Posted by Tony Norton on June 10, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Greetings.
I recently joined NPN and I am really looking forward to participating in the various forums. The breadth of knowledge within this membership is absolutely amazing.
I am relatively new to photography being more of a naturalist/behaviorist turned photographer. I will be adding to my seriously underpowered equipment in time - currently I have a D200 and my longest lense is a 80-400 mm which is very limiting. I apologize in advance for what will surely be questions that are very redundant. In any event, the support and sage advice will be greatly appreciated.
Welcome Tony. It took me ten years to get a 400 lens, so you're way ahead of the game. Get a 1.4 extender and you'll have what you need for most shots. Look forward to seeing some posts.
Posted by Bill Chambers on June 11, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Welcome Tony. I think you will find NPN to be very friendly and a great resource to improve your photography.
Posted by beth summer on June 11, 2008 at 10:12 AM
Welcome, Tony NPN is the BEST!
Posted by David Bostedo on June 11, 2008 at 10:22 AM
I have a D200 and my longest lense is a 80-400 mm which is very limiting
Doesn't sound limiting at all to me...sounds like a pretty nice kit. One thing you'll find is that any camera equipment is better than no equipment, and great photos can be made with just about anything. I myself only have a Canon S2 IS point-and-shoot (not that my photos are all that great but it's not usually the camera's fault).
Welcome Tony! It took me years to join this group,and posting the first critique took some courage, but I found NPN to be a tremendous resource and source of encouragement. I only wished I joined earlier. I'm sure you will find this a welcoming place. Look forward to seeing your work.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on June 11, 2008 at 2:02 PM
From one Toni to another Tony, welcome to NPN! Looking forward to your participation!
Thank you everyone for the kind words. I am really excited to be a part of this group.
And you are right David, it is more like the equipment is limited by the operator. However, I do realize that eventually I may need a faster lense and/or more length for the wildlife I am trying to shoot. Most recently I am serving as a volunteer at the California Wolf Center in Julian, CA and have been asked to document the growth of the new litter of 5 Mexican Gray Wolves (which are on the endangered species list). Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot side by side with wildlife photographer Roy Toft from our blind and the 600mm he was using with 1.4TC was pretty spectacular. Well his work is pretty spectacular (www.toftphoto.com). I have lots of time and the learning curve is steep but exciting.
I am culling through my photos for the portfolio that I will post to NPN in the near future for critique.
Tony, welcome to NPN! A more generous and talented group of members you will not find. If you have any questions about using the site, please feel free to contact me!
Posted by Zack Schnepf on June 12, 2008 at 1:10 AM
Welcome aboard, glad to have you. I hope you find the group as helpful as I have, it really is a wonderful group of folks here on NPN.
Thanks again for the welcome everyone. I will post my first photo for critique shortly. After the lively discussion on BOAS vs. BIH, I think I will stick my neck out and post my picture of an Osprey I took a few years ago (not on a stick!) - might as well get my feet wet there!
Lia I am encouraged that you are able to get a lot out of your D200 and 80-400 set up. I have done the best I can with what I know and recognize that a lot of it is just me needing to be better prepared (as in getting to the location before the animals...hopefully...and not chasing them so to speak), and a better understanding of photography, which admittedly I have a lot to learn and have been soaking up the knowledge from this group - not sure I understand it all yet...
Lon and Cindy, the wolf pup experience has been really special (I don't think my photos are that great but they are necessary to document the progress and have never been done by the Wolf Center to this degree) if nothing else to witness the close bond between the entire pack. All taking turns with the rearing. I am planning on doing another shoot next week and I hopefully will be able to rent a 500 or 600 mm to get a little tigther to the action so there is not so much cropping necessary to bring them in.
Thanks again everyone.
Tony
Posted by Richard Hahn on June 12, 2008 at 9:39 PM
Tony,
Good evening and welcome. I use a Cannon XTi with a 300 mm 4.0 IS lens and a 1.4 tc and tend to get some okay distance shots. Of course I always want bigger & better, but what I want & can get is a different story.
You do the best that you can with what you can afford and take the pictures that you want.
Rich Hahn
Posted by Tony Norton on June 13, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Thanks for the welcome Rich. Ya, if only money wasn't an issue. With the shorter lenses it certainly makes the experience of getting close more challenging. Unfortunately, teleconverters don't work well on the Nikon 80-400. So...perfecting stealth and technique will be good and necessary for now.
Discussion
21 repliesI recently joined NPN and I am really looking forward to participating in the various forums. The breadth of knowledge within this membership is absolutely amazing.
I am relatively new to photography being more of a naturalist/behaviorist turned photographer. I will be adding to my seriously underpowered equipment in time - currently I have a D200 and my longest lense is a 80-400 mm which is very limiting. I apologize in advance for what will surely be questions that are very redundant. In any event, the support and sage advice will be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Tony Norton
San Diego
Have fun...
Brad
Welcome of NPN! I look forward to seeing some of your work!
Doesn't sound limiting at all to me...sounds like a pretty nice kit. One thing you'll find is that any camera equipment is better than no equipment, and great photos can be made with just about anything. I myself only have a Canon S2 IS point-and-shoot (not that my photos are all that great
Anyway, welcome, and I hope you enjoy it here.
And you are right David, it is more like the equipment is limited by the operator. However, I do realize that eventually I may need a faster lense and/or more length for the wildlife I am trying to shoot. Most recently I am serving as a volunteer at the California Wolf Center in Julian, CA and have been asked to document the growth of the new litter of 5 Mexican Gray Wolves (which are on the endangered species list). Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot side by side with wildlife photographer Roy Toft from our blind and the 600mm he was using with 1.4TC was pretty spectacular. Well his work is pretty spectacular (www.toftphoto.com). I have lots of time and the learning curve is steep but exciting.
I am culling through my photos for the portfolio that I will post to NPN in the near future for critique.
Cheers,
Tony
Cheers
I hope you'll share some of those wolf pup images as you get to witness their progress.
Welcome.
Lon
I have several cameras & lenses, but the ones I use the most are the D200 with the 80-400mm VR. I love what I can do with those.
Welcome to NPN, look forward to seeing your work.
Lia I am encouraged that you are able to get a lot out of your D200 and 80-400 set up. I have done the best I can with what I know and recognize that a lot of it is just me needing to be better prepared (as in getting to the location before the animals...hopefully...and not chasing them so to speak), and a better understanding of photography, which admittedly I have a lot to learn and have been soaking up the knowledge from this group - not sure I understand it all yet...
Lon and Cindy, the wolf pup experience has been really special (I don't think my photos are that great but they are necessary to document the progress and have never been done by the Wolf Center to this degree) if nothing else to witness the close bond between the entire pack. All taking turns with the rearing. I am planning on doing another shoot next week and I hopefully will be able to rent a 500 or 600 mm to get a little tigther to the action so there is not so much cropping necessary to bring them in.
Thanks again everyone.
Tony
Good evening and welcome. I use a Cannon XTi with a 300 mm 4.0 IS lens and a 1.4 tc and tend to get some okay distance shots. Of course I always want bigger & better, but what I want & can get is a different story.
You do the best that you can with what you can afford and take the pictures that you want.
Rich Hahn
Tony
Have a great weekend.
Tony
Have a great day.
Tony