NUTHATCH AND SIGMA 150-600 S LENS TALK

White-breasted Nuthatch, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

This is a picture I wanted to make since a long time. The White-breasted Nuthatch gave me a little bit of time today at our maple in front of the house to shoot a series of pictures. The fill flash is subtle, just enough to emphasize the colors, and except for the second catch light in the bird’s eye, it is not obvious that flash was even used. The nuthatches are permanent residents in our woods here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley.

I used the Nikon D750 with the SIGMA 150-600, f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for this photo (picture made @ 600 mm, 1/160s, f/6.3, ISO 250). As more I work with the new lens, as more I fall in love with it. My old SIGMA 50-500 delivered sharp images but it was at its best at an aperture of f/8. I’m very impressed how the new 150-600 S performs already at f/6.3, and I already mentioned in my first article about this lens how much better the bokeh of the new lens is. It’s getting gradually warmer here in the next few days and I hope I have some more opportunities to practice with the SIGMA 150-600 S.

NOT SO FAMOUS LOCATIONS

Lake Carlos State Park, Minnesota

The chance that we can create a good nature photo increases dramatically if we go to an interesting location. Period! Well, we all know this is not always an option. Sometimes life stands in the way. So should we leave the camera in the bag or even at home any time we think the location is not worth any efforts? Of course not! Watching the light and colors, looking for interesting perspectives, or focussing on details can sometimes lead to a photograph at places that usually cannot compete with Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon.

On our way home from North Dakota last October we camped for one night at Lake Carlos State Park in Minnesota. Not a bad campsite, and at least at the end of the season there were not too many people. But every way I looked around, there wasn’t much I really wanted to photograph. It wasn’t until the sun had disappeared and left us with a nice glow on the shore, that I realized the potential for a shot. There was some “camping and boat clutter” between the trees in the background, which were cloned out for this image. The moon and the last light of the day made all the difference.

Earlier I tried to take some pictures of these Pied-billed Grebes on the lake. At that time the reflections on the water were just to bright and I didn’t get a shot that I liked. Ten minutes after the photo with the moon was shot I saw still the colors of the sky reflected on the water. Suddenly it wasn’t about a detailed shot of the birds anymore, it was just all about color and positioning the silhouettes of the grebes in the frame...

NATURE CLICKS #315 - NORTHERN CARDINAL

Male Northern Cardinal

The Northern Cardinals flock together in the winter and during the early morning or after sunset we can count about twenty visiting our bird feeders. It was bitter cold again today and so we see them even a lot more during the day. Cardinals are very shy and it is not easy to get close. Other birds will tolerate my short presence out in the open and still visit the feeders but the cardinals just sat in the trees and waited until I went back in the house to warm up my fingers.

I used “quick crop”, the DX mode in the Nikon D750, because I wasn’t able to get closer. The low sun delivered a nice light from the side and being fast was key for making the click.

HAVE TO LIKE IT

Pronghorn, Custer State Park, South Dakota

We are in northwest Iowa again and spend time with our family. The winter becomes “serious” and temperatures getting really low here right now. Today we had about -15˚C and tomorrow we expect -25˚C / -13˚F with a windchill down to -40˚C / -40˚F. Minus 40 is the magic number where the temperature on the Celsius scale meets the one on the Fahrenheit scale…

Joan, Cooper, and I went out this afternoon for a little hike and I tried to make some pictures that tell the story about winter. After all, looking at them later on the computer screen, I didn’t like the results. This happens and I don’t blame the weather for it. I rather show nothing than a picture I don’t like. So, this is why a photo from the archive is used for today’s blog post. Not even partially related to today’s article, but at least it is a photo that I like… 😉

FEEDER LOCATIONS

Black-capped Chickadee

I can’t mention enough how important our “front and backyard studio” is for my almost daily practice of wildlife photography. Sure, I have met other photographers that would never aim their glass on a bird that flies in for a feeder, with other words, one that has been “baited”. I highly respect their ethic standpoint as long as they stick with it, but I think they may miss a great chance to study the wildlife and to practice their skills, especially if time is limited because of work or other commitments.

