Pennsylvania Bulls Shed Velvet

I spent most of last week in Pennsylvania Elk Country with my primary objective being to film and photograph the shedding of the velvet from the bulls' antlers.  Many of the bulls had already shed by the time I arrived late Monday afternoon, but I found a bachelor group on Tuesday morning in which some of the bulls still had velvet.

6x6 With Velvet

This was a dark, overcast morning with a light shower of rain or two so the Canon 5D MK III and the 300mm f2.8 lens were the perfect choice for this situation.  This bull was in the edge of the woods along a meadow and most of the other bulls were feeding and horning bushes that were scattered throughout the meadow. While I took a few still images, I spent most of the time filming them on video with the Panasonic GH4 and Canon 100-400mm lens.

This is a 4K camera and I film in UHD mode.  With this one is able to capture 8 megapixel stills from the video.  Panasonic has a method for doing this, but I have not tried it.  I simply load the video into  my video editing program, Vegas Pro 13,  and scroll through the timeline until I find a suitable frame and then capture it.  Below are two stills captured in this manner that shows how the velvet cracks and bloody spots appear before the actual shedding occurs.

On Thursday morning I photographed two bulls that were feeding on apples.  The first photo shows how the velvet shedding process progresses from the stage depicted in the the photos above.

Almost Shed

The second photo shows a bull that is completely shed and also documents how bulls dislodge apples from the trees by striking the branches with their antlers.

Trying To Dislodge Apples

With the shedding of the velvet, the bulls begin sparring with other bulls and engaging in other pre-rut activity.  On this trip I did not get to photograph this activity , but I did get to see a mature bulls herding cows  late one evening as darkness fell in a remote wilderness meadow.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Middle Creek 2014 Part I

Tundra Swans In Flight: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm F4 IS+1.4x extender-ISO 200-1/2000 sec. f 5.6

Originally I planned to spend several days at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area during late February-early March as this is usually the peak of the spring migration for tundra swans and snow geese.  As everyone knows the migration was delayed this year because of the severe winter and when the peak occurred the lake and potholes were still mostly ice covered.  I like to go when I can film the various species of ducks, so I waited until most of the ice was gone and  didn't go to Middle Creek until last Saturday morning, March 22nd, which meant that I missed the peak of the snow geese migration.  According to the PGC website there were about 60,000 snow geese and 5,000 tundra swans on March 17th with the number reportedly still about the same  on March 20th, but numbers plummeted over the weekend and were down to an estimated 6,000 snow geese and 2,500 tundra swans by Sunday morning, March 23rd.


There were quite a few tundra swans, snow geese, and Canada geese visible where Hopeland Road passes by the edge of the lake on Saturday Morning and many remained throughout the day.

Snow Geese and Tundra Swans: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm F4 IS-ISO 200-1/800 sec. f 11.0

 In mid to late afternoon snow geese congregated in a field just up the road from where the lake is near the road.

Distant Flock: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm F4 IS-ISO 400-1/1000 sec. f 11.0

Soon a large group of photographers and bird watchers gathered in that area and I joined the throng to get some close photographs and video of the flock.  This time I  concentrated on video and carried the Panasonic GH3 and GH2 the video tripod and carried the 7D with 70-200mm f 2.8 around my neck to use for flying shots.  I came to regret that I left the 600mm and 500mm in the car as there were some exceptional opportunities to capture the geese landing in the late evening light. I took several stills with the GH3 and the 100-300mm and it performed reasonably well. I love the perspective in the photo below as the geese were on top of a small rise in the field and I sat down so get a low angle which I think makes the birds more impressive looking.

Snow Geese Up Close: Panasonic GH3- Lumix 100-300mm f 4.0-5.6 @ 300mm-ISO 200-1/125 sec. f 11.0

I hoped the entire flock would take-off at once as often happens, but this was not to be or at least it had not happened by the time I left at sundown.  In several cases smaller groups took flight  and  I captured a few frames of this with the 7D and 70-200mm.

Lift-off: Canon 7D-Canon 70-200mm F2.8 IS II@ 70mm-ISO 400-1/2500 sec. f 5.0

With this the first day of the trip came to an end. I returned to photograph on Sunday morning,spent the entire day there on Monday and Tuesday, and photographed on Wednesday morning before leaving for home.

