Doin' the Baylands with Daniella

ian408

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Thanks Ian

You know I was thinking of calling you and I remembered that you said you didn't like to ditch work to shoot. I can dig that. If you'd rather work than shoot, I understand. Wait a minute! No I don't understand at all...... If you're serious, I'll call you next time

Thanks for looking,
Steve

There are days when I'd just like to walk out the back door for a while...especially
now that summer's here

Palo Alto's not that far away either...

Ian

pathfinder

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Hello All,
Well after viewing all these great bird/animal shots, I had to get out and shoot some before I went crazy (not a long trip at all ;-)

So I left work early (about 3pm) and headed off to one of the best places to shoot waterfowl in the state. The Palo Alto Baylands Wildlife Preserve. I pulled into the small parking lot, by the duck pond, and figured I'd go check out the rookery first. Before I could even get my camera out of the trunk, I see this pair walk past me. One guy had a D70 with a long black lens (80-400VR??) and the other one was carrying a tripod with a DReb mounted and a 600mm F4.0L attached Geeze, even though I had my Bigma attached to my 20D, I felt so inadequate As many of you know, besides being a consumate wise ass, I am very outgoing and I talk to anyone and everyone with a camera....lol So, I asked them if they had been shooting the Egrets and Herons and they said, "yeah the light is really good". After last week's "mixed lighting" shoot, I was stoked But, I figured I'd attach the 580EX for some fill anyway.

Let me digress for a minute. Sunday before last, Ian408 and I got together to shoot at another good waterfowl site. Based mainly on some pics we saw that were posted on the DPR Canon Forum. Excellent Osprey shots and some Waxwing shots to boot. These shots were taken by someone I had admired (especially for her IR work) for a long time.

Anyhow, as I'm walking towards the rookery, I see this slight young woman carrying a DReb, on a monopod, with a 400mm F5.6L attached. Again, being the shy guy I am, I say hello and she says "ullo". I think to myself, wow, this might be that same young woman who is mentioned above. So I asked her if her name was Daniella? She said yes OH BOY!! Now I'm really getting excited. Not only had I wanted to talk to this woman and trade tips with her, for years, now I actually might get to shoot a few frames with her


Sure enough, after introducing myself and telling her how impressed I've been with her work, we wandered over towards the rookery. I had the 580EX attached and she asked me if I had ever used the Better Beamer. I said yeah, I have one and it's in the car. So I attached it and she gave me some instruction on how to properly use it. We walked back to the rookery and started shooting. Not great results, but the fill helped reduce the contrast from the mixed lighting.

Pick up sticks, or Nest Buliding 101

While some of the Egrets were building nests, others were still looking for mates and so they were "Stuttin their Stuff"


After firing off maybe 50 shots each at the rookery, we wandered down towards the marshes to see if we could get a few shots of the Northern Harriers we had seen circling. Well, we didn't get any raptor shots, but we did get some shorebirds.

American Avocets


Clapper Rail


The lighting was getting tough, as evidenced by the pic above, and the wind was kicking up, so we headed back towards the parking lot. We saw quite a few Night Herons roosting in the trees so we shot a few of those ruby eyed beauties.

Punk look Black Crowned Night Heron


Well, despite it not being a banner day (like not getting the shots we wanted of a mated/mating pair of Harriers :-( I had a blast talking and shooting with Daniella.

I guess the moral of my story isn't about the pics. It's about opening up to other photographers, you see when out shooting, and adding to your enjoyment by having someone to talk and shoot with.

Have a great day and thanks for looking,
Steve

Splendid images - lovely feather detail and nice afternoon light. I'd love to hear any secrets about using the Beamer better!

bfjr

Great stuff Steve, both words and images

Steve Cavigliano

fish wrote:

Steve, your shots just keep getting better and better. Who's Daniella? Is she a dgrinner?

Thanks so much Fish

Daniella has been a poster on DP Review for years. As you know, many of us migrated over from DPR. Anyhow, she does some really nice colored IR and landscapes. She has more recently been doing some really nice bird work.
Here's the link I sent to Ian, that sent us off to the Perc Ponds.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=12434116

Also, Andy posted this link to her Pbase galleries.

http://www.pbase.com/zylen/root

She's not only very talented, but she's really knowledgeable and I made sure that I invited her to come give us a looksee She'd be a valued member for sure

Thanks again for the nice comments,
Steve

ian408

I love the IR stuff in the galleries. Daniella's definetly good.

