Lion

[Big V]

Taken at the Adelaide Zoo, Canon 300D 90-300mm lens

[kipper]

[christiand]

Look at that tongue !
I seems to be capable of taking your skin of !

Great shot.
A little bit more DOF (for the eyes) perhaps.

Cheers,
CD

[big pix]

...... if he wants to lick the plate ......you let him......great pix and the capture of the look in the eyes, says a lot.....

[Big V]

Thanks, the tongue is like a file and when the Lion licks you can hear the raspy sound. I am limited to the depth of field I can use as I have to shoot through the fencing, so have to shoot wide to throw the fence out of focus. One day Africa!!!

[vrboy]

I love it! when my cat licks my hand thats raspy, I wonder if the Lion likes Ice cream too, maybe a choc-top human would suit

[DanielA]

Great shot Big V.

It must have been close to get full face at 300mm. Here's one I got at 400mm.


I could spend hours watching the big cats.

Daniel

[Big V]

Daniel, yes, I cheat by going in on thursday afternoons just around feeding time..very little crowd and the cats are always near the fence waitng for the keepers to deliver the goods. The only prob with that is you have to shoot wide open to throw the fence out of focus. I am looking forward to the new enclosures, then I will be able to get some decent pics of the tigers!!!

[DanielA]

Daniel, yes, I cheat by going in on thursday afternoons just around feeding time..very little crowd and the cats are always near the fence waitng for the keepers to deliver the goods. The only prob with that is you have to shoot wide open to throw the fence out of focus.

Yes, I've only been on a weekend and the feedings are very popular. The fence is annoying , but necessary .

I am looking forward to the new enclosures, then I will be able to get some decent pics of the tigers!!!

That will be good. There always seems to be something in the way of good shots...


Daniel

[Big V]

DanielA, I agree. The design of the cage with the original woodwork for the primates means you always have a shodow being cast across the tiger. Like you I have many pics of a tiger with a diagonal black stripe running across it. The new enclosures will remove that problem and we should be set for some outstanding photos..

[DanielA]

The new enclosures will remove that problem and we should be set for some outstanding photos..

Sounds like that would be a good time for another Adelaide meet.

Daniel

[MattC]

BigV,

Excellent capture. I really like the way he is looking straight down the lens while he goes about his business... Attitude. One comment though. The image appears a tad noisy (or is it something else like jpeg compression?) around his face and in the eyes. I find that the noise (??) in the eyes is just a little distracting, being the first place that I am drawn to.

Cheers

[Big V]

Matt, fair call...yes I was a little aggressive with the jpg settings, here is a crop of an eye which shows what the camera lens combo is capable of..

[MattC]

Sweet... I thought (hoped? ) it might be something like that. I really like that shot (the one I originally commented on) and think that it would look great in print.

Cheers

Matt

[Big V]

Matt, I have printed it out at a4, high gloss paper and it does look excellent..if you look closely in the eye, you can sort of see me taking the photo on the right hand side

[Big V]

Matt, forgot to mention that all of my webloads are fairly small files as I am on dial up . Naturally the original RAW files are somewhat sharper!!

[marc]

Excellent shot there Big V, however, I'm more of a Leopard fan myself.
Here's one from Sth.Africa last year.

[img][img]http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/9881/leopardintree017qe.jpg[/img]

[Big V]

Marc, WOW, it must have been awesome to be fairly close to the big cats in their natural environment..the colours are excellent. Was that shot taken with your 70-200 VR?

[mudder]

G'day V,
That first shot is stunning, aren't they awesome creatures...

What focal length on that first shot?

[MattC]

Marc,

It must be great getting that close. I just noticed your avatar. Is it the same cat and do you have a larger version online?

Cheers

Matt

[Big V]

Mudder, 300mm on that one...here is a 400mm shot taken about a month later..

[big pix]

........what a great capture, almost a look of guess who is in charge around here........

[marc]

Marc, WOW, it must have been awesome to be fairly close to the big cats in their natural environment..the colours are excellent. Was that shot taken with your 70-200 VR?

Big V
I wish I had the VR on that trip
This one was taken with my Olympus 8080 (Sold since, and moved up to D70)

[marc]

Marc,

It must be great getting that close. I just noticed your avatar. Is it the same cat and do you have a larger version online?

Cheers

Matt

Here's a larger version(of Avatar) later at dusk of the same Leopard (her name is Shangwa)

[MattC]

Thanks Marc.

There is something about these big cats that really appeal. My GF had a look at all of the cats in this thread and there was a lot of ooing and ahhing.

Cheers

Matt

[Big V]

marc, I bet you would love to go back and re-shoot with the new equipment, maybe even a 200-400VR ?. Africa, efinately on my plans when I take long-service leave...