I plan to post more Middle Creek photos within the next few days.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

More Whitetail Rut Images

Whitetail Buck Chasing Doe: Canon 7D-70-200mm f2.8 L IS II @70mm- ISO 400-1/640 Sec. f 5.0

I  spent most of November photographing the whitetail deer rut in Pennsylvania and Maryland. While I like to photograph deer at any time of year, the rut is an especially favorite time as the bucks are more easily visible and excitement can run high when they are chasing  the does--especially if a dominance fight occurs.  I did not get to either photograph or see a fight this year, but I did photograph several bucks with broken antlers, which were likely a result of fighting,  including the eight-point shown  below.

Eight-point With Broken Antler:  Canon 7D-70-200mm f2.8 L IS II @142mm- ISO 640-1/200 Sec. f 4.0

Buck Charges From Woods After Doe: Canon 7D-600mm f4.0 L IS - ISO 400-1/640 Sec. f  4.5

I couldn't be more pleased with the 600mm f4.0 that I started using this fall.  About the only downside to it is the weight and mass.  It comes in especially handy when photographing deer that are not as acclimated as park deer.  The lens especially paid off on the lip-curl photo below.  The buck was fairly close for a Pennsylvania whitetail, but the image is still heavily cropped to get the dramatic close-up composition.

Lip-curl: Canon 7D-600mm f 4.0 L IS- ISO 200-1/600 Sec. f 5.0

While I do prefer the 70D to the 7D in most cases, I have been using the 7D quite a bit for long range shots with the 600mm as the 70D is usually reserved for video use.  If possible I like to set up with the 600mm on a Gitzo tripod with Wimberley head and the 70D on a Manfrotto video tripod with fluid head. If the light level is low or the subjects are close enough I use the 5D MK III  with the 600mm to take advantage of its' superior image quality, but if the range is long and there is enough light I use the 7D body.

Mature Buck At Long Range: Canon 7D-600mm f 4.0 L IS- ISO 200-1/600 Sec. f 5.0

Pennsylvania rifle deer season came in on December 2nd this year and will go out at the close of shooting hours on the 14th.  Most of the bucks I photographed this fall are likely dead now as the rifles really hammered on the first day.  I began hunting as a teenager and was an avid hunter for most of my adult life with a special emphasis on deer. I quit hunting for any species at the end of the 1998 season and in fact all but quit at the end of the 1997 season, but that is a story for another day.  As it is I spend far more time afield than most hunters and have been out most of the daylight hours during deer season keeping close tabs on the local deer herd with my cameras close at hand.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

The Leaves Change Color As The Whitetail Rut Begins

Many Pennsylvania nature photographers have commented that fall colors have not been as spectacular this year as usual and I have found that to be true here in the south-central portion of the state as well.  With that being said I did capture a decent fall scene last Thursday.  Wanting to travel light, I carried only the Panasonic GH3 and tripod with the 14-140mm Lumix lens mounted.  I also carried the 100-300mm Lumix in case I encountered wildlife.

Fall Colors: Panasonic GH3-Lumix 14-140mm@17mm- ISO 200-1/100sec. f 11.0

It seems that the GH3 does quite well as a still camera at the lower ISO settings and it is very easy to carry, but with that being said I still like to use the Canons for most of my still photography.

I have seen quite a bit of wildlife as well in the past few weeks.  One of the most memorable occasions was when I was watching a distant flock of gobblers in a portion of a meadow that was dry enough for the farmer to mow this summer. Since the fall rains it is now a wetlands and  some of the gobblers were drinking from the pools of water among the grass. The image is severely cropped to give a more dramatic composition.

Gobbler Drinking: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0-ISO 400-1/250sec. f 8.0

The whitetail deer rut was early last year and I had seen a lot of bucks chasing does by the middle of October, but things have really been slow this year and there has been little signs of the rut until lately.  I have noticed that in the last few days the young bucks that are still traveling with the family groups are showing rutting behavior.  It is amusing to watch these little fellows acting aggressive.

