

I was out this morning trying to get some good snow pictures when I heard all the commotion on the upper lake. There must have been over a 1000 geese and image my surprise when I got home to view my pictures. Mind you...I can't see very good without my glasses and I can't take pictures with my glasses on so I really did not know these three beauties were there. I plan on going back out this coming Sat. morning and hopefully, get a much better picture. I'm hoping you kind, generous folks will advice me on what settings to shoot, what to set it at, etc. etc..I had my tripod but didn't use it...(shame on me!) but will be using it Sat. I shot this at 1/20 of a second, ISO 100 and I think f29 but I'm not real sure how to read my exif. It lists a 'lens open f value' as f5.6 and a diaphragm value of f29. I'm thinking the f29 was my aperture, is this correct? And my lens focal length was 60mm which means I should have had a faster shutter speed, correct? It wasn't completely cloudy, the sun was shining through the clouds ever so often. My WB was set to cloudy.

Anyway, this isn't a good picture but wanted you to see what's living amongst the geese.

Mary

[gjtoth]

Oooooooooooo.... COOL!

Canada geese are my FAVS!

At the prison where my wife & I do some ministry work, they have lake with Canada geese and, sure enough, 2 swans are in with 'em. I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it. I want soooo bad to take pictures there but... no cameras on prison property. :(

When I get my teleconverter though.... BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHaaaaaaaaa... :eek:

PS - the f5.9 sounds to be right. f29 would be a microscopic light hole. Not to say it CAN'T be. Just that f5.9 SOUNDS a little closer to familiar.

[ladyups]

Oooooooooooo.... COOL!

Canada geese are my FAVS!

At the prison where my wife & I do some ministry work, they have lake with Canada geese and, sure enough, 2 swans are in with 'em. I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it. I want soooo bad to take pictures there but... no cameras on prison property. :(

When I get my teleconverter though.... BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHaaaaaaaaa... :eek:

PS - the f5.9 sounds to be right. f29 would be a microscopic light hole. Not to say it CAN'T be. Just that f5.9 SOUNDS a little closer to familiar.

Oh, yes, another reason to have a teleconverter...get closer to them without getting my feet wet...:D

I was using my 18-70mm lens and I was trying to hold off going to the telephoto end because of the light.

I want to get some of them 'taking' off the water but need to have a lot faster shutter speed for that or definitely the tripod.

I sure hope they have internet access in prison...would hate not being able to communicate with you about those swans...:D:D:D

Mary

[gjtoth]

Oh, yes, another reason to have a teleconverter...get closer to them without getting my feet wet...:D

I was using my 18-70mm lens and I was trying to hold off going to the telephoto end because of the light.

I want to get some of them 'taking' off the water but need to have a lot faster shutter speed for that or definitely the tripod.

I sure hope they have internet access in prison...would hate not being able to communicate with you about those swans...:D:D:D

Mary

heh... I'll figure out a way!

Take a look at this, Mary. Sure wish I had shot it! I've had this blown up and framed for our great room.

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=361050189&size=l

[ladyups]

Oh, WOW...that is beautiful...would make lovely wall art. :)

Mary

[gjtoth]

Oh, WOW...that is beautiful...would make lovely wall art. :)

Mary


It does! I had it blown up to 24 X 36 and framed it.

[ladyups]

It does! I had it blown up to 24 X 36 and framed it.

That's awesome, Gary. It is a beautiful photo.

Mary

[dkippen]

I can only dream about taking pictures like that!!

Mary - as I Gary said, your aperature (f-stop) is probably f5.9 and I think a tripod would help tremendously.

I came across this for shooting in snow:

Substitute Reading: Take an alternate meter reading off a middle tone - blue sky, gray card (sold in camera stores), or any medium-colored object. Simply point your camera at, say, the blue sky, fill up your viewfinder with that tone. Then keep those settings (via exposure lock or manual mode), re-compose your photo, and fire away. Note: If you are taking an alternate reading off the gray card or another average-colored object, be sure that the light falling on that substitute object is EXACTLY the same as that falling on your main subject.
Exposure Compensation: This depends on the brightness of the scene. Add, say, +1.5 to +2 for sunny midday conditions when a big expanse of snow is influencing your meter. If the lighting is more subdued - i.e., early morning or late day, or heavy overcast - then go with +1/2 to +1.

I would go this weekend and practice, but the high is -5 with a windchill of -30/-45, so I'll be staying inside this weekend. Good luck capturing those geese!!