Nikon D700 | Tamron 200-500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/500 sec @f6.3

I made the trek to Green Island yesterday to try to capture some decent images of Eagles.  I came back with two very stark realizations.  One I’m not any good at nature photography.  Reasons include but are not limited to; poor camera holding skills, inadequate equipment, lack patience, and a complete lack of understanding about wildlife habits.

The second realization was that I’m not in very good physical condition and tracking down wildlife is hard work.  😦  Well actually I knew about the physical condition before going.  The hard work I wasn’t sure about.  It looks so easy on TV.

The Nikon D700 preformed perfectly.  It has such a high burst rate slightly slower than the D3 but fast enough to capture action.  I have 9 images of the birds above and you can barely detect any wing change.  The image below was the 10th image in the series.

The Tamron 200-500 mm lens, well it is what it is.  I knew when I bought it that it would not perform to my complete satisfaction.  It is hard to auto focus and combine that with my hand holding skills, which  are terrible and that is a formula for lots and lots of throw away images.  I’m all over the place with a long lens.  I used a mono-pod yesterday (big disappointment in it as well.)   It helped on still shots but when in flight I just really sucked it up.

The part that screws into the lens just coming undone and falling off.  I almost dropped my camera a couple of times.  I said potty words.  Why did I buy the Tamron if it is so bad.  Well it’s not really that bad, the Nikon lenses are so much better but substantially more $$$$. Used correctly the Tamron can produce satisfactory results.  If it were mounted on a tripod.

Nikon D700 | Tamron 200-500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/500 sec @f6.3

Not understanding the habits and nature of wildlife prevented me from getting some of the shots that would have made the trip memorable.  There is a fine line between close and too close from an Eagle’s perspective.  I got the South end of a North bound Eagle in more images than you can imagine.

I shot 432 images yesterday.  First time I have ever filled up a card.  (I reformat my card after every shoot.)  After the first cull I was down to 135.  I haven’t had the heart to do round two yet.  😦

It was fun but it would have been more fun if Jeanne could have been with me.  She was praying for me at church.  Yes I do have some Eagle images but I’ll show them later in the week.  Maybe.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be careful.