Yearling Buck Performs lip-curl: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0-ISO 400-1/320sec. f  4.5

On October 25th I saw the first buck chasing a doe.  I did film the chasing with the Panasonic, but the stills I got with the 5D MK III and the 600mm were only portrait shots.  This was a buck I had not seen before and is either a larger than usual (for this area) yearling or is a small 2 year old.

6 Point Buck Pauses From Chasing Doe: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0-ISO 3200-1/200sec. f  4.0

The light level was low enough that it was good to have the MK III's excellent high ISO capability.  I was hidden behind a hay bale, but the buck still caught the movement as I switched from the video camera to the still camera. He soon lost interest in me and began chasing the doe again.

6 Point Buck: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0-ISO 3200-1/160sec. f  4.0

He evidently got the leaves in his right antler from horning the ground, which is something I would liked to have seen and recorded.

I enjoy photographing almost any species I can find, but I have been fascinated with the whitetail deer since a young age and they are my favorite species to film and photograph.  Each year I especially look forward to filming the excitement of the fall rut when bucks that are ordinarily shy and hard to see are suddenly everywhere running about after the does.  It will be interesting to see what buck sightings the next few weeks bring.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

October Brings Good Variety of Wildlife Encounters

I returned home from my annual two week trip to Pennsylvania Elk Country to record the elk rut  after the morning photo shoot on Friday September 27th.  According to reliable sources  the rut continued full-bore for  awhile after that, but has now tapered off quite a bit.  Since returning home I have been working with the local wildlife each day, but things have been slow.  With that being said, I have captured a few usable images over a period of time.

I see raccoons occasionally, but usually it is not under the most photogenic conditions. I was set up near an old barn one morning and kept hearing a "chirring" noise so I slowly turned around to see two young raccoons peering at me from a hole in the side of the barn.  I had the 300mm f2.8 attached to the 5D MK III and it was the right combination for the encounter as the light was still very poor and the combination of fast lens and good high ISO capability contributed to a successful capture.

Young Raccoons: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f 2.8 IS L-ISO 3200 1/160 sec. f 2.8

On another occassion I captured a fox squirrel as me passed by my stand.  When I was young it was very rare to see these large squirrels, but although not as common as the gray squirrel I do see them frequently.

Fox Squirrel: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 500mm f 4.0 IS L-ISO 1000 1/250 sec. f 4.5

It is always a thrill to see Eastern Wild Turkey Gobblers.  These are extremely shy birds that are usually seen only at a distance. I will digress for a moment to say that  I recently got a 600mm F 4.0 L IS lens of the same version as my 500mm and 300mm.  All of these have now been replaced with a II version that is lighter, but the price of a new 600mm is beyond my budget so I settled for a used one that is in excellent condition with no signs of wear.  This was an ideal lens to use to capture a group of mature gobblers when I was fortunate enough to spot them at a distance in the woods.

Distant Gobblers: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS L-ISO 1000 1/200 sec. f 4.5

The lens also worked quite well when I caught a mature gobbler running across a meadow one evening.  In this case I used a high ISO so that I could use a high shutter speed in hopes of stopping the action.

Running Gobbler: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS L-ISO 1600 1/1000 sec. f 4.5

The lens also worked well to capture a distant whitetail buck late one evening.  This was another situation ideally suited for the low-light capability of the 5D MK III.  Even with using the 600mm the image is substantially cropped to get the composition that I desired.

Late Evening Whitetail: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS L-ISO 3200 1/180 sec. f 4.0

This has been an unusual fall for me as I have seen very few rack bucks since coming back from elk country.  Most of the bucks seen so far are the spikes and three points that are still traveling with their family groups.  Ordinarily I have photographed several rack bucks by this time, but with the local photography not being as good as expected and the buck photography being ruined in Shenandoah National Park because of the"CWD" study, which has caused most of the mature bucks to be collared, and the government shutdown which has closed the park to all for the time being, there has been no chance for any outstanding encounters.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

News From Elk Country

The 2013 elk rut continues on Winslow Hill with some periods being very dead and a good level of activity at other times.  So far no 400 class bulls have been spotted at the Winslow Hill viewing areas, but it  has been reported that the holder of the Governors Conservation Tag took a 430 class bull in the Karthus area yesterday. This is a special license that is auctioned off  to the highest bidder. This year the successful bidder could hunt from September 2-November 9th.

