Posted by Phil Shaw on February 24, 2007 at 3:00 PM
Rüpell’s Griffon Vulture (Gyps r. rueppellii) – Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.
Canon EOS 1Ds2, 600/f4, EX580, beanbag.
Manual exposure mode f11, 1/250, iso 200.
RAW image processed in Capture One; sharpened in Photoshop CS2, full frame.
Sorry, not a bird feeder shot
We shot a lot of vultures and hyenas on our recent trip to Tanzania. In this particular case, the birds were strongly backlit and this is shot with flash at full power. In recent months I’ve been using lithium AA batteries in my flash as they definitely recycle faster than rechargables. However, I hadn’t realized how hot the lithium cells get and that when they get hot, they stop working until they cool down. Hasn’t been a problem in the UK, but it definitely was in TZ.
Posted by Rob Howard on February 24, 2007 at 3:49 PM
Hi Phil,
Funny I was just thinking today how your trip had gone! Looks like you had a very productive one. I love Vulture's I think their whole way of life is fascinating. The colours and detail here are spot on and you have executed the use of flash very well. That eye and beak look great. Would perhaps liked a little more room to the right but very minor nit.
Regards
Rob
Posted by Graeme Lee on February 24, 2007 at 4:45 PM
Exceptional detail and skills using the flash..as usual
Agree with Rob re the looking space, but it's a personal preference
Graeme
Posted by Rene de Heer on February 24, 2007 at 5:12 PM
Very nice and ,as usual ,up to your high standard. I do find it too large and would have liked more space on the right.
Rene de Heer
Posted by Jim Greenfield on February 25, 2007 at 4:09 AM
Looks great to me - space not a problem.
Concur on the AA Lithiums - fast recycling and LONG life. I use them in swimming pools for some contract work I do and they still show full capacity after ten films on TTL. However, have had to stop using them in the slave (full power) because they get hellishly hot. About £4.50 for four at 7dayshop
Posted by David Taylor on February 25, 2007 at 5:23 AM
Beautiful detail which to me is what counts in a portrait like this. Carrion (sorry!) producing images like this. Excellent.
Posted by Phil Shaw on February 25, 2007 at 5:58 AM
Beautiful detail which to me is what counts in a portrait like this. Carrion (sorry!) producing images like this.
We definitely had carrion/carry-on problems on this trip. It took me over an hour of negotiations with the check-in nazis to get my camera gear through and ended up having to pay excess baggage.
Posted by John MacTavish on February 25, 2007 at 11:18 AM
Wonderful detail and it draws our attention right away. Maybe a tad tight, but who's looking at the edges when there's so much to look at in the frame
Posted by Dave Courtenay on February 25, 2007 at 12:20 PM
Well executed image
Posted by Richard Tynan on February 25, 2007 at 1:01 PM
The amount of space around the bird is fine for my taste, especially for web presentation.
A great, detailed image. That bill looks prehistoric.
Posted by Tim Munsey on February 26, 2007 at 7:51 AM
Global warming coming thick and fast maybe we'll have these soon eh. Nice one Phil, looking forward to seeing these on my Africa trip, I think they're fantastic.
Discussion
11 repliesRüpell’s Griffon Vulture (Gyps r. rueppellii) – Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.
Canon EOS 1Ds2, 600/f4, EX580, beanbag.
Manual exposure mode f11, 1/250, iso 200.
RAW image processed in Capture One; sharpened in Photoshop CS2, full frame.
We shot a lot of vultures and hyenas on our recent trip to Tanzania. In this particular case, the birds were strongly backlit and this is shot with flash at full power. In recent months I’ve been using lithium AA batteries in my flash as they definitely recycle faster than rechargables. However, I hadn’t realized how hot the lithium cells get and that when they get hot, they stop working until they cool down. Hasn’t been a problem in the UK, but it definitely was in TZ.
Funny I was just thinking today how your trip had gone! Looks like you had a very productive one. I love Vulture's I think their whole way of life is fascinating. The colours and detail here are spot on and you have executed the use of flash very well. That eye and beak look great. Would perhaps liked a little more room to the right but very minor nit.
Regards
Rob
Agree with Rob re the looking space, but it's a personal preference
Graeme
Rene de Heer
Concur on the AA Lithiums - fast recycling and LONG life. I use them in swimming pools for some contract work I do and they still show full capacity after ten films on TTL. However, have had to stop using them in the slave (full power) because they get hellishly hot. About £4.50 for four at 7dayshop
We definitely had carrion/carry-on problems on this trip. It took me over an hour of negotiations with the check-in nazis to get my camera gear through and ended up having to pay excess baggage.
A great, detailed image. That bill looks prehistoric.
Tim