Greater Niagara Photographic Association Site

It was a bit ugly outside today so I went south (60km)

Canon 7d, 100-400 at F8 and 285mm, 25mm extension tube, 1/50th second, fill flash, 800 ISO, post process vignett applied.

I was using the 300 F2.8 here at 1/50th second no IS on a monopod....just so lucky a grab shot

One more

 Hi John, very nice images. Good to see someone is doing some shooting. Regards Peter

Some...not enough shooting. I will probably start doing the Niagara trip every couple of weeks now and build back up my skills with photographing butterflys. Pretty rusty right now IMHO.

The crops on some of my shots from this weekend are too tight. The 7d is really a 100% viewfinder. No slack. The 300 F2.8 was OK but will probably stay home next time as the 100-400 is working so well now (sharp.) With the 300 working space was also an issue, hense some of the tight crops. That was with a 25mm extension tube on it. The hot shoe mount flash will be replaced by the ring light next time.

On a later trip the 150 Sigma macro will also go along with a 1.4 extendert time for some play.

Another trip will be using the 90mm TS lens and ring light. This will allow for son\me interesting selective focus.

The next trip I will just shoot with the micro 4/3'ds camera with a old manual focus macro and LED lights.

I arrive for when the doors open on Sunday and I have had enough by noon (2 hours.) Company is welcomed.

 Hey John, I'd like to join you for one of those trips but I'd need to know when you're going a few days beforehand in order to plan it.

I haven't tried my 70-200 on butterflies yet. I have a set on Kenko extension tubes which work really well. I also have a 580EXii flash I'm still trying to learn how to use.

I am planning to go again this Sunday, as Joan is working. Due to the American holiday weekend it will just be the NBC and no cross border trip.

I need to check what's happening this weekend here but I think I can make it. I may invite a friend along as well if that's okay.

 Okay, so I'm in for this Sunday. Should we meet at John's house, say, around 8:30 to 9:00 am so we can be at the NBC about 10:00?

One more...

Another with the 300

I am definitely going this weekend on Sunday to NBC. Leaving about 9am. Les is coming down from the great white north.

With the equipment list I have to try there should be about 5 more trips to NBC. So there will be lots of opportunities to meet up there.

I am considering a knowledge transfer meet-up after I have finished my playing.
It could go like this;
an evening session/slide show to exchange ideas and techniques on BP (butterfly photography) and then a shoot at the NBC on the following Sunday.

 Nice shooting John!

The last images had some better framing than the previous ones. (all nice shots though)

Nice idea about shoot and then the follow up sessions - I will have to try and get to one or more of these.

Thanks Ted, I agree about the framing.

Some desaturation of the background done on this image

The NBC is closing January 9 for 6 weeks this year to replace the netting. This is going to change the shoot schedule. I will probably go most weekends from now until January 3rd.

Today was a fantastic opportunity at NBC as it was very overcast and the butterflies were not so active. I used the 100-400 with ring light for most of today. The 90mm ts was also out of the case for a few images. Here is one of the first images shot while I wait for Lightroom to import...

Most of my images come from about a 1 hour period when the butterflies were just hanging about. The ring light worked well, and is most likely the best flash light source. The 100-400 with 15mm extension tube was very good. I could have used the 25mm extension tube at times for smaller subjects, but did not have it in my vest...

A monopod is best at NBC as they eventually shut down Les with his tripod as we were just about to leave. A monopod is more conductive to getting images there at NBC as you can change setups quicker and cover more territory faster.