I hope that some larger bulls will show up on Winslow Hill if the rut intensifies next week as it usually does.  As it is most of the bulls are either small or young bulls that have not reached their prime.  Although some of these are very nice, they are not top tier bulls.

Young 6x6 Winslow Hill: Canon 5D MK III-70-200mm f2.8 L IS- ISO 1600-1/320 sec. f4.0

At the other end of the spectrum is a bull that is quite popular with the community of elk photographers.  This is "Limpy" so called because he frequently limps as a result of injuries he received in 2010.  He is now an old bull and his rack is smaller than last year. I hadn't had a particularly good encounter with him until last evening.

There was a lot of rain on Saturday afternoon, but it tapered off into light sprinkles in the evening and elk activity was good.  Odie Swartz and I found Limpy and a small group of cows at the Porcupine Run-Winslow Hill viewing area and photographed him until he left the food plot just before dark.  He spent most of the evening on the grain that was planted, which is not the best setting for photographs. As it was growing late he got in the more natural looking grass at the edge of the plot, which gave a better composition. It was twilight by this time, which  made a perfect opportunity to see how the 70D performed in low light conditions, but I only took a few frames of him bugling before he wheeled an ran down over the hill toward the Gilbert Meadows where several bulls were chasing cows. .  My lens of choice was the 300mm f2.8 and I used ISO 1600. After working with this photograph I would say  the 70D, as one would expect, does not equal the 5D MK III at 1600  ,but this is offset by the better long range ability of its' 1.6 crop sensor and its' much lower cost. This  is an excellent DSLR for wildlife.

Limpy: Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 1600-1/50 sec. f 2.8

Another bull that was seen in the saddle earlier last week was also being seen in the meadows at the Gilbert  at the end of the week. Many have commented that this is one of the wildest bulls they have seen in the area.  He barks at people who at times are 100-200 yards away.  He doesn't do this when among the herd at the Gilbert, but he still has that "wild" alert look in his eye.

"Wild Bull": Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS-1.4x extender-ISO 400-1/1000 sec. f  4.0

Another bull has an impressive spread, but I was surprised that he is only a 5x6.  This bull is also a bit on the shy side, but not as much so as the one  above.

5x6 Chasing Cows: Canon 5D MK III-300mm f2.8 L IS- ISO 400-1/400 sec. f4.5

He is shown in hot pursuit of a cow in the photograph above and bugling in the one below. It was hard to get a good portrait pose as he was with a large herd of cows and there was usually one or more out of focus cows in the frame.

5x6 Bugles: Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS+1.4 extender-ISO 160-1/0 sec. f  5.6

I used ISO 160 and 1/60 for the above photo as I was taking video (1/60 sec. is the ideal shutter speed for video in many cases) and fired a still while it was paused in video mode, without changing to settings better suited for stills.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

The Canon 70D-First Impressions

Canon 70D with 300mm f2.8 IS

I purchased my first DSLR back in 2003,when most were still shooting film and digital photography was just beginning its' rapid rise to the forefront.  That camera was a Canon 10D,  a 6.3 megapixel camera, which if I recall correctly had an ISO range of 100-1600.  I stuck with this range of camera for several years, but I didn't buy each model that came out.  I passed on the 20D and 50D, but used both the 30D and 40D extensively.  Canon changed things with the introduction of the 7D in 2009.  This camera had a more professional feel and features than the 50D. With the advent of the 60D it became clear that Canon had in effect replaced the 10D-50D type camera with two different types--a higher end one (the 7D) and one that didn't have as many features or quite the professional feel, but was a distinct notch above the Rebel line in this aspect.  With that being said, the 60D was and is a great APS-C sensor camera.  Perhaps the greatest loss was micro-adjustment which was introduced in the 50D, included in the 7D, but not in the 60D.

