The Before and the Aftermath...

And the Streak Continues

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Thanks and enjoy today’s blog post! This one took about 3 hours to assemble. I am feeling pretty good today with just a bit of hemming and hawing. We leave in 30 minutes for our last morning IPT session.

This displaying Great Blue Heron image was created with the with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens, the Canon 1.4x EF Extender III (teleconverter) (hand held at 280mm), and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 stops as framed: 1/160 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. 61-Point AI Servo/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure; three sensors in the upper left corner of the vertical AF array just caught the top of the bird’s bill. See the BreezeBrowswer screen capture below for the whole story on 61-Point AF. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The Before

As described briefly in yesterday’s blog post, “Can the Wrong Head Head Angle Be the Right Prey Angle?,” the group got to photograph a Great Blue Heron eating a gar; it was a great way to begin the Anhinga Trail IPT.

First, the live gar appeared magically on the asphalt. It appeared that it had just been captured (and then dropped) by the Great Blue Heron standing over it. Then a second GBH flew in and the 2 birds began doing their drooped wing threat displays at each other. Then a Black Vulture began toying with the fish. The dominant heron returned, dragged the fish into the grass, and finally picked it up and posed for an instant before flying to the opposite shore of Taylor Slough.

Black Rapid RS-7 Strap

Having my flight and action rig, the 70-200/1.4X III TC, and 1D X instantly available on my right shoulder via the RS-7 strap that I use was–as it always is–a Godsend. I simply dialed in +2 stops by adjusting the shutter speed and was good to go. Learn more about the Black Rapid RS-7 Strap or purchase one here. If you are using a camera body strap for the intermediate telephoto rig on your shoulder you might as well be strangling yourself….

This image of a Great Blue Heron swallowing the gar was created on the Anhinga Trail IPT with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/500 sec. at f/4 in Manual mode. One sensor to the right and one sensor above the Central Sensor/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF as framed active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

And the Aftermath…

While I think that I was the only one who made a good image of one of the displaying herons, everyone had a great chance to photograph the great blue picking up and eventually swallowing the rather large fish. As the scene unfolded Denise and I called out advice on choosing the best perspective, on exposure, and on selecting the best AF point. As above, it was a great way to begin the BAA/A Creative Adveneture Anhinga Trail Instructional Photo-Tour.

Image Questions

Would you have removed the strand of yellow grass that enters the frame from the lower left corner in the opening image? Do you like the flowers in that one?

Your Favorite?

Please take a moment to leave a comment and let us know which is your favorite of the 2 images. And as always, be sure to let us know why.

This is the BreezeBrowser Main View screen capture.

BreezeBrowser Main View Screen Capture

Above is the BreezeBrowser Main View screen capture for today’s image. Note that the illuminated red square shows the AF points that were active at the moment of exposure. See more on 61-Point AF immediately below.

Note: in Breezebrowser you need to check “Show Focus Points” under View to activate this feature. To see the focus points in DPP check “AF Point” under View or hit Alt L. Hit Alt M to see Highlight Alert. To learn how and why I use DPP (Canon Digital Photo Professional) to convert my RAW files, see the info on our DPP RAW Conversion Guide here.

Note the perfect histogram lots of data well into the rightmost histogram box. Regular readers know that I use and depend on BreezeBrowser every day of the year. It allows me to sort my keepers and delete the rejects faster than any other Windows browsing program. We use it on the main computer in the home office to catalog our images file-drawer style. And the companion program, Downloader Pro allows me to download my images quickly and conveniently. It automatically adds my IPTC data and the shooting location. I have it set up to create a folder named by the Month/date/year. The Breezebrowser/Downloader Pro combo saves me many hours each week. To learn more or to purchase this great PC only program, click here. As far as the BreezeBrowser/Downloader Pro Combo goes, if you are using a Windows platform and are not using these two great programs you are at best, wasting your valuable time. My understanding is that Photo Mechanic is best for Mac-users who do not opt to run Parallels or VM Ware fusion on their Macs so that they can enjoy the many advantages of BreezeBrowser. See BreezeBrowswer on a Mac for details.

61-Point AF

The more I use 61-Point AF with my 1D X and my 5D III bodies the more confident I become using it. As you see here, I it works superbly well with tall skinny vertical birds, especially with head and neck portraits. I absolutely love the “Orientation linked AF point” on both the 1D X and the 5D III. Here is a short free excerpt from the 1D X AF Guide:

On “AF4,” the fourth purple Menu (with the camera set to P, Tv, Av, or M):
Orientation linked AF point

I absolutely love this one. With it enabled (Select separate AF points, the 2nd choice), you can select one sensor or zone in a given AF Area Selection Mode when working in horizontal format and another different sensor (and even a different AF Area Selection Mode) when working vertically. The camera detects the orientation of the camera and “remembers” your AF settings for both horizontals and verticals. Remember that you must hold the camera vertically for your vertical settings to stick for that orientation (and vice versa).
For verticals I usually set 61-point automatic selection AF and manually select an AF point well above the central sensor so that I am ready for tall birds (or people) walking towards me at all times. For most horizontal shooting I set AF Surround with the central sensor selected.

The use and set-up for “Orientation linked AF point” is also detailed in the 5D III User’s Guide.

1D X AF Guide and 5D III User’s Guide

To learn everything that I know about the great 1D X AF system check out our 1D X AF Guide here. 5D Mark III users should check out our 5D III User’s Guide here to learn everything that I know about using this great, lightweight camera.

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