Ian

Steve Cavigliano

sash wrote:

steve, these are awesome shots :wow and all with the bigma eh?
great work, looking forward to another thread! been admiring daniella's work too, truly amazing... must have been a fun shoot!

cheers,
sash

Hiya Sascha and Thanks

Yep, it was the Bigma. With all those photogs using their big white lenses I didn't dare attach something as "tiny" as the 70-200mm with a 1.4X.....lol They would have sent me to shoot ducks at the kiddie pond :lol

Yep, I enjoyed spending time with Daniella. She's really good and knows it, but like Andy she doesn't flaunt it and she shares her knowledge freely

I just hope I can get her to join us here


Thanks for the nice comments,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano

4labs wrote:

You are spoiling us Steve! Thnxs for sharing. You always tell a great story to go along with your pictures..

Thanks 4labs

Glad you enjoyed the story that went along with the pics : It's nice to be able to put pics in context and inserting them into a story usually does that.

Thanks again for your kind words,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano

Dixie wrote:

Great pics, Steve.

Thanks Dixie

I appreciate you taking the time to respond


Steve

ginger_55

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Hiya Ann

Sorry your last encounter didn't go well. I usually find other photographers to be extremely talkative. Especially about their gear and takin' pitchas. On the off chance that they won't talk, I follow them around until they do I agree with giving it at least one more try. You've got nothing to be shy about, especially in a sports shooting venue. You are a Pro

Looks like Ian has pointed you in the right direction regarding the Better Beamer.

Thanks for taking the time to comment,

Steve

Ann, I can make a guess here, as my experience with photographers is like Steve's. They love to talk. They love to "share" information. I am the one who might be reticent as I don't want to bother them and my lack of ability to hear does turn some people off at this point. Not photographers. And most of them talk well, lol. Young people like to talk to old people and vice versa.

So, my guess is my experience in the dog world. I understand they are nice, too.

I also understand that when they are getting ready to show a dog, in other words, when they are nervous and working, they are not as friendly as at other times.

I would keep trying Ann. I have found photographers very friendly, much more willing to talk to my hearing problem than other people, say tennis players.

Ask them about their work, hahaha. Where they shoot is a question for me anyway. If they don't start telling me first. I love photographers. But I have never tried talking to one who was working.

ginger

Steve Cavigliano

Sam wrote:

Steve wrote "Not great results".

Steve.....when you get great results....tell me. I can then not open the post and view photos that make me feel even more clutsy.

Sam

Sam,
I didn't mean to imply that the pics sucked, they are good and I was satisfied with them. But, when I shoot with people like Daniella and Andy and compare shots, mine fall short. No biggie, it just gives me something to work harder towards achieving. Plus, I think most of us are more critical of our own work than of others.

Thanks for the comments and taking the time to look,
Steve

Kirwin

Look's like it was a fun day! Great captures!

Steve Cavigliano

pathfinder wrote:

Splendid images - lovely feather detail and nice afternoon light. I'd love to hear any secrets about using the Beamer better!

Thanks PF

Regarding the BB, Daniella told me that it's very easy to blow out/nuke your subject with the 580EX and the BB. Even with the 420EX she said she usually shoots with -2/3 FEC. I had been shooting with 0 FEC and pretty much washing out any subject within 40 feet Also, it's really important that the fresnel lens is mounted correctly. If it's too high/low, or skewed left or right, it will cut down on the amount of flash reaching the subject, substantially.

As I mentioned in an earlier reply, I'll be doing more experimenting and I'll post my findings in the future.

Thanks for looking,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano

bfjr wrote:

Great stuff Steve, both words and images

Thanks Ben

I'm glad you enjoyed them

Thank you for taking the time to respond,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano

ian408 wrote:

I love the IR stuff in the galleries. Daniella's definetly good.

Ian

I agree Ian. Her galleries are really enjoyable. But, our surf shots are better than hers :lol

Steve

Steve Cavigliano

Kirwin wrote:

Look's like it was a fun day! Great captures!

Thanks Kirwin

Yep, it was a blast! Like they say, the worst day shooting is better than the best day of work And this was far from my worst day shooting :

Thanks for looking and for the nice comments,
Steve