In 2011 my main camera was the 7D, which was usually mounted on one of the big telephotos with the 40D being used with the 70-200mm, etc. so that one could cover a variety of situations without changing lenses. Since I am primarily a video shooter, in the spring I decided to replace the 40D  with another Canon that shot video.  A flip-out LCD is a decided plus for video so I was going to get a 60D, but then I found that the recently introduced T3i (600D) had a 3x crop mode that made extreme long range wildlife video recording possible. Since Canon had discontinued the XL-H1 type of camcorder that excelled at this, I was on the lookout for a technology that would give me the long range ability so there was no difficulty in selecting the T3i over the 60D.  The 60D is a more solid feeling camera and I prefer it for still photography, but since video was to be my primary use, there was no regrets.

I thought that Canon would improve on the 3xcrop or 3x-10x digital zoom principle and incorporate it in most if not all future models, but I was disappointed to find it was not in the 5D MK III or either of the two Rebel models that followed, the T4i and the T5i. Although they did introduce auto focus in the T4i this was not of interest to me without the 3X crop mode.

I got the 5D MK III in May of 2012 with its' primaryuse to be as a still camera. I found it had the best video quality of any of the Canon DSLRs I had tried so far, but it was sadly lacking in reach for long range work on whitetail deer, birds, etc.  In the meantime I had read many positive reviews of the Panasonic GH2, which was reported to have better video quality than the 7D, 60D, and the Canon Rebels.  I found this to be the case and used a GH2 for  long range video work from July 2012 until late  January of 2013 when I got the Panasonic GH3.  This camera  had even better quality than the GH2.  Another plus for the Panasonics is that they have decent autofocus in video mode when lenses such as the 14-140mm Lumix or 100-300mm Lumix are used. With that being said, I am not sure they have better video quality than the 5D MK III. They are a definite cut above the other Canon models we have mentioned in this respect; however.   but in my opinion the Canons win hands down as  better choices for still photography..

Canon 70D Equipped For Video With Canon70-200mm IS II L and Rode VideoMic Pro

 It was certain that I would try a 70D at some point when it was announced that it had "advanced movie digital zoom". This turned out to be a 3X-10X digital zoom like that on the T3i, although with the T3i they played up the term, "3X crop mode"instead.  Digital zoom has always left a bad taste in my mouth in traditional camcorders, etc., but this is somewhat different as at least on the T3i at 3x it is supposedly reading the central portion of the sensor to record a full HD 1920X1080  video file.  I am told that in actuality it is not quite full HD and is upscaled a bit, but it is still close enough that it does give very  acceptable video.  Based on limited experience comparing the two cameras so far it seems that the 70D digital zoom is the same as that in the T3i and is very usuable at 3X so it is likely actually the 3X crop at that point. On both cameras once you go past 3X you are into the same negative that has always existed with true digital zoom in that you are enlarging pixels and the image rapidly downgrades as the power is increased so I do not think it is usable for serious work past 3X. I do think the 70D  video quality is a bit better than that of the T3i, but there is not a tremendous difference at the lower ISOs. It seems like it gives significantly better performance at the higher ISO settings, but I am not certain of this yet. I will post no video clips today, but hope to do so after I do more testing.

70D Back View-Note 3.0"vari-angle LCD, video mode selector around record button

Perhaps the biggest news about the camera is the use of a  "revolutionary autofocus technology that unlocks the potential of Live View: Dual Pixel CMOS AF. This game-changing technology allows the EOS 70D to capture video in Live View with smooth and precise autofocus similar to that of a camcorder, complete with the superb image quality that is a hallmark of EOS cameras. Additionally, Dual Pixel CMOS AF provides fast and accurate autofocus during Live View still image capture, enabling you to fully benefit from the freedom of angle allowed by the Vari-angle Touch Screen 3.0-inch Clear View LCD monitor II. Compositional options are now nearly limitless with the two real-world choices of Live View and viewfinder shooting" as Canon describes it on the Canon USA Website. 