Many birds fly first to a bush or nearby tree before they enter the actual bird feeder. It also serves them as a first refuge if some danger comes up or if they are just scared by a noise or sudden movement. Placing your bird feeders next to a brush or shrub can make a big difference how often your feeders are visited by our feathered friends. If you plan to set up a feeder sometime, give it a thought, plant a bush or tree nearby or use the proximity of an already existing one. The birds will make their visits more frequently and the fun you have will at least double…😉

TEST SHOT (IN A SHAFT OF LIGHT)

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

It is very cold here right now in Iowa (-16˚ C / 3˚ F) and because of the wind it feels even a lot colder. I don’t have always time to dress for these temperatures when I see something in the front or backyard, so I shoot quite often through the glass of the balcony door or just open a window briefly, while using every spare minute to learn and practice with the new glass, the Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports lens. Most of these “test shots” will never be seen by the public eye. This is the big advantage of digital, it allows us to shoot and practice without breaking the bank.

So, what pictures of backyard wildlife photography are really worth to be published? I can’t answer that for everybody, but when light, gesture, color, or either combination of them let a photo stand out or help the story telling, I would consider it.

The cold temperatures drive lots of Dark-eyed Juncos down south and many of them love our feeders, or better, what can they find below them. Juncos usually feed more on the ground. The trees we have around here make it somehow unpredictable how the low sun at this time of the season will impact the light. However, when a shaft of light hit the snow just where the juncos roamed today, I had to make the click...

WORKING AGAINST THE GRAY

Is there still some story telling in a photo if nothing but a gray overcast with fog, and as a result snow that looks gray, dominate the scene? At least I gave it a try last weekend during our annual ice fishing event with friends up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. I was hoping for some great light moments, but they never came this time. One way to suppress the overall gray is to find some colors. The nicely stacked fire wood beside the cabin and a little bit of fresh snow draw the attention away from the gray sky.

In the second image negative space was used to depict the contour of the lake shore. In addition the dark spots of the slushy snow on the ice of Fay Lake tell the story of a gray and relativ warm winter day.

AGAIN AND AGAIN

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

I hope you had a good start into the new year. May it be a good one for all of you!

For many photographers the period between Christmas and a new year is often time to reflect on the work of the previous twelve months, by naming maybe personal favorites, or by looking back into the archive and finding pictures that may have been overlooked.

I kinda do the latter and open my first blog post in 2016 with an image that has clouds and sky as its subject. This was something I wanted to do more in 2015 and I did. It didn’t always work out the way I thought it would. Sometimes you may come across a great sky but have no foreground or interesting skyline. Other times you think you are in the right place, at the right time, and then the clouds dissolve or the light suddenly becomes crappy. The only way to do it is being out there and try it again and again...

SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM SPORTS LENS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

The Weihnachtsmann was very nice this year and placed a new lens under the Christmas tree. The Sigma 150-600 mm / f5-6.3 DG HSM OS Sports lens will replace my “workhorse”, the Sigma 50-500 mm / f4-6.3 APO DG HSM. It has served me very well during the last six years and it was a perfect match for the Nikon D200, and later the Nikon D300s cameras. Its optics are very good and if focus can be obtained, it always delivered sharp images.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

So what were the reasons to buy the new lens? The additional 100 mm focal length are a big one. On the D300s the 500 mm maximum focal length delivered the angle of view of a 750 mm lens. After changing to a full frame FX sensor, with the Nikon D750 camera, well, 500 mm are just 500 mm. This can make a big difference in wildlife photography. In a critical situation, when it might be impossible to get closer to the subject, changing the camera settings to “quick crop mode” will provide the equivalent of a 900 mm lens. This can make the difference between coming home with “the shot” or nothing.

You have not seen many of my photos here in the blog when I wasn’t able to obtain focus because of shutter speed was too slow, but there were more than you may think. Optical stabilization (OS) will hopefully help me to have more keepers on the memory card after a shooting session. This was another big reason for getting the new Sigma lens.

The old lens isn’t splash and dust proof and as you know, it isn’t always easy to keep water and dirt away in the field. The new one has a weatherproof construction. Big deal for me.

The snow storm that just came through here didn’t leave me much time to do a lot of testing with the new lens yet, but I show you a couple photos and here are my first impressions.

