Nikon D300S | Tamron 200 - 500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/640 sec @ f6.3
What is it they say the best laid plans of man… My original plan for today [Saturday] was to travel to Sabula, Iowa and shoot Eagles. Several friends had told me all week about the gathering of Eagles at Sabula and that was the place to go shoot.
Well I looked at the temperature (30) the average wind speed (35 mph), the sky (gray/overcast) not a great day for shooting outdoors. I opted to try on Sunday.
So I was on my way downtown when my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number but decided it might be one of our employees so I answered it. Jenni Determan (former employee) a friend of mine was on the other end. She said that her fiancée had just called and said there were two hundred Eagles at Sabula on the ice. CRAP, I was hooked. So after my hair cut I went home and selected the equipment I wanted for the shoot and headed out.
Nikon D300S | Tamron 200 - 500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/500 sec @ f6.3
I decided to make several change is my shooting strategy. First I would put the Tamron 200 – 500 mm lens on the Nikon D300S. The D300S is a “cropped sensor” DSLR and I would get a 1.5 multiplier to the 500 mm focal length of the Tamron lens. It has a much slower (painfully so) burst rate compared to the D700 but the added focal length I reasoned would give me better shots.
Second I decided to shoot with a tripod as opposed to an unwieldy mono-pod. I thought with the softness of the Tamron lens I needed all the stability I could get.
The wind was blowing so hard that even with the tripod the camera was moving around. I do think though under reasonable conditions the tripod would be the right solution. The wind blew so hard that once when I was trying to put my gloves on (Freaking Cold!!) the wind blew my tripod (with camera and lens) over. Fortunately I was able to grab the camera strap and rescue the camera from hitting the ground (WHEW!!)
Nikon D300S | Tamron 200 -500 mm lens | ISO 200 1/500 sec @f6.3
I shot 700 images while in Sabula. It was miserably cold and the wind took your breath away and made my eyes water so bad that I couldn’t see what I was shooting.
So each shooting experience is a learning opportunity. My original thought to wait until Sunday was probably correct (the Eagles will probably still be there.) The lighting, the cold, the wind made for a miserable time. My fingers burned from the cold (exposed to press the shutter button.) Okay all together “Wimp!”
Having said all that I enjoyed the experience. I got some decent images and will post them as the week unfolds. Thanks for stopping by. Be careful.
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