Whitetail Doe: Autofocus In Live View- Canon 70-200mm f2.8 @200mm-ISO 100-1/320sec. f 5.0

In my limited experience it does seem that they have taken the use of live view for still photography to a new level.  Gone are the days of lengthy hunting for focus in live view mode.  I like to shoot video with the camera on a tripod and about waist level or slightly above with the LCD tilted for easy viewing in that position.  Now taking stills is as simple as switching from video mode to your favorite still mode and pressing the release button.  Focus is rapid and accurate.  You could actually remain in video mode and capture the still for even less hassle, but I use different the Standard picture profile for stills and Neutral profile for video so I do like to change the mode button if possible.  In addition the camera focuses very well in video mode and compares favorably to the Panasonic cameras.  It will take more use to develop a final opinion.  One minus is that the Canon cannot use the new autofocus technology in the digital zoom mode but reverts to the old method, which will not track motion. Regardless of this, it still seems to focus reasonably well and will remain on the subject without hunting about until one presses the shutter release to refocus it. Once  focus is set you can press the movie button (it will not cause the camera to refocus ) and you can film in good focus until the subject moves and then you can either stop the camera and press the shutter button to auto focus or you can try to adjust focus manually while the camera is running, which seems to work reasonably  well.

While autofocus in video mode brings a significant gain in ease of use it does create problems with getting good sound.  Only Canon STM lenses are silent focusing.  At this point only a few are made and none are large telephotos or L lenses, so the vast majority of Canon lenses make a noise while focusing that is easily picked up by the internal mike or shotgun mikes mounted in the accessory shoe.  To date I have tried the camera with the 70-200mm f2.8 II L, 24-105mmf4L, and the 500mmf4 IS L. The 70-200mm is the quietest with the 24-105mm running a close second.  The 500mm f4 is very noisy, but still focuses quite well.  The bottom line is one needs to get the mike off of the camera for best results in situations where audio quality is critical. 

Most readers are likely more interested in how it performs as a still camera so I am posting a few stills.  I realize that perhaps I should post comparison shots between different camera models, etc., but at present time constraints prevent me from going into it this deeply and it can be hard to judge quality differences in internet photos and video anyway so here are some photos to give you a general idea of what to expect with this camera.

Mature Gobbler Late Evening: Canon 300mm f2.8-ISO 400-1/200sec. f2.8

Wild Turkey Hen in Morning Sunlight: Canon 300mm f2.8-ISO 400-1/640 sec. f4.0

All in all the 70D seems to perform quite well in good light.  The 5D MK III seems to get a higher percentage of photographs in perfect focus, but the 70D does quite well.  I think that those that are used to the 7D and the 60D will find the camera very acceptable, but I doubt they will notice a terrific improvement in still image quality, although the inclusion of micro-adjustment should give it a sharpness advantage over the 60D in some instances.  Of course there should be some gain in quality because of the 20.2 effective megapixel sensor vs the 18 effective megapixels of the 60D and 7D.  In addition there may be some gain in quality due to the DIGIC 5 processor of the 70D v.s. the DIGIC 4 of the 60D, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

The shot below was taken early in the morning and although I could have gotten away with using a lower ISO by going to a lower shutter speed, I wanted to get a general idea of how the camera performed at ISO 1600.  The image is also cropped a significant amount. Noise is noticeable on a large monitor.

Fawns Grooming Before Sunrise: Canon 300mm f2.8-ISO1600-1/500 sec. f2.8

When using the noise reduction tools in Photoshop, one must choose to have the image as sharp as possible, reduce the noise as much as possible, or find an acceptable compromise between noise and sharpness. The image above was the best I could do with noise reduced somewhat and the image being somewhat soft in the fine details. Whether right or wrong, I turn all in-camera noise reduction off and rely on Photoshop for noise reduction processing.

The bottom line is that based on my limited experience with the 70D I think it is better at handling high ISO settings than the 7D or the T3i, but I never used the 60D so have no opinion on that.  It does not do as well as the 5D MK III at high ISOs, but that is to be expected.  Over a period of time a much clearer opinion of its' capabilities will emerge, but for now it does seem like a good camera for the price range. It will be interesting to experiment and compare it against the other cameras that I use.  At present my favorite still camera is the 5D MK III and the video favorite is the GH3.  It will be interesting to see if that is still so a month from now.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

As Summer Winds Down

Cardinal Flower:  Canon 5D MK III-Canon 70-200mm f2.8  IS II-ISO 100, 1/60 sec. f 11

August, the cardinal flower is in bloom, the grain fields are harvested, with only the corn yet remaining.  Fall is just around the corner. As August nears its' end the fawns still have spots. I have not yet seen a buck that has shed his velvet, although most if not all of the bull elk have already done so, and the bugling is starting.

