Posted by Aaron Szabo on January 2, 2009 at 2:19 AM
It's been a long 18 hours of being awake, but sometimes photography get the best of you. I had a fabulous day with my brother (who has taught me SO much about photography) in Russellville, trying to find stuff to photograph... I hope at least one of these is "print" worthy. Although I miss my Nikon controls, feel, menu, AF (51 points) and more, the 5D Mark II is wonderful. The Canon 24mm 2.8 prime is somewhat of a let down, but the Nikkor 28mm 2.8 AIS and 55mm 2.8 macro using an adapter work VERY well consider age and current price. The newest Tamron 70-200mm 2.8 is great even at 21mp (comparable to Nikkor or Canon), as long as you don't need to focus that fast and if you can avoid the 135mm focal length. I also shot some video footage that I will post soon. Comment and critique's are welcome. Happy new year!
Oh my gosh Aaron, the largest flock of swans ever! Actually those are snow geese...(I think you linked the wrong photo)
I see you have now corrected the title - you would have a lot of excited people rushing to Holla Bend if those had been swans....
Posted by Tom Kennon on January 2, 2009 at 9:49 AM
Nice, shots Aaron, I really like you photo on the page of Goose Pond. You might consider a slight crop from the top to make the picture even stronger.
Posted by Aaron Szabo on January 2, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Tim, there were so many Snow Geese! We were there for about 15 minutes and then they got up and left. That sure beats waiting for them. I wish I would have had a better lens, but at least I captured it on video... Someone else was there with a good lens who probably got some great stuff.
Posted by Merle Cook on January 2, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Nice group of shots Aaron. It sounds like you have been suffering for your craft. The pano is impressive. Is that a sliver of moon in the upper right ?
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on January 2, 2009 at 11:05 AM
So Aaron, you've come over to the "Dark Side" huh! Looks like you have a pretty diverse group of lenses to mount on the new Canon 5D Mark II. As far as this picture, I'll second Tom's suggestion about a crop from the top (down to just below the sky line). The warm light and colors are very nice here.
Enjoy the new equipment. Looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labor in the months to come.
Posted by Brad Mangas on January 2, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Very nice and informative post Aaron. May the fun never end!
"Someone else was there with a good lens who probably got some great stuff."
Aaron, if that someone was driving a gold Hyundai Santa Fe setting in front of your car with a Nikon 200-400 VR hanging out the window then it was probably me. I had been at the bend about 2 hours when a group of photogs pulled up behind me and set up their tripods just about 20 minutes or so before the group took off for their final fly-out. Your "1001 geese" shot sure looks like what that group would have shot. If so, next time stop by and say hello.
You're right-- I took about 12gb worth of shots between 7am and the 9:30 fly-out for that morning. I'll post some later. But I love your pano crop of the fly-out. GREAT shot!
Dave Hatfield
Posted by Aaron Szabo on January 4, 2009 at 1:25 PM
David- My brother Isaac thought that was you. He follows the forum and said you got a new lens recently. I wish I would have taken a snapshot of you and how comfy you looked perched back in the front seat of your car with that 200-400 hanging out the window. We plan on going there again, maybe with a moonset in the morning. Next time I'll say hi instead of just the friendly nod when we were driving off. I can't wait to see some of your shots!
Posted by John Moore on January 4, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Amazing detail in the Lake Fayetteville shot. Are you getting a commission from Canon ? I'm with the others on cropping the top on the Goose Pond shot, and you might try to clone out the twig in lower right. Still it's a nice shot.
Posted by Randy Wilson on January 5, 2009 at 10:06 AM
I peeped your Fayetteville night shot pixels looking for the black dots, since that is the kind of shot where they ought to show up if they were going to, but the scene was clean, Jean. Maybe we Canon shooters can shed the ashes and sackcloth and hold our heads high again.
Discussion
10 repliesHere are some links to shots from today:
Goose Pond
http://imaginefilmcompany.com/photography/forum/09webswamptree.jpg
1001 Snow Geese (D300 shot here because Mk2 was shooting video!)
http://imaginefilmcompany.com/photography/forum/swans.jpg
Petit Jean (.jpg *no photoshop)
http://imaginefilmcompany.com/photography/forum/webpetitjean.jpg
Large Fayetteville Pano shot @ Moonset Mt. Seqouia
http://imaginefilmcompany.com/photography/forum/webfayettevillepano.jpg
I see you have now corrected the title - you would have a lot of excited people rushing to Holla Bend if those had been swans....
Enjoy the new equipment. Looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labor in the months to come.
Aaron, if that someone was driving a gold Hyundai Santa Fe setting in front of your car with a Nikon 200-400 VR hanging out the window then it was probably me. I had been at the bend about 2 hours when a group of photogs pulled up behind me and set up their tripods just about 20 minutes or so before the group took off for their final fly-out. Your "1001 geese" shot sure looks like what that group would have shot. If so, next time stop by and say hello.
You're right-- I took about 12gb worth of shots between 7am and the 9:30 fly-out for that morning. I'll post some later. But I love your pano crop of the fly-out. GREAT shot!
Dave Hatfield