New Here . . . Some of my best shots

Outlaw13Fox

first time on the Forums.
Here are some of my best Wildlife Shots

Be nice guys I am only using a T2i. Tamron 18-270 PZo and the Kit 55-250 Lense


Juveleil and Adult on the Beach Road - Chincoteague NWR - Cannon AS650 Point and Shoot


Frigate Bird - Key West Fl. - Cannon XSI - 55-250mm



Painted Turtle? - Edwin B Forsythe - Canon T2i - Tamron 18-270MM



Yellow Orb Spider - Huntington Beach State Park, SC - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm



Alligator - Huntington Beach State Park, SC - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm


Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron -Huntington Beach State Park, SC - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm



Downey Woodpecker - Central Park, NYC - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm


"Ghost Crab" Outer Banks NC - Cannon T2i - Cannon 55-250mm


Red Tailed Hawk - Upper Chester County Pa. - Cannon T2i - Cannon 55-25mm



Fawler Toad - Chincoteague NWR - Cannon T2i - Cannon 55-250mm



Tri Colored Heron - Chincoteague NWR - Cannon T2i - Cannon 55-250mm



Chincoteague Pony (yearling) - Chincoteague NWR - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270



Chincoteague Pony (yearling) - Chincoteague NWR - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270



Great White Heron - Chinctoteague NWR - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm


Snowy Egret - Chincoteague NWR - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm



Oyster Catcher - Chincoteague NWR - Canon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm




Black Crowned Night Heron - Chincoteague Va. - Canon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm



Snowy Egret - Chincoteague Va. - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm


Snapping Turtle? - Chincoteague NWR - Cannon T2i - Cannon 55-250mm


Young White Tail Deer - Chincoteague Va. - Cannon T2i - Tamron 18-270mm

Musetek

Hey there, Outlaw, welcome! You've got some good stuff here, and remember, it's not the gear that's important, it's what you do with it. (Yes, better gear will help you get better shots, but not if you don't know how to use it.)

I especially like the painted turtle, pony (I) and the deer. Well done! And I love black-crowned night herons - those orange eyes are amazing, huh?

A couple of tips to help you get even better results (if you already know this stuff, maybe it'll help someone else):

- In a few of the shots (see the Fawler Toad as a good example) the camera seems to have focused on the grass instead of the toad's eye. Trust me, this can happen to anyone. When shooting wildlife (or people!) though, you always want to get the eye in focus. I'm not familiar with your camera, but spend some time with your Owner's Manual (I'm sure you can download it if you don't still have the one that came in the box). There's probably a way to change how much of the image the camera will try to focus on: usually there are three main choices, the full screen (matrix focus, in Nikon terms), a smaller area of the screen, or one small spot in the center of your viewfinder (spot focus). Check your camera to see which one it's set to - for wildlife I'd recommend using spot focus, and that way you can control exactly where the camera will - well, focus. What you do is: using spot focus, depress the shutter release halfway to focus on the animal's eye, then (still holding the button halfway down, to maintain the focus) recompose the frame so you have a good composition, then take the shot. You'll probably burn through a memory card practicing this, but I guarantee once you get the hang of it you'll be smiling.

- In addition to selective focus, give yourself the best chance of getting a sharp shot by increasing your shutter speed. Again, I'm not familiar with your camera, but if it allows you to change your ISO and aperture (I'd be surprised if it didn't) then increase your ISO a couple of notches and widen your aperture (lower number = wider aperture). You'll want to shoot in Aperture Priority. (That's the Nikon terminology, again, I'm not sure whether Canon calls it something else. Basically, you want to control the aperture setting and let the camera set the shutter speed accordingly.) As a rule of thumb, I wouldn't go above ISO 400 unless the light just isn't so good and you have no choice. For aperture, you'll have to practice this one, too: it depends how far away you are from the animal / bird and the depth of field you'll get. If you're 300 feet away, then you can pretty much open the aperture up all the way and the beastie will be more or less all in focus. If you're 30 feet away and still shooting at 250-270mm focal length, then you can't open the aperture up all the way - if you do, the eye will be in focus but the nose or beak may be noticeably softer than you really want. Find a sweet spot that gives you a decent depth of field with the fastest possible shutter speed.

- Remember to change these settings back before you shoot a landscape or something. (I speak from bitter experience... )

And the most important thing: keep shooting and have fun. Thanks for sharing your images!

Outlaw13Fox

Musetek, Thanks for the advise.

The cannon does have all of those features . . . . But I am still learning them . . . especially aperture sizes. however that is honestly one of the things that has drawn me to Photography. I feel like every time I go out I learn a little more. I hope to learn alot more from the Forums here

My Tamron has the widest aperture available of my two lenses (3.5)

Dick on Aruba

Welcome Outlaw!

I think MuseTek said it all.

A very nice variety of captures you have there. It looks like you surely have fun shooting them.

Harryb

Welcome to Dgrin and the Wildlife Forum