Fawns Still Have Spots: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 70-200mm f2.8  IS II-ISO 400, 1/320 sec. f5.6

Whitetail bucks are also showing the first signs of the approaching rut.  Surprisingly this young three point and a spike have been lip-curling frequently, but I have not yet filmed a rack buck doing so this year.

Lip-Curl:  Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 200, 1/500 sec. f 5.0

So far the rack bucks are still feeding in the same spots I have seen them all summer, but sightings are not nearly as consistent now and soon most of the younger bucks that have not yet dispersed from the family groups will do so.  

Unusual 9-Point: Panasonic GH3-Canon 500mm f 4.0 L -ISO 400, 1/80 sec f ?

During early and mid-summer the bucks are attracted to farmer's grain fields and for a time after it is cut they continue to graze in the stubble.  If grasses such as clover and alfalfa are planted in the stubble they may continue to graze on this indefinitely, but in other cases they will likely move on to more desirable food sources.  They may be difficult to see in the fields after the acorns fall in a year with a substantial mast crop.

Wild Turkeys are also seen in the meadows from time to time as they feed on weed seeds and insects. In this case I pressed my old Canon FD 85-300 f4.5 lens into service.  It is mounted to the GH3 with a Novoflex adapter.  I used this lens extensively for a short period on the GH2 and GH3, but I liked the auto-focus on the 100-300mm Lumix for mid-range general purpose work and it could not compete with the 500mm F4 for extreme long range work, so it spent all of the summer on the shelf until I decided to use it one evening last week to re-evaluate my impression of it.  Bottom line is it is OK, but I don't think I am going to be using it a lot.

Distant Gobbler Flock: Panasonic GH3-Canon FD 85-300 f  4.5 -ISO 200, 1/60 sec f ?

The GH3 and the 500mm deliver respectable results at unbelievable ranges, but there is still nothing quite like having the bird in close, but that requires either a lot of luck or a lot of hard work and patience as they are very shy.

Mature Gobbler:  Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 L  IS -ISO 640, 1/400 sec. f 7.1

One could reasonable ask why I used ISO 640 in good light, but the situation developed quickly and I forgot to check the ISO.  The good news is that 640 looks very good on the MK III and does not diminish the quality.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Late June In Pennsylvania Elk Country-Part 2

Early Moonrise: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS II L@145mm-ISO 100-1/640 sec. f8

I intended to post more photos from last week's trip to Pennsylvania Elk Country long before this, but the laptop that I ordinarily use to post crashed.  While I have several computers this one was organized for posting and cruising the internet (I try to keep the computers I use in serious photo, audio, and video work off of the internet as much as possible).  That being said, I don''t think the problem was caused by the internet as in my experience malware cannot cause hardware failure and this computer failed in more than one area. On the last use it performed as expected, but when I went to use it again it had turned off (I had put it in sleep mode, but now it was completely dead).  When I hit the button to power up, the fan would run but nothing else. No Logo or option to go into the bios--just a black screen.  At this point I wasn't too alarmed because if the boot sector of the disk is damaged it is still possible to access by at least two methods and recover most if not all of the data, but this was not possible in this case.  The hard drive was completely dead.  Even with a dead drive or no drive installed for that matter one should still get the start screen.  It was not a virus or other malware as that can corrupt your boot sector or damage files, but it cannot physically damage hard drive so that it cannot be formatted. The computer was unplugged as their was a threat of  severe thunderstorms and it was asleep in battery mode. There was no chance that the battery ran down as it was fully charged and had not been in sleep mode long.  As best as I can figure there had to be a component failure that resulted in damage to to multiple parts of the laptop.  It is four years old and has had heavy use, so at this point I am awaiting a replacement and using an audio production computer to post.  Now so much for the computer problems.

As I noted in the last post, elk photography was not as productive as one would hope, but it still was an enjoyable trip. It was so pleasant just to be afield in the early mornings and late evenings.  One several occasions I went out early in the evening, got on a good vantage point and just soaked up the beauty of the countryside. While photos such as the one below may have little commercial value except to illustrate articles about elk and elk habitat, I can seldom resist taking them, In fact I usually take a photograph from this spot each time I am there. In this case I waited until shortly before sundown so that the sunlight had that special cast and the shadows of late evening  molded the terrain and made the ridges and valleys stand out.

