Since many sports and wildlife photographers have been asking me about the D800 AF performance, I decided to share some information on it that I have collected so far. First of all, the f/8 focusing capability is not a myth – it definitely works. I tried the Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR with the TC-20E III and focusing worked, even in low-light conditions (although not as accurate as in daylight conditions). Granted the image quality was pretty bad (the 200-400mm just doesn’t couple well with anything but the TC-14E II), AF worked just fine. This means that the Nikon 500mm f/4 and 600mