Have you ever faced a low light or low contrast subject and discovered that, despite the viewfinder showing a confirmed AF lock, the camera actually missed critical focus?
If you answered yes, then you’re certainly not alone. You fell victim to the “false positive” AF lock – and it can be a heart breaker.
When I run across that scenario myself, I use the technique outlined in the video below …
This time around I thought we’d take an in-depth look at teleconverters. Not just what they do – but how they work, how to get the best results, how they affect AF speed and accuracy, the best way to use them and more. Even if you think you know all about teleconverters, there’s probably something new for you in this video.
Plus, as a bonus, towards the end I even …
Psst…Wanna know the secret to getting consistently sharp eyeballs and better compositions with your wildlife photos? Use your AF points in conjunction with your composition.
One photographic faux pas I see regularly – even from more experienced pixel pushers – is improper AF positioning technique.
What the heck am I talking about? I think this discussion is best illustrated with an example using the regrettable photo below. I think we’ve …
This probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, but as it turns out, I tend to have a lot of “random” little thoughts creep into my mind when I’m out doing wildlife photography. Some of these are actually pretty handy, others are just bizarre, and some are simply not appropriate material for an article (but they are freakin’ hilarious).
Let’s talk about the handy ones for …
OK, I’ll admit it, this is a weird post for me. The thing is, I realize I’m covering a topic that pretty much every photographer already knows:
If you want better wildlife photos, get to eye level or even lower.
In fact, getting eye-to-eye with my subject(s) is something I’ve been doing for a couple of decades now and is one of three techniques I would classify as having a …
Auto ISO is a frequent source of confusion but it doesn’t have to be that way! In this comprehensive video, we’ll cover how Auto ISO works in Nikon cameras (although it’s likely very similar for all brands). We’ll start with what it does, why / when you should use it, how to set it up, and how it interacts with your various exposure modes. After this video, Auto ISO will …
I see it all the time – lens jockeys hacking off pixels and tossing them out like they were last week’s kitty litter. It pains me to witness such rampant cropping with so little regard for the consequences – especially since I know how potentially devastating it is to a photo.
What really makes me cringe is watching people accept a distant subject’s diminutive size in the viewfinder when I know…
First, let’s get one thing out in the open – I’m not a fan of cropping and I normally tend to avoid it as much as possible. So please don’t take the remainder of this article as some kind of an endorsement for reckless pixel pruning, it’s really not.
Don’t get me wrong, I hack away at pixels like I’m the villain in a horror movie when necessary, but for …
It’s finally here – my Nikon 500 PF review and full field report! And let me tell you, it’s a doozy!
In fact, I may have to apologize for the length. This review is really detailed and goes on for a bit longer than I wanted. I’ve had so many questions about this lens and there are so many different facets to it that it was difficult to keep it …
So…
A few months ago I released a video where I discussed my various tripods, heads, and how I use them. It generated a lot of comments and a few really stuck in my mind – they were about using a gimbal head with a monopod.
At first, I sort of dismissed the idea. I mean, why would you want to place a giant gimbal head on a monopod when …
“Wow! That’s a big bear,” I exclaimed as I pulled the truck off the road.
As I brought the pickup to a halt, my wife was quickly scanning the nearby woods, “Where?”
I pointed at the 2 o’clock position from the windshield, “Down there, on the ground.”
As I opened my door and climbed out of the truck, I heard her make an excited religious reference – something about a …
So, there you are, face to face with a once-in-a-lifetime shot, but your AF seems less than confident. As you attempt to focus, it tries, misses, tries again, and finally, reluctantly, latches on. However, as you study the image in the viewfinder, the “sharpness” of the subject leads you to suspect that maybe the solid green focus confirmation dot is overly optimistic. You pop off a few shots, and a …
“Hey! You’re doing it wrong!”
That’s what I want to shout pretty much every time I’m out and spot other wildlife photographers with gimbal heads. It seems that well over half of them believe they have their gimbal properly balanced when they really don’t. It’s a shame too – a properly balanced gimbal head is so much nicer to work with than one that’s only half way there.
In the …
(NOTE – when I refer to “fast glass” in this article, I’m referring to the maximum opening, not AF speed.)
Do we really need fast glass anymore?
After all, with all that fantastic high ISO performance we find in modern cameras, should we all just agree to relegate fast glass to the Jurassic section of the Camera History Museum? Is it time to stop spending crazy amounts of money on …
I’m a sucker for a nice, clean background. In my opinion, nothing ruins a wildlife shot (or portrait shot, if you roll that way), faster than a busy, distracting background.
The thing is, it wasn’t that long ago that if you wanted to do wildlife, fast glass and full frame cameras were the rule. However, with cameras like the D7500 and D500, we now have some serious DX options. In …