[robboh]

All stunning pics. BigV, your original post is great. Really close and I love the expression.
Marc, those leopard pics are great too!

The lions in our zoo are across a moat and usually up a hill. There is a glass viewing area which is close to them, but its always really grubby and useless for taking photos through. Here is one of a lioness sitting on the hill, across a moat. 80-200 with 2x TC, and even this is cropped to about 2/3rds of the original frame (yeah, I know, the background bokeh is a bit distracting, as is the ear on her back; never got round to finishing the PP).

[Big V]

robboh, excellent work for a 2x tc. Nice expression, looks like the cat was sizing you up for lunch if it could work out how to get across the moat..

[marc]

I first went there in '93 and have been back twice since. Our next planned trip/safari is (hopefully) '07. Once you've been there, it keeps calling you back, I really mean that. I love this part of Africa so much that my wife and I got married there last year.
I can definetely recommend it Big V, yes ,it's expensive (we have no plans for children, too old/grumpy anyway,which helps-financially) but worth every penny.
You should go at least once!

Cheers
Marc

[marc]

Beautiful pic Robboh.

[Big V]

marc, how long did you stay each time? I am hoping for 8 weeks and even more hopeful of borrowing a friends 600 F4 lens...he has brought it and is going next march for a month, he has the Canon 1DsMK2, beast of a thing...

[marc]

marc, how long did you stay each time? I am hoping for 8 weeks and even more hopeful of borrowing a friends 600 F4 lens...he has brought it and is going next march for a month, he has the Canon 1DsMK2, beast of a thing...

The first time was on an Exodus Overland Expedition thru Africa (6 mths),
then Botswana&Namibia (3 weeks) then last year Sth Africa -Sabi Sands Game Reserve (2 weeks honeymoon) Our next time at least will be with the 70-200 VR +TC1.7 The 600 sounds heavy, but nontheless AWESOME! Good luck with your planned trip.

[Big V]

marc, you can never have enough reach, hence the desire to borrow the 600, I currently carry around an 80-400 OS lens, so am used to heavy lenses!!

[robboh]

marc, you can never have enough reach, hence the desire to borrow the 600, I currently carry around an 80-400 OS lens, so am used to heavy lenses!!

Know the feeling. Even at the zoo, the 80-200 with 2xTC was often too short. Which is why Im quite leary of dropping to the 1.7x on my new 70-200VR

I really could do with a longer lens. The thing is that you can get to 400mm pretty easy in a variety of ways, its getting over the 400mm where it starts to get pricey.

The 300AFS + 1.7x gives 510 + digi crop for a 35mm equilivent of ~760mm. Im not exactly sure what f/stop that will end up being though, f/6.3 possibly, which is getting slow, but no slower than the consumer x-500mm lenses and probably better quality. Downside, of course, is no zoom, so the 100-300 Sigma might be a possibility. Other option is a 300mm f/2.8 + 1.7xTC, which would be a 500mm ~f/4.8 or a 600mm f/5.6 with 2xTC, but is starting to get to be a big bit of glass to cart around in a safari truck (see below). After those options, really starting to get into the specialist glass for wildlife and its assosciated weight/size/cost/stability issues.

Most of the comments I have seen regards safari shooting tend to suggest that the 'big guns' are usually a little overkill, a real PITA to cart around and that you often dont get the opportunity to set 'em up properly.

[marc]

Most of the comments I have seen regards safari shooting tend to suggest that the 'big guns' are usually a little overkill, a real PITA to cart around and that you often dont get the opportunity to set 'em up properly.[/quote]

Very true Robboh, (from my experience) I'll think you'll find the VR+1.7 TC will be fine for most distance work. On some safaris a 17-55 gets a lot of workout!

Marc

[Big V]

As a novice to a safari, how come you do/may not get to set up the big guns? Surely camera with lens attached on monopod can be carried ready to go...or put another way, how close do you actually get to the animals? Me thinks I might like a little distance between myself and some of them, if they are hungry that is...

[marc]

It totally depends on what type of Safari your going to do. Walking, camping
overlanding., 5 star private lodge, etc.

Cheers
marc

[beetleboy]

I've been to Africa twice and will be back there in March next year. My GF is South African and her parents currently live in Botswana but will be moving to Jeffries Bay in the near future - will have to pack the surf board for the next trip!

Big V - you can get VERY close to the animals, I could have (but wouldn't have!!) reached out and touched this guy from our boat!

[robboh]

As a novice to a safari, how come you do/may not get to set up the big guns? Surely camera with lens attached on monopod can be carried ready to go...or put another way, how close do you actually get to the animals? Me thinks I might like a little distance between myself and some of them, if they are hungry that is...

