City - State - ARIZONA AND HAWAII Country - United States
About
These Two Shot Are dedicated to Yamil Saenz. For His Wonderful Support of the Best Photography Site on the Web.
His Photography is at a level that All Aspiring Photographers strive to achieve , Every Day we are treated to a wide variety of images that leave us wanting more. My Friend, I hope that you like these two Equal but Opposite images.
The Left one is a shot of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the Right one is a shot of The Grand Canyon of the Pacific, known as Waimea Canyon. While it is not as Large...It is Still a VERY Large Canyon considering that it's on a VERY Small Island.
Hi Sam, I am sorry that took me so long to get back to you. I still shooting with the 20D and hopefully soon I'll be getting the 40D. Hi Sam, Thank you very much for all the information that you send me. This is very helpful and I hope to start shooting landscapes in the next few months. Marcus Armani originally tough me how to shoot birds in flight. Since Marcus lives relatively close to my house and we are good friends, we shoot together very frequent, so I have learn a lot from him. I follow his recommendations and I can’t complaint for the results. Basically I use a 400mm F/4 Canon Lens (with the hood- always) and a 20 D body. When it comes to tele photo lenses and shooting birds in flight, there are some other options such as the 100-400 mm and the 400 mm F/5.6, however I prefer the 400 D/O- F/4. Its only 4 pounds what makes this lens 4 pounds lighter than the normal 400 F/4 and also 25% smaller, besides it’s very fast and sharp. 500 mm F/4 and 600 mm F/4 are also good options, but they are heavier and more expensive, and in many occasions the birds come very close to you, so you end up cutting wings (and other parts of their anatomy). For the birds in flight, my regular settings are F/5 to F/7.1, Aperture priority mode, ISO 200-400 and shutter speeds over 1/1000/sec. As a general rule, I always use the central focusing point. Sometimes I use the 1.4 Extender with satisfactory results sometimes… Art Morris, one of the most talented photographers says that ones you become use to the 1.4 X, you’ll be using it on a daily bases, but at this point I am not that convince. Another important piece of equipment that you may be interested in giving a try is the “Better Beamer” I got this information from the Art Morris bulletin:
The Better Beamer is for use only with telephoto lenses of 300mm or longer. * Increase your flash output about 2 2/3 stops. * Shoot at greater distances with smaller apertures. * Reduces battery drain. * Weighs just 2 1/2 ounces. * Holds the Fresnel lens in place with no sagging or flopping. * Simple and quick set up and removal. * Fits in your pocket!
Then is very important to familiarize with the behavior of the species that you are shooting. Obviously luck is a very important factor, but the more you go to the field, the better your chances to find your birds. Sometimes I have to drive long distances to find my birds, so this activity although I enjoy tremendously, is very time consuming. I usually try to go shooting early morning or late afternoon to maximize the benefits of the golden light.
I hope this helps and please let me know if I can be of any assistance. Take care my friend and Happy New Year. Yamil
Are you still shooting with the 20D? If so, And you don't plan to move to full frame any time soon, I would choose the 17-40mm f4L. Because the 20D has a 1.6 Lens factor....that would make the 17-40mm more like a 27-64mm the 24-70mm would be more like a 38-112mm.....Since I shoot with the 5D I have the following lenses....Canon 16-35mm 2.8L-Sigma 24-70mm EX DG 2.8 and the Canon 70-200mm 2.8L.
Full frame cameras can make the most out of wide angle lenses because you don't have a lens conversion factor to deal with. The First wide angle I purchased was the 16-35mm Before I got the Canon 5D. You Can do well with either of the two lenses that you have been looking at, All you will need to learn( if you don't already know how) is how to shoot multi-shot Pano's. If you don't have a program that will stitch shot's together...I would recommend getting one. there are a lot of them out there. The one I use is called Auto Pano Pro..I hope that some of this information was helpful my friend.
I Look forward to viewing more of your fantastic Birds of prey and other type bird shots. I can help you with learning Landscape Photography. I have been trying to learn how to shoot Birds of prey. It is not as easy as your and Marcus make it seem. So if you can give me a few tips on how to do it...That would be greatly appreciated.
Dear Sam, Those pictures are STUNNING. About 10 years ago I flew over the Grand Canyon for about one and a half hours but did not get any shots. These pictures brought back that wonderful memory, specially the North Rim. These are among the BEST shots of the Grand Canyon and the Waimea Canyon that I have ever seen. I really appreciate this special dedication and coming from you means even more and I truly hope some day I will achieve yours and Rob’s level of photography. Over the years, your work and Rob’s inspire me so much that I would like to start doing some landscape photography but I haven’t decide which lens is the best. After comparing lots of landscapes I narrow it down to 2 lenses- 17- 40 mm and 24- 70 mm. I would love to hear your recommendations. Thanks again, I feel honored for your kindness and I wish you happy holidays to you and your family.
Hot and dry vs hot and humid; desert vs tropical island - two very magnificant canyons and both shots having very different colors and different but equally as dramatic skies. Great selection for this project.
Dear Sam A fine and sweet dedication to your friend. I´ve not been fortunate to see the Grand Canyon yet, but it looks breathtaking on your photo, and the light is just right. The canyon on the right I´ve seen though if it is the one on Kauai:-) A stunning sight for a lowlander like me*LOL* I like that you´ve two skies that are not blue but dramatic. Take care Annemette
0 