Pennsylvania Elk Country: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 17-40mm f4@40mm-ISO 100-1/500 sec. f5

Ron "Buckwheat" Saffer was also in elk country and he was enthusiastic about the many opportunities to photograph birds that presented themselves.  I always like to see birds and since I concentrate on filming I usually end up getting a lot of video, but few if any good still shots.  At any rate it was common to see,  Bobolinks, Bluebirds, Meadow Larks, and various types of sparrows, along with many other species. I didn't take one good still photo of birds with the MK III.  I was with Buckwheat when he photographed a Killdeer.  I took mostly video, but at one point I mounted the 500mm F4 and took a  RAW photo with the GH3.

Killdeer: Panasonic GH3-Canon 500mm f4 IS L-ISO 200-1/200sec. f?

One must use a special adapter to use the L lenses on the GH3.  They are manual focus on this camera and only partial meta-data is recorder.  It does show the ISO and shutter speed selected, but as the lens does not communicate with the camera it does not record the lens info such as brand, f stop, focal length, etc. It is not hard to remember what lens is used, but unless one keeps notes, remembering the f stop, etc. is out--at least for me.

I had an excellent encounter with a meadow lark on Thursday morning, but it was too far for stills so I made still captures of video clips.  The first is with the 500mm and the extended telephoto mode, which gives the lens an effective focal length of 2,4000mm when once considers the 2x crop factor of the GH3 sensor and the added 2.4X crop of the extended telephoto mode.

Meadow Lark: Panasonic GH3-Canon 500mm f4 IS L-ISO 200-2.4x extended telephoto mode

There is also the option for 2X or 4X digital zoom.  This can be used with the camera either in standard mode or in extended telephoto mode(ETC).  When it is in ETC mode, the 4x  looks so bad as to be unusable, but the 2x looks quite good on the LCD, but it is lacking when viewing on an HD TV. I ordinarily do not use this setting, but I was experimenting and as one could expect I got one of the best poses of the bird singing when I was in the 2X+ETC mode.

Meadow Lark: Panasonic GH3-Canon 500mm f4 IS L-ISO 200-ETC+2X digital zoom

A good lesson to take away from the trip is that it is rewarding to pay attention to all of nature and not tune out everything but one species, rather one is well advised to take advantage of all excellent photo opportunities when they present themselves.  Looking back, I did enjoy the elk photography on this trip, but I find myself thinking more about the birds and the wildflowers and at least for me, at the end of the day the most important thing is the memories.

Originally Published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

The First Fawns Arrive

Young Fawn Nursing: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8-1.4 extender -ISO 1600 1/100 Sec. f4

I discussed in some detail in the post of May 16 about when one could expect to see the first fawns in my area.  To my surprise I saw the first one that very evening.  It was well over 300 yards away and nursing from its' mother.  Even though it was late and the range was far I decided to try for a video clip, but by the time I got the 500mm F4 mounted on the GH3, it was no longer visible.

Fast-forward to early morning on May 18th and I was pleasantly surprised to see a young fawn come running into the meadow I was watching.  It ran to its' mother and started nursing while I took several photographs with the 5D MK III and the 300mm f2.8 with 1.4X extender.

Doe and Fawn: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8-1.4 extender -ISO 1600 1/60 Sec. f4

The fawn left the meadow shortly after sunrise and found shelter in the woods on the nearby hillside.  I was able to get into position for a few more photographs without disturbing it.

Fawn Resting: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 17-40 f4@40mm-ISO 400 1/125 Sec. f5

Fawn In Woods: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 -ISO 400 1/60 Sec. f8

I have seen this fawn with its' mother on more occasions, but none close enough for good stills, although I have gotten video of it and a few other fawns as well.

It is not clear why these fawns are arriving earlier this spring--although of course it is because the does were bred a bit earlier last fall, which again raises the question as to why breeding activity was a bit early last fall.  Whatever the case, the young animals are welcome additions to the local herd and provide wonderful observation, and filming opportunities when they are seen.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.