BigV, Im not expert on this, having not been there. Just done a lot of reading (and dreaming) over the years as this is one thing that I HAVE to do in my life.

As Marc says, it depends a bit on how you do it. But from what I have gathered from people who have been over there and posts on the net, the typical setup is that you are on the back of a truck with a group of other people. These people may or may not be 'photographers', though I imagine most will be taking photographs ( ).

Typically you will not be allowed to get off the truck (so I have read), which pretty much puts tripods completely out of the picture. I imagine that there generally wont be the room to swing a (domestic) moggy, let alone a 600mm f/4

Monopods give you an extra couple of stops, but you wont be on a particularly stable platform. The truck will be swaying coz everyone is jumping up and down about the lion killing the gazelle while you are trying to photograph it

The general go seems to be beanbags and/or some sort of mount you can sit on the side of the truck (window mount?).

My suggestion would be to borrow the lens off your mate and take one of those little tours at the zoo, the ones with the carridges drawn by a small tractor. Give that a go and see how it goes.

Id also get LOTS of practice in with the lens on a 'pod before you go, or else you may be disappointed with your pics. Long lenses can be quite damaging to ones ego from what I have read. Personally I have enough trouble getting sharp shots at times with a 600mm equiv (with a pretty small light lens compared to a 600mm) let alone the ~900mm equiv you will have.

Marc, what sort of light levels were you normally seeing in the mornings and afternoons? What sorts of shutter speeds/apertures were you normally getting??

Cheers,
Rob.

[Big V]

mmm, that is close... will have to do a bit more research and talk to my friend when he gets back from africa to see how the 600 f4 IS went for him. Would be a shame to have that investment (nearly 18 grands worth of glass) and not be able to use it for the one thing he purchased it for.

[robboh]

mmm, that is close... will have to do a bit more research and talk to my friend when he gets back from africa to see how the 600 f4 IS went for him. Would be a shame to have that investment (nearly 18 grands worth of glass) and not be able to use it for the one thing he purchased it for.

Ouch, thats a lot of $$$ for one trip!

The IS will probably make quite a bit of difference, sorry I keep thinking in terms of Nikon glass, none of the big glass has VR yet (apart from the 200-400 and the 400 f/2..

Fingers crossed that the trip goes well for him and that he comes back with some stunning pics. Also hoping that Im completely wrong and that it turns out that it was the perfect thing for him to take!!

[marc]

Marc, what sort of light levels were you normally seeing in the mornings and afternoons? What sorts of shutter speeds/apertures were you normally getting??

Cheers,
Rob.

Here's a couple of links re. photography in Africa/safari that you might find useful
Better explained than I

http://www.siyabona.com/Safari_Essentials-travel/wild-life-photography-tips.html

http://www.eyesonafrica.net/safari-photography.htm

http://www.wildlifesafari.info/wildlife_photography.htm

Cheers
Marc

[Big V]

marc, thanks for those links, very helpful...as to the expense for the trip, yes it might seem alot of cash but he laready has the 1DsMK2, 100-400 Is and the 70-200 2.8. He is a very good and passionate photographer. It has been is ambition for a number of years now to go to Africa and photograph there. As he says, when you are already blowing 30 grand on a trip and it may be a once off, what is a few more dollars , when you might get that 1 in a million shot!. I say good luck to him and hope it all goes well. He is living his dream and is in the fortunate situation where the cash is not a problem.

[marc]

I can understand completely AND am extremely jealous
Lets hope you can fulfill your dream as well.

Cheers
Marc

[fozzie]

Big V,

Over the past few days I have been using Picasa2 and enjoying it.

This is my latest work:



Nikon 300mm f/4D
1/15sec f/11 ISO200 F/L 300mm

Comments welcomed.

[robboh]

BigV, Same as Marc, fully agree that its worth the money for the glass if spending heaps on a dreamtrip already. In fact, I intend to use the same argument with the other half when we go at some stage in the future

As previously said, I DO hope that he gets to make some great use of it while he is over there and that you will get the same opportunity.

Marc, thanks for the links

Fozzie. I like the composition, apart from another poor kitty getting its ears chopped off, you cruel cruel people .
However, its quite soft. Looks like camera shake to me, but hard to tell on the websize pic. The whiskers do look sharper than other bits, so also possibly a focus problem on a shallow DOF?

[Big V]

Fozzie, glad to see you are using the program, you might like to share your experience with the other users as to how you are finding it. I find it very quick and helpful for preparing images for the web. Do you see a difference between how it views your nef files v the nikon software?