Zambian nocturnal wildlife

africaddictafricaddict Registered Users Posts: 111 Major grins
edited February 10, 2008 in Wildlife
Nikon D2Xs / 300 f/2.8VR + Better Beamer
1/250s f/4 ISO400 (with -1 to -1.7 EV)


2 (of 6) cubs waiting for mum to return from the hunt.
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Large Spotted Genet
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Cerval hunting on salt pan
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Female Leopard quenching her thirst after Impala meal.
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Juvenile Giant Eagle Owl
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2 year old Male Leopard
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The Hollywood pride on their Impala kill
We watched a group of 3 females and 1 (2 yr old) male, stalk, and take down this Impala on a moonless night. One female lay in waiting in a ditch, whilst the 3 others funneled them down towards her culminating in a mid air take down. You could hear the thud as she pulled it down, with the others racing over and pulling the poor beast apart in a four way split.
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C & C most welcome
Cheers
Marc
WEBSITE
"My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am"
D5|D500
|D810|14-24|24-70|70-200f/2.8|70-200f/4|400 f/2.8E|500 f/4VR|Sigma150f/2.8|Sigma 24f/1.4ART


Comments

  • dbaker1221dbaker1221 Registered Users Posts: 4,482 Major grins
    edited February 7, 2008
    excellent Marcclap.gif thanks for sharing them
    **If I keep shooting, I'm bound to hit something**
    Dave
  • GiphsubGiphsub Registered Users Posts: 2,662 Major grins
    edited February 7, 2008
  • jdmphotojdmphoto Registered Users Posts: 159 Major grins
    edited February 7, 2008
    Excellent shots, I love #2,3,5.bowdown.gifclap.gif
    See my photo's athttp://jdmphoto.smugmug.com/

    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
  • spechtalspechtal Registered Users Posts: 344 Major grins
    edited February 7, 2008
    great shots!clap.gif
    Angela
  • africaddictafricaddict Registered Users Posts: 111 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2008
    Many thanks for your positive comments.

    Cheers
    Marc
    WEBSITE
    "My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am"
    D5|D500
    |D810|14-24|24-70|70-200f/2.8|70-200f/4|400 f/2.8E|500 f/4VR|Sigma150f/2.8|Sigma 24f/1.4ART


  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
    edited February 8, 2008
    Really great work, Marc. thumb.gif

    Mind if I ask you a Better Beamer question? I've only used it once on an elk in the early morning, but I completely blew out the elk's eyes. Do you use an extension flash bracket to get the flash away from the camera body? Or any other tips? Thanks!

    -joel
  • africaddictafricaddict Registered Users Posts: 111 Major grins
    edited February 9, 2008
    kdog wrote:
    Really great work, Marc. thumb.gif

    Mind if I ask you a Better Beamer question? I've only used it once on an elk in the early morning, but I completely blew out the elk's eyes. Do you use an extension flash bracket to get the flash away from the camera body? Or any other tips? Thanks!

    -joel
    Hi Joel

    I use RRS off camera flash bracket, as shown here. IMO you can never have the bracket high enoughrolleyes1.gif and at times I have got my wife to hold the flash some metres away to get the right lighting!
    You put it on the flash, set the flash zoom (if it has one) to about 50 mm, and shoot away. TTL exposure works exactly as it does without a 'beamer attached.I always do a test shot to confirm it is pointing where I expect.

    50mm is the recommended setting to have the manual zoom set to on your flash.You can go down to as low as 24 mm on the flash and this concentrates the beam so that it will go even further, but the trade of is of course that the beam is narrower and you need to make sure it is aligned correctly.

    The key to using the beamer is repeatability, ie. putting it on the same way each time.

    I marked my flash with textra colour where the velcro should go
    and put the unit on the same way each time and know how it should be sitting. Initially I took it on and off a few times, taking shots each time to confirm that I put it back on right and that calibration is correct.

    The easiest way to calibrate is to find a wall or something around 10-20 m away and take a shot of it with the beamer on the camera, adjusting the position of the velcro and or any flash brackets until the whole frame is lit evenly.
    I use 24mm for this check as the beam is at its narrowest.
    If you get it right here, then you have plenty of margin for error @ 50mm.

    Take the flash off the camera and remove the beamer.
    replacing it and repeating the test, that way you know you can put the unit on the same way, even then, every so often you should check the calibration just in case I havent lulled into bad practice.






    252211288_CrTC9-M.jpg

    Cheers
    Marc
    WEBSITE
    "My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am"
    D5|D500
    |D810|14-24|24-70|70-200f/2.8|70-200f/4|400 f/2.8E|500 f/4VR|Sigma150f/2.8|Sigma 24f/1.4ART


  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2008
    Excellent shots with some good info on the BB too. clap.gif Thanks Marc.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
    edited February 10, 2008
    GREAT info on BB usage. Thanks so much!!
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2008
    Awesome series! And good info on the BB.
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