Well, my eagle cruise was a partial bust. The day was overcast, cold, windy and it rained when I first got on the boat, but it let up quickly. The osprey were nesting so they were hard to see - usually only a head would appear above the top rim of the nest. There were a few flying, but they were usually out of range to get a good picture. The eagles were even worse. We never got close to one. I was using a Canon 60D camera with a crop factor of 1.6 with a Canon 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens and a 2x extender, so the lens was operating as a 224mm -640mm f/5.6. I set the camera to auto ISO and set it to shutter speed priority of 1000th of a second.
The problem was threefold. The day was dark, so if I shot at more than 1000th of a second the ISO would go too high. I probably should have been shooting at 1600th or even 2000th of a second, but with the birds that far away, I knew I couldn't shoot at a faster speed because of the amount of noise I would get when I enlarged them to be able to see the birds. On top of that, even though the boat ride was fairly smooth, there was still some rocking as well as forward motion, negating any advantage that might have been offered by using a tripod or monopod. And the third problem was how much the 2x extender slowed up the autofocus. All in all, I wasn't able to get sharp, clear pictures.
Another problem I had was that I couldn't get some potentially nice landscape shots. With a minimum length of 224mm, the lens was just too long forl landscapes, and changing lenses quickly, in the limited personal space on a crowded cruise, was just impossible. This is a problem that was my own fault due to lack of planning. Next time I take a cruise like this, I'll bring a second camera with an appropriate lens already attached for landscape photography.
So, the day was a bust as far as getting nice pictures, and it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been due to the lousy weather. But an outing is never a bust if you learn something from it, and I learned a lot from this outing. I learned;
- how slow the 2x extender causes the auto focus to react
- the realization that, if I want to do this kind of photography in the future, I will need a longer lens like a 100-400mm or larger
- my Canon 60D is a good camera and I've taken some really nice photos with it. But as sensors improve, a newer crop sensor camera with increased ISO and reduced noise will be in my future. If the 60D had a sensor a good as my 6D has, I could have raised my ISO further, allowing me to raise my shutter speed even more and still be able to blow up sections of the resulting photos with little to no noise.
- how often we are dependent on the weather to get a decent picture
- to broaden my thought process when planning an outing, to take more situations into consideration when planning what equipment to bring
But my biggest realization was that I don't enjoy taking photographs in this manner. Please re-read the last sentence. I don't like TAKING photographs in this manner. There was no ability on my part to change distances, angles, wait for lighting to change, etc. I took the shot as it was presented to me as I cruised by. I like to make a photo rather than just take one. I want to change the angle, the perspective, to wait for the lighting to be just right, etc. I want to create the picture rather than just take it.
That doesn't mean I won't take a cruise or a tour again, just that I will approach it differently. Rather than going with the express idea of taking photos, I will go to enjoy the scenery. I'll take pictures, but I'll enjoy the outing first and take pictures if, and when, they present themselves. I did see some photos I'd like to get and I will be looking at maps of the river to find public access areas where I might be able to "make" some pictures from shore. The Connecticut River is beautiful along much if its 400 plus mile length and there is a lot to see and photograph along the way.
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