| July 2009 Newsletter |
This newsletter includes information and photos about bird photography at Bosque del Apache, National Wildlife Refuge in
New Mexico and information and tips about the Canon 50D, the latest in Canon's line of prosumer slrs.
When I read that Canon had developed a 15 megapixel prosumer model, the Canon 50D, it immediately caught my attention.
I figured that 15 megapixels on a camera with a 1.6 crop factor would be quite a combination for bird photography. I
determined that I would buy one both as another option for my photography and as a body that Angie could use when she
was shooting with me.
My first experiences with it were quite frustrating, I was blowing out the whites and highlights on birds even with the
evaluative metering set as low as -2.0 at times. To try to remedy this I went into the custom functions and CF II Image:
setting 3, I enabled the highlight tone priority. I figured this would solve the issue but it didn't, I continued to struggle with
blown highlights. I was ready to send the body back to Canon, but I decided to change one of the other custom functions,
CF II Image setting 4, the auto lighting optimizer section, the default setting was standard, I switched it to disable. To my
surprise this solved the problem and I have left the auto lighting optimizer on disabled ever since.
Our first bird photography trip after having bought the 50D was to Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico, one of the top
wintering grounds for Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and other waterfowl and a favorite spot for bird photographers due to
the good access, approachability of birds and at times spectacular lighting.
New Mexico and information and tips about the Canon 50D, the latest in Canon's line of prosumer slrs.
When I read that Canon had developed a 15 megapixel prosumer model, the Canon 50D, it immediately caught my attention.
I figured that 15 megapixels on a camera with a 1.6 crop factor would be quite a combination for bird photography. I
determined that I would buy one both as another option for my photography and as a body that Angie could use when she
was shooting with me.
My first experiences with it were quite frustrating, I was blowing out the whites and highlights on birds even with the
evaluative metering set as low as -2.0 at times. To try to remedy this I went into the custom functions and CF II Image:
setting 3, I enabled the highlight tone priority. I figured this would solve the issue but it didn't, I continued to struggle with
blown highlights. I was ready to send the body back to Canon, but I decided to change one of the other custom functions,
CF II Image setting 4, the auto lighting optimizer section, the default setting was standard, I switched it to disable. To my
surprise this solved the problem and I have left the auto lighting optimizer on disabled ever since.
Our first bird photography trip after having bought the 50D was to Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico, one of the top
wintering grounds for Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and other waterfowl and a favorite spot for bird photographers due to
the good access, approachability of birds and at times spectacular lighting.
Northern Shoveler photographed by Nate Chappell, Bosque del Apache NWR, February 2009. Canon 50D, 500F4 lens, 1.4X
teleconverter, 1/800 F9 iso 320, evaluative metering at -1.0. Shovelers are notoriously tough to expose properly due to having very
bright whites and a darkish head and back. I did have to go to -1.0 to avoid blowing out any of the whites on the breast or the back
here but I was happy that the head retained some bright green and the rufous patch on the side was still quite bright. There are a
couple of blown pixels on the beak but that doesn't bother me. Always have your highlight alert setting enabled on your camera so
you can quickly check if you have blown any highlights with a bird with bright whites like this. While Bosque is renowned mostly for
Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes, you can also get excellent opportunities with many other species of ducks including Shoveler,
Pintail, Gadwall and Green-winged Teal. The Shovelers I found to be very approachable.
teleconverter, 1/800 F9 iso 320, evaluative metering at -1.0. Shovelers are notoriously tough to expose properly due to having very
bright whites and a darkish head and back. I did have to go to -1.0 to avoid blowing out any of the whites on the breast or the back
here but I was happy that the head retained some bright green and the rufous patch on the side was still quite bright. There are a
couple of blown pixels on the beak but that doesn't bother me. Always have your highlight alert setting enabled on your camera so
you can quickly check if you have blown any highlights with a bird with bright whites like this. While Bosque is renowned mostly for
Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes, you can also get excellent opportunities with many other species of ducks including Shoveler,
Pintail, Gadwall and Green-winged Teal. The Shovelers I found to be very approachable.
Snow Goose photographed by Nate Chappell at Bosque del Apache, February 2009. Canon 50D, 500 F4 lens, 1.4x tc, 1/2000 F8, iso
400, evaluative metering at -1.0, handheld, A1 Servo. The A1 servo function and autofocus acquisition on the 50D are nothing
short of superb. With my 1dMkIII I often struggle to attain autofocus with the 1.4 teleconverter attached. With the 50D I found it
was much easier. One of the downsides of the 50D is that you are not able to shoot at as high an iso as with some other canon
models, such as the 1dMkIII. On this full frame image, a little bit of noise reduction was necessary on the background even at iso
400. So when I'm shooting with the 50D if at all possible, I try to keep the iso at 400 or lower. It's also more important with this
camera than with any other Canon that I've used to expose to the right. That means that I want my histogram as far to the right as
possible without blowing out any highlights. The noise from underexposed images can ruin images made by a 50D, while often
times they would be salvageable with another Canon body.
400, evaluative metering at -1.0, handheld, A1 Servo. The A1 servo function and autofocus acquisition on the 50D are nothing
short of superb. With my 1dMkIII I often struggle to attain autofocus with the 1.4 teleconverter attached. With the 50D I found it
was much easier. One of the downsides of the 50D is that you are not able to shoot at as high an iso as with some other canon
models, such as the 1dMkIII. On this full frame image, a little bit of noise reduction was necessary on the background even at iso
400. So when I'm shooting with the 50D if at all possible, I try to keep the iso at 400 or lower. It's also more important with this
camera than with any other Canon that I've used to expose to the right. That means that I want my histogram as far to the right as
possible without blowing out any highlights. The noise from underexposed images can ruin images made by a 50D, while often
times they would be salvageable with another Canon body.
Snow Goose photographed by Angie Chappell, Bosque del Apache, February 2009. Canon 50D, Canon 300F4 lens, 1.4x
teleconverter, 1/4000 F7.1, iso 500, evaluative metering -0.7, handheld, A1 servo, cropped. Noise reduction was run on the
background of this image and a bird's wingtip was cloned out in the upper right hand corner. This image shows that you don't
need a monster lens or a great deal of experience to create some spectacular flight images at Bosque. This image was taken from
the flight deck, a large wooden dock, at Bosque where the birds are often very close.
teleconverter, 1/4000 F7.1, iso 500, evaluative metering -0.7, handheld, A1 servo, cropped. Noise reduction was run on the
background of this image and a bird's wingtip was cloned out in the upper right hand corner. This image shows that you don't
need a monster lens or a great deal of experience to create some spectacular flight images at Bosque. This image was taken from
the flight deck, a large wooden dock, at Bosque where the birds are often very close.
Sandhill Crane with Snow Geese in the background - photographed by Nate Chappell at Bosque del Apache, February 2009. Canon
50D, 500F4 lens, 1/2500 F8, iso 500, evaluative metering -0.7, handheld, A1 servo. This image was taken from the flight deck as
well. In both this image and the prior image we should have lowered the iso from 500 down to 400 or 320 but at this point we didn't
realize how much of a problem the noise can be with this body. I didn't run noise reduction on this image and you can see a bit of
noise in the background. While some people may find the geese in the background distracting, I quite like this image as it shows
the 2 star species of Bosque and a common scene there (cranes flying by while there are hundreds of geese in the background).
50D, 500F4 lens, 1/2500 F8, iso 500, evaluative metering -0.7, handheld, A1 servo. This image was taken from the flight deck as
well. In both this image and the prior image we should have lowered the iso from 500 down to 400 or 320 but at this point we didn't
realize how much of a problem the noise can be with this body. I didn't run noise reduction on this image and you can see a bit of
noise in the background. While some people may find the geese in the background distracting, I quite like this image as it shows
the 2 star species of Bosque and a common scene there (cranes flying by while there are hundreds of geese in the background).
Snow Goose photographed by Nate Chappell at Bosque del Apache, February 2009. Canon 50D, 500F4 lens, 1.4x teleconverter,
1/2000 F8, iso 400, evaluative metering -1.0, handheld, A1 servo. I thought this image showed the details of the plumage of this
species nicely. For disclosure purposes I cloned out an out of focus bird below the goose and added a little canvas on the left in
photoshop to give the bird a little bit more room to fly into.
Recently, I was photographing a Red-tailed Hawk near the Washington coast with the 50D and my 500F4 lens. I took several
images of the hawk as it flew past me, then behind a telephone pole and as it emerged from behind the telephone pole on the
other side. Much to my amazement, the images of the hawk after it had flown behind the telephone pole and emerged on the
other side were all still sharp. The A1 servo had managed to track the bird as it went behind the telephone pole and came back
out into the open.
In conclusion Canon's latest offering is a very interesting body. It has great strengths, most notably the AF and A1 servo
performance, which I think is superior to any of their previous bodies. In addition the 15 megapixel sensor creates the
opportunity to get good detail even on images which are cropped quite a bit. It has a big weakness as well and that is the iso
performance and amount of noise when used at higher isos. Remember, if you are using this camera its very important not to
underexpose your images in the field. I quite enjoy using it when there is sufficient light to shoot at iso 400 or lower. If I'm in a
situation where I need more reach, it's the body that I go to. When the light gets low I immediately change over the my 1dmkIII
because of its ability to create good images up to about 1600 iso.
If you would like to experience Bosque del Apache and learn to take beautiful flight images such as
those shown above, check out the workshop that we have planned for this November 26-29 there, the
link is below. I will be instructing participants on the finer points of handholding a long lens to create
excellent flight shots.
SE Arizona and Bosque workshop November 23-29, 2009
1/2000 F8, iso 400, evaluative metering -1.0, handheld, A1 servo. I thought this image showed the details of the plumage of this
species nicely. For disclosure purposes I cloned out an out of focus bird below the goose and added a little canvas on the left in
photoshop to give the bird a little bit more room to fly into.
Recently, I was photographing a Red-tailed Hawk near the Washington coast with the 50D and my 500F4 lens. I took several
images of the hawk as it flew past me, then behind a telephone pole and as it emerged from behind the telephone pole on the
other side. Much to my amazement, the images of the hawk after it had flown behind the telephone pole and emerged on the
other side were all still sharp. The A1 servo had managed to track the bird as it went behind the telephone pole and came back
out into the open.
In conclusion Canon's latest offering is a very interesting body. It has great strengths, most notably the AF and A1 servo
performance, which I think is superior to any of their previous bodies. In addition the 15 megapixel sensor creates the
opportunity to get good detail even on images which are cropped quite a bit. It has a big weakness as well and that is the iso
performance and amount of noise when used at higher isos. Remember, if you are using this camera its very important not to
underexpose your images in the field. I quite enjoy using it when there is sufficient light to shoot at iso 400 or lower. If I'm in a
situation where I need more reach, it's the body that I go to. When the light gets low I immediately change over the my 1dmkIII
because of its ability to create good images up to about 1600 iso.
If you would like to experience Bosque del Apache and learn to take beautiful flight images such as
those shown above, check out the workshop that we have planned for this November 26-29 there, the
link is below. I will be instructing participants on the finer points of handholding a long lens to create
excellent flight shots.
SE Arizona and Bosque workshop November 23-29, 2009
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