  1. The Sigma 150-600 Sports lens is very well built and has a really nice design. Nothing looks and feels cheap and the lens gives you a professional feeling with its ergonomic features (more about this probably in a later blog post).
  2. It is able to deliver sharp, very sharp images!
  3. I love the bokeh. OMG, much better than with the old lens.
  4. The darn thing is heavy, and I mean heavy. The old 50-500 was called the “Bigma” because of its weight but the 150-600 Sports lens brings 900 grams (2 lb.) more to the scale. I read a lot of reviews about this lens before I asked Santa Claus to bring it this Christmas. Some of the reviewers talked about sharpness by just handholding the lens. Sure, this is possible, and I will for sure handhold the lens, but posting a verdict about sharpness doesn’t seem to be the right way of making an evaluation. Bottom line, this lens needs good support (tripod) whenever possible!
  5. Price. I thought it was a little overpriced in the past. I had this lens on my wish list since it came out over a year ago, but when Sigma lowered the price by $200 and B&H threw in the USB dock for adjusting the lens via computer ($60), I felt the time was right to pull the trigger... 😊. 

I’m sure I will give those of you, who like to read more about this lens, some more thoughts as soon I can do some real field testing beyond my first backyard experience.

As always, equipment plays an important role but it is the person behind the camera that makes the photo. I still believe that…

P.S.: I have added more thoughts about this lens on April 4, 2016. Feel free to click HERE for this new post.

LIBRARY CLEAN UP

Mule Deer, Theodore Roosevelt NP

The year comes slowly but surely to an end and I use the evenings to tidy my 2015 photo archive. I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC to organize my photo library since many years. It still feels good to find photos that have potential to be published, at least here in the blog. Beside that I always have some future projects in my head that need some time to grow and using “collections” in Lightroom helps me to shape them without changing the structure of the photo library. Everybody has probably a different way to organize their files. I prefer time folders (one for each month) and use keywords in order to find any photo later by its content. This sounds like a lot of work (it really isn't) but I believe for a wildlife photographer it is important to display all photos of a particular species with just one easy click. It allows to re-evaluate previous work and compare it to the results of the latest shooting session. For me this is essential to see if improvements were made, or to draw conclusions and prepare for the next time a critter or light situation present in front of the lens.

SUN IS OUT, FINALLY

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4

A very chilly morning today after a relative warm Christmas but for the first time this weekend the sun came out and the sky cleared. We are in Cherokee in northwest Iowa and spent the weekend with our family. A daily habit is a walk around Spring Lake, located in a nice park of the city. 

The Nikkor 16-35, f/4 was on camera and choosing f/16 created the sunburst effect and depth of field throughout the whole image. The photo doesn’t have a clear subject but the long shadows of the trees on the ice triggered my desire to make this picture.

NATURE CLICKS #314 - ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP

Theodore Roosevelt NP, North Dakota

We hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend. I won’t bother you today with a long story about the making of the photo or any other nature observations. This is just another image from our visit in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. The picture is the result of a very slow and careful approach to a herd of Bighorn Sheep. It was a lot harder to get the glass on them than it was in Badlands NP. I hope you enjoy!

HOLIDAY GREETINGS

We wish all readers, friends, and visitors of the blog and website a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Wir wünschen allen Lesern, Freunden und Besuchern des Blogs und der Webseite ein schönes Weihnachtsfest und angenehme Feiertage.

THERE ARE REASONS

Missouri River, near Bismarck, North Dakota

The photo was made on our way home, just southwest of Bismarck, the capitol of North Dakota. There are reasons why getting up early in the morning may lead to a desired image. Pitching the tent next to the Missouri River made it a lot easier to be on site before sunrise. A few minutes later a beaver swam down the river. Those are the moments when you realize, being in the right place, at the right time, is not solely due to just having a lucky day…

NATURE CLICKS #313 - AMERICAN GOLDFINCH

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head

This picture of an American Goldfinch looks almost like it was made with a flash light. I use flash quite often for color enhancement in my bird photography, especially in the winter, but this little guy was just hit by a shaft of light from yesterday’s late afternoon sun. Couldn’t resist to make the click...