20,000 Snow Geese and an AF100 loaded with Nikon glass.

ScottNelson

ScottNelson

Well-known member
Thanks to the Nikon 300mm f/4, 80-200mm f/2.8, 18-35mm f/3.5 plus the Tokina 28-80 f/2.8 and 11-16 f/2.8, mounted with a Voigtlander adaptor, here's a look at the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge in Southern Oregon on the California border.

 
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Stunningly beautiful, Scott!

The camera did really well shooting into the sun, both low and higher on the horizon.
You preset your aperture at 5.6, right?

I love the contrast of the wides with the CUs where it almost becomes abstract (Escher?), and the shot where you follow 3 birds flying against the stream.

Great, great stuff!!! :thumbsup:
 
groveChuck said:
The camera did really well shooting into the sun, both low and higher on the horizon. You preset your aperture at 5.6, right? I love the contrast of the wides with the CUs where it almost becomes abstract (Escher?), and the shot where you follow 3 birds flying against the stream.
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There was only 1 shot with the 11-16 where it was pre-set to f/8. I was switching lenses like crazy for every other shot or two and it all happened pretty fast. I was wondering if anyone would notice the 3 birds flying against the stream. Another favorite was a 300mm shot of the birds taking flight en masse and another of the flock turning in flight to fly straight towards the camera.

I shot the evening segment the first day I arrived and followed up before dawn the next morning and was shocked to see Mt. Shasta in daylight where it had been cloaked in clouds the evening before.

Regards,
Scott
 
Great Scott !

(couldnt help my self - sorry)

Truly gorgeous footage and what a beautiful place to film.

Some of that footage is seriously codec testing. All the flapping wings ( eg around the 1 min mark).

C.
 
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Ah, f/8. What were the other lenses set at?

I'm still adjusting to changing lenses, especially in quickly changing situations, and have had a couple of shoots where it seemed I was 180 degrees out of sync- long lens on when i needed wide, and vice-versa.

Yep, the 300 is awesome and Shasta was absolutely gorgeous!

How far is the refuge from your home?
 
Shooter said:
Great Scott ! (couldnt help my self - sorry) Truy gorgeous footage and what a beautiful place to film. Some of that footage is seriously codec testing. All the flapping wings ( eg around the 1 min mark). C.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Craig. I did some quick tests and determined that the higher shutter speeds that I was tempted to use (1/250 or 1/500) made for an un-natural look and instead shot everything @ a 270 degree shutter (about 1/45th of a sec.). All the frame grabs look blurred but in motion the frames look seamless, especially the 60fps scenes. I figured that two of the tree birds flying against the flock @ 3:05 were you and I!
 
groveChuck said:
Ah, f/8. What were the other lenses set at? I'm still adjusting to changing lenses, especially in quickly changing situations, and have had a couple of shoots where it seemed I was 180 degrees out of sync- long lens on when i needed wide, and vice-versa. Yep, the 300 is awesome and Shasta was absolutely gorgeous! How far is the refuge from your home?
Click to expand...

I live about 175 miles from the refuge and for the most part, tried to shoot all the shots around f/11. The only problem I found was a different mount point on the rails for the lens support bracket when changing from the 300 to the 80-200. I used a UV filter on the 300 but did not have one for the 80-200. I also found the FOCUS IN RED invaluable while shooting - I needed to be quite mobile and did not have my Ikan VX7/e monitor set up though I did review footage on the tailgate of my truck and back in the motel room on the '7e.

One other tip for the area - If you walk into a local bar and only see Bud, Miller and Coors on tap and the barmaid weighs almost as much as you do and the wall is lined with video poker machines, rest assured you are not in a brew pub. Those cowboys sure know how to party on a Friday night!
 
Thanks Barry and Erik. You know, it was as much fun and a challenge to bring the nat sound audio to life. I had to loop tracks over the 60FPS scenes and went a little further with mixing a couple of other tracks together that were recorded in-camera with an old Audio Technica AT-825 stereo mic.

What's unique is that this was a scouting trip to plan for the big North-bound migration in the Spring. I'm left to imagine what it will be like with a million birds in the refuge in March. My favorite scene has to be the 300mm scene at 02:15...

KlamathBirds35e.jpg
 
Agreed. That shot was awesome. So many times nat sound is neglected. Not in this sample.
I see a bridge piece in a few months.
 
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