So, I've been to the monkey zoo "Apenheul" in Apeldoorn, Netherlands today.
The weather was extremely nice, as it was half cloudy, so lots of opportunities for full sun as well as clouded photo's.
I've recently upgraded my body from an EOS 1000D to an EOS 7D. And I think I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I know only 5% of all the possible settings I'm afraid.
Anyhow, I would like to share my collection of unedited photo's (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150976548732957.409400.731277956&type=1) I've made today. These are the top 30 photos out of 216 shot (personal low amount for me in a Zoo, but still quite high number of nice, unique shots).
Could you please look at them and give some feedback? If not, then enjoy them anyways! (or not :))
What lenses are you using on the 7D mate? Were you using AF or MF?
Looks like there might be some possible back focusing issues with your 7D & lens combo there for a few of the photos, should be easy to correct on a 7D if needed though. Depends on what part of the monkey you were focussing on though.
Cool photos =).
DZ
AF, those buggers move to fast for me to do it manually.
I used the 70-300 IS f/4-5.6 USM lens
Mostly focused on the head, or full body what photo's do you mean in particular?
Nice pics. As to feedback.....
I see what DZ says about focus. Some of the shots are not that sharp. I'm not sure if it's a setting in the camera that needs changing but the images do look a little soft. It might just be down to Facebook though. I don't really trust how FB renders uploaded images. I'm sure it messes with them. Flickr isn't much better but I think it keeps the images looking more like the originals. DeviantArt is probably even better but I've not used it.
Here are a few thoughts. Photographing animals is basically portrait photography. The main rules that apply to photographing people also apply to photographing animals, especially primates. So like normal portrait photography it's critical to get the animals eyes in focus. You can actually let other parts drop out of focus but as long as the eyes are sharp the image will look good.
To do this I would set AF-Drive to One Shot mode. This won't work too well on a moving target but as most of your shots are of animals that don't seem to be running about this should be fine. It's not crucial to do this but will stop the camera from moving the focus about itself, which even the best systems can do at the worst possible moment.
All but the most expensive lenses will perform better in the middle of their zoom range. At either extreme the focus accuracy will fall of a little. So on your lens anything over about 250mm 'might' start to go a little soft. The EOS 7D takes a big picture at 18mp. So rather than zoom right out to 300mm (if that's what you have done) you could stay at 250mm and then crop the picture later to make the animal appear larger in the image. It's not going to make a huge difference as the 7-300 is a decent lens but it might be something to consider if you want really sharp images. It's an option on the big Canon and Nikon bodies that won't work on little compacts and smartphone cameras.
Then set AF-Point Selection to Single AF point. This lets you decide which AF point is used to focus. The other modes allow the camera to decide what points to use and they may often not be the ones you would like.
Select an AF point that is exactly over one of the animals eyes and take your shot. If the animal moves or you move the animal in the frame then select a new focus point that sits over one of the eyes. Get the eyes pin sharp and your pictures will come alive.
Finally if possible photograph from an angle that shows highlights in the eyes (known as catch lights). This will usually be when there is a light source behind you, normally sunlight. While this can be hard to do when photographing animals in enclosures if you can get a nice highlight in the eyes it will make the eyes come alive and really improves the image.
Some of your shots have nice sharp eyes with catch lights (the black and white lemurs) but some don't and this makes them look a bit less appealing. But still some nice images regardless.
I am a whuss these days and always have my AF point set to the centre only when shooting in most situations. I use AF to focus on the eye, hold the shutter down and then quickly move to recompose the shot slightly if needed (and for the rule of thirds goodness). Sometimes I don't have time to do this so I aim for the eye and shoot with a wider zoom knowing 18mp will be good enough to get good crop even if half a frame I don't want to use.
The 7D is renowned for its awesome AF but there still are duds and lenses sometimes on some cameras do have issues with focussing which can normally be adjusted on high end cameras.
Your best bet to test the camera + lens combo might be to set your zoom to 300mm (as long as possible to get the shallowest DoF) and find a distance slightly longer than the shortest focal length that the lens can do. Focus say 10 times and immediately take a picture (even better use a tripod to get consistent shots) and look at the results in detail afterwards. Do this throughout the zoom range and at different distances to see if you are happy with the results. If there is good enough light it should be very accurate most of the time. For my 550D with Magic lantern I would say one in 100 or less shots will be out of focus on a static target in good light.
I am really looking forward to the new 7D when it comes out (8D?) as it might be a possible upgrade for me from my well loved 550D. Saying that If Magic lantern doesn't work on it then I might think twice as the 7D isn't compatible. =(
You can see my technique with monkey shots below =). This was in the harsh Arizona Sun so not much I can do about the contrast of the shadows.
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7265.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7268.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7403.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7430.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7432.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7467.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7595.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7622.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7668.jpg)
(http://www.thomaspointer.com/publicphotos/PHX%20AZ%202012/Monkey/IMG_7813.jpg)
Cheers,
DZ
Thank you Smilo and DZ.
Yes I've been using the 300 a lot, perhaps I should start on 250, but I like to shoot photos, "as they are". Not a fan of cropping. But I'll give it a try.
As for the AF, I usually have 1 focal point, either in the center, or 2 to the left/right/down/up. If I want to have a full body in the frame.
This time I used the new selection area AF (like a cross on CS:S) and didn't use the x5 or x10 zoom option on the body yet, as they are some fast buggers. None of the monkey stood still longer then .5 secs so that wasn't easy. (even the ones lying, constantly showed the back of their heads, so very little time to shoot for the eyes, but I'll try harder next time).
TBH, I hadn't even thought about aiming of the eyes, i mostly go for the center of the head. I'll make sure to get some more reflection of of their eyes. I see many taking pictures with flashes, even in broad daylight. I try not to do this, as maybe that would give some shine, I think it mostly is a bother to the animals, no matter how light it already is.
As I've got a free pass now for this season, I'll make sure to do better next time. Marduk, Silversurfer and I will probably go in September/October so, I'll see what the pointers will do to my shots :) Thanks.
Btw, I especially love your first monkey shot DZ, really appeals to me, the ferocity of the baboon shows well. As well as the shyness of the orangutan.
primates and monkeys can be a pain to shoot. The advanced features like focus tracking can be a real help, but they can also make it harder to get that pin sharp focus if the decide to put the focus on some random part of the animals body. the other thing to remember is long focal lengths compress depth of field as well, so out at 300mm with a wide aperture of f5.6 or f6 your depth of field could be down to a few inches. If the focus point happens to be on an outstretched hand then the face and eyes could be behind the area of depth of field and therefore not sharp. It's a juggling act trying to get the animal sharp and the background soft, which makes the subject of your picture stand out against the background. Upping the ISO and shooting at a smaller aperture (f7 -f13) might help keep everything in focus but if the background is far enough away then you might still get a soft background.
You could try shooting them with a tranquillising dart to slow them down...... then again maybe not :D
Quote from: smilodon;355729primates and monkeys can be a pain to shoot.
You could try shooting them with a tranquillising dart to slow them down...... then again maybe not :D
I'll second the tranq dart idea. I remember hopw much trouble we had at LAN XX trying to get a group photo done, the tranq dart would have been a big help!
Quote from: TeaLeaf;355982I'll second the tranq dart idea. I remember hopw much trouble we had at LAN XX trying to get a group photo done, the tranq dart would have been a big help!
I am hoping this wont be a problem this time round.....
No more will be said on this till the LAN.