Seals on Long Island NY

[Joe Colozzo]

This is my first time doing seals, they have a great personalities and are fun to watch. Not sure if I like this combo, Canon 80D/Canon100-400/Canon1.4 converter. But here are some results. All C&C welcomed
1)
IMG_3736 by Joseph Colozzo, on Flickr

2)
IMG_3742 by Joseph Colozzo, on Flickr

3)
IMG_3737 by Joseph Colozzo, on Flickr

4)
IMG_3770 by Joseph Colozzo, on Flickr

5)
IMG_3732 by Joseph Colozzo, on Flickr

 

[Ben Egbert]

Good set, I really like the first two. I think all of my seal shots are on rocks, this is a different look.

 

[Joe Colozzo]

Good set, I really like the first two. I think all of my seal shots are on rocks, this is a different look.

Thank you Ben. they are in a populated bay area, so the sand bar is their space to stay away from us humans. but they are nosey at times.

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

Joe that 1st shot is so wonderful, the pastel water with that cute guy looking right at ya! Then I love #3, but sure wish he was not jumping away from you, but I do love you caught the seal in the air

 

[Joe Colozzo]

Joe that 1st shot is so wonderful, the pastel water with that cute guy looking right at ya! Then I love #3, but sure wish he was not jumping away from you, but I do love you caught the seal in the air

Thank you Darcy. I wish he was also, he was the only one jumping and it was the wrong way. It wasn't easy guessing were he was going to pop up either, he kept changing direction under the water.

 

[Mike Mancil]

All are well captured, but I like #5 for it's clarity and expression (maybe a slight crop to get him closer?). Well done.

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

Thank you Darcy. I wish he was also, he was the only one jumping and it was the wrong way. It wasn't easy guessing were he was going to pop up either, he kept changing direction under the water.

oh hahahah I am so sure, how the heck do you know where they will pop up! Great job on all of your set!

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

All are well captured, but I like #5 for it's clarity and expression (maybe a slight crop to get him closer?). Well done.

I love 5 also, but I don't like the OOF rocks in the foreground. Maybe crop it pano style past the rocks?

 

[AlanLichty]

That's not an easy lens combination to keep steady enough for clear results but you did pretty good for focus/detail on these shots. I have a Canon 2.0 extender for my 100-400mm which is hopeless at 800mm without a tripod and no wind. It's clear you still were able to use good shutter speeds for the water splashing in the third image. The first image and the last one are my two favorites in the batch with the face shots.

 

[Joe Colozzo]

All are well captured, but I like #5 for it's clarity and expression (maybe a slight crop to get him closer?). Well done.

I'll try something tommorrow , I did think it broke up seeing all water. But Ill try. and thank you!

oh hahahah I am so sure, how the heck do you know where they will pop up! Great job on all of your set!

Thanks again, Luck , just luck. he jumped 6 or 7 times and that was the only one I caught.

I love 5 also, but I don't like the OOF rocks in the foreground. Maybe crop it pano style past the rocks?

I'll play with it tommorrow. thanks

That's not an easy lens combination to keep steady enough for clear results but you did pretty good for focus/detail on these shots. I have a Canon 2.0 extender for my 100-400mm which is hopeless at 800mm without a tripod and no wind. It's clear you still were able to use good shutter speeds for the water splashing in the third image. The first image and the last one are my two favorites in the batch with the face shots.

OK, It's not just me? Good LOL . Thank you Alan

 

[JimFox]

These are great Joe! You really came away with some really nice shots. #1 is so cool, and the timing on the jump in #3, that's special too.

 

[Joe Colozzo]

These are great Joe! You really came away with some really nice shots. #1 is so cool, and the timing on the jump in #3, that's special too.

Thank you Jim, I feel I was very lucky to get that one!

 

[Martín el Escocés]

Lovely set, Joe - I think no 1 is a real winner; great pose! I'm trying out that combo of 80D, 100-400 and 1.4 converter. So far I've found it somewhat cumbersome but serviceable. I'm hoping to get some more experience with it soon.

 

[Joe Colozzo]

Lovely set, Joe - I think no 1 is a real winner; great pose! I'm trying out that combo of 80D, 100-400 and 1.4 converter. So far I've found it somewhat cumbersome but serviceable. I'm hoping to get some more experience with it soon.

this was my second outing with the combo, the second was better then the first. I uped the shutterspeed to 2,000 and that helped a bit. I tried uping the from F8 to F13 just to see if that would help. It help sharppen up but then the ISO went a little high. So next time I want to try just F9. Well good luck when you get out, and thank you for the kind words!

 

[beavens]

Neat pics, Joe - #1 is by far the strongest, although it might be a bit soft in the details? Might want to bring the shadows up a tad around the face to squeeze out some more detail.

How cropped are these? In some of them I find myself wanting the seal to have more mass in the scene (a la #1).

IMO you should probably look to keep the aperture as open as possible to keep your ISO lower - 1/2000s might be a bit overkill for freezing these dudes.

Jeff

 

[Joe Colozzo]

Neat pics, Joe - #1 is by far the strongest, although it might be a bit soft in the details? Might want to bring the shadows up a tad around the face to squeeze out some more detail.

How cropped are these? In some of them I find myself wanting the seal to have more mass in the scene (a la #1).

IMO you should probably look to keep the aperture as open as possible to keep your ISO lower - 1/2000s might be a bit overkill for freezing these dudes.

Jeff

I'm not happy with how soft the 1.4 extender is with my camera and lens. The lens bare is razor sharp. They are croped as much as I could without the softness looking horrible. I'm trying different things but I can't just get it. I thought I might need the higher shutter to help, but I'm starting to think it's not motion blur . I even tried stopping it down. I had some at F8 then went to F13.

Thank you for compliment and the help

 

[beavens]

I'm not happy with how soft the 1.4 extender is with my camera and lens. The lens bare is razor sharp. They are croped as much as I could without the softness looking horrible. I'm trying different things but I can't just get it. I thought I might need the higher shutter to help, but I'm starting to think it's not motion blur . I even tried stopping it down. I had some at F8 then went to F13.

Thank you for compliment and the help

Do you think it's your body or the lens + TC combo? I've got the 100-400 II and 1.4x III, but have had decent results in the little time I've used them. I know that also some copies could be bad/defective, so there's that possibility as well.

I'd say that a controlled focal test is in order to see where the issue lies.

Jeff

 

[Joe Colozzo]

Do you think it's your body or the lens + TC combo? I've got the 100-400 II and 1.4x III, but have had decent results in the little time I've used them. I know that also some copies could be bad/defective, so there's that possibility as well.

I'd say that a controlled focal test is in order to see where the issue lies.

Jeff

I'm not sure if it's me or the combo, I have to keep playing with it to find out. also what body are you using? I've heard others with the 80D and the 7DII complain also, but not sure if they were just inexperienced with that focal lenght like me.

 

[Martín el Escocés]

Hey Joe. I bought the 80D specifically to use in this combination as I wasn't completely satisfied with the 7D combination. I feel this will be better but it will take me time to get the experience, as I mainly work landscape and needed an outfit for the odd wildlife shots I come across whist doing so. I found the 7D/100-400 ideal for photographing in Kruger National Park but that was the first time I had set out to concentrate on wildlife. Adding the converter has added the issue but I'm sure experience will overcome this.

 

[Joe Colozzo]

just an update on the lens combo comments I made. The combo is fantastic, the problem lied in shooting over water for a long distance. between the temperature differences and evaporation !