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Posted on 14/02/11 4:53:44 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3741 Reply  |
Leopard
Just got back from my hols and thought you all might like to see the sort of thing I have been shooting. This was in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Full frame with a 500mm lens and she was only about 25 feet from me. Beautiful animal.  _________________ Why is there only one body to investigate Monopolies ? |
Posted on 14/02/11 5:00:40 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6844 Reply  |
Re: Leopard
Excellent. A terrific photo. Your personal challenge: change its spots! |
Posted on 14/02/11 5:56:23 PM |
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Mark Goodwin
**** Posts: 261 Reply  |
Re: Leopard
Excellent shot Gordon...You lucky devil..what a great holiday. What full frame are you using? I have just ordered a D3s getting all excited like a little boy, can't wait. regards _________________ Mark Goodwin If you do what you have always done, you'll get what you've always got! |
Posted on 14/02/11 7:13:26 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3741 Reply |
Re: Leopard
Thanks Steve and Mark. Steve what colour would you like? Mark - This shot was actually taken on Nikon D200 with a Sigma 150 - 500mm lens racked out to 500mm. This camera uses a DX sized chip. I also had with me a Nikon D700 (full frame chip) which wore a 100mm lens most of the time. Occasionally I used a 12 - 24mm lens on this camera but that was normally for landscape images. Using this camera / lens combination gave me a lot of flexibility with focal lengths, particularly with birds which required every mm I could get. 500mm on a DX chip gives the equivalent of 750mm. Fortunately that lens has an image stabiliser as almost everything was shot hand-held. A tripod was just too slow and cumbersome to use. Gordon _________________ Why is there only one body to investigate Monopolies ? |
Posted on 15/02/11 09:50:49 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3741 Reply |
Re: Leopard
I had to do this fairly quickly so it's not perfect but will this do? 
_________________ Why is there only one body to investigate Monopolies ? |
Posted on 15/02/11 12:15:53 PM |
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Jota120
Ingenious Inventor Posts: 2615 Reply  |
Re: Leopard
Great photos Gordon. I thought I posted yesterday with some comments, but seems have lost in the either. All I said was I was in Africa saw the Big Four and more but never a leopard. More: you've done a great job removing the spots! What's Steve like, juts when you thought your safe  
Thanks for sharing. Trevor |
Posted on 15/02/11 4:07:48 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6844 Reply |
Re: Leopard
Ha! Amazing! Congratulations! |
Posted on 15/02/11 4:54:57 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3741 Reply |
Re: Leopard
Thanks Steve, I didn't have a lot of time to do it so it's not as good as it should have been but I have to admit ....... I cheated  _________________ If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you ever tried. |
Posted on 15/02/11 8:23:30 PM |
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Stefano Giacomuzzi
Modernist Maestro Posts: 146 Reply  |
Re: Leopard
I love this shot Gordon! _________________ Think less and do more Fabio Sasso |
Posted on 16/02/11 10:00:25 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2806 Reply  |
Re: Leopard
Great spotted and unspotted leopard Gordon!! Good to hear you made it back and hope you had a great time! _________________ Wicked Witch of the West: I'm melting! I'm melting! |
Posted on 19/02/11 06:12:21 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: Leopard
A great shot Gordon. Nick |
Posted on 19/02/11 11:58:28 AM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply  |
Re: Leopard
That's odd! I was always told a leopard couldn't change its spots! Nice picture though. Ted |
Posted on 16/03/11 7:08:16 PM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2152 Reply  |
Re: Leopard
What a great holiday it must have been, bet your camera(s) were working overtime. We are going to Tanzania in August, any advice would be welcome. _________________ Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. |
Posted on 16/03/11 10:45:55 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3741 Reply |
Re: Leopard
Hi Vibeke, Yes, it was a fantastic trip. I took about 4500 photographs in 2 weeks. The best advice I can give is to take the longest lens you possibly can. My Sigma 150-500mm lens was the most used lens of the trip and was usually racked out to 500mm. Usually the long lens was on a Nikon D200 which gave a 35mm equivalent of about 200mm - 750mm. The leopard was only about 25 - 30 feet away but was shot at 500mm. The other camera was a Nikon D700 (full frame) which normally had either a 105mm or a 12-24mm lens fitted. This combination of bodies and lenses worked beautifully well. You will get away with using a 300mm lens but birds may be a problem. All my shots of birds were shot at 500mm. The other main thing to do is to take plenty of memory with you. I could charge my batteries every night but I also had a AA battery pack 'just in case". I decided that it might be a good idea to take a powerful flash (Nikon Speedlight 900). This turned out to be an excellent decision as I got some superb images of a leopard, male lion, hyena, elephants and springbok on night drives. The spotter used a spotlight to find the animals as we drove through the bush. This was very handy as it was pitch black and the autofocus wouldn't work without this illumination. The ability of the Speedlight to determine the flash exposure automatically was a great help in the dark. I also took a Canon SX210 compact with me which was also a good idea as it was handy for many candid shots. Hope you enjoy Tanzania. Gordon _________________ The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. |
Posted on 17/03/11 03:21:48 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2152 Reply |
Re: Leopard
Thanks, some great advice there, can see I need to put a longer lens on my ever growing wish list. Vibeke _________________ Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. |
Posted on 17/03/11 5:59:06 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3741 Reply |
Re: Leopard
This is one of the night shots of a male lion. It was totally dark apart from the light from the spotter's spotlight. Without that spotlight I couldn't even see the lion through the viewfinder, let alone focus on him. Nikon D700 with Sigma 105mm lens and Speedlight 900. He was about 5 metres away when I took this shot.  _________________ The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. |
Posted on 17/03/11 6:02:30 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3741 Reply |
Re: Leopard
and a second one  _________________ The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. |
Posted on 18/03/11 00:01:06 AM |
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Mark Goodwin
**** Posts: 261 Reply |
Re: Leopard
Some lovely shots Gordon. The lions appear to be totally non-plussed by you and the truck/crew. Is this correct, are they so used to tourists and cameras that they are almost 'Tame'? Or is this an illusion and it is because you are still 20 odd feet away and they know they are in no real danger? Whatever, It must have been a great holiday and something I would like to have done. Cheers _________________ Mark Goodwin If you do what you have always done, you'll get what you've always got! |
Posted on 18/03/11 8:21:15 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3741 Reply |
Re: Leopard
Hi Mark, Difficult to say if they are used to people or not. I can tell you, though, that this chap looked on us with total disdain. The theory is that the animals see the vehicle as another kind of animal. They supposedly don't "see" the people inside but, if you stick any part of your body outside the vehicle they suddenly become "aware". That can be very dangerous. It's a very uncomfortable feeling when one seems to become "aware", though. One lion suddenly started to look at me while I was shooting........ I took the hint and stopped shooting! ttfn _________________ You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. |
Posted on 19/03/11 3:44:29 PM |
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Mark Goodwin
**** Posts: 261 Reply |
Re: Leopard
Excellent Gordon, thanks for taking the time to reply. Regards _________________ Mark Goodwin If you do what you have always done, you'll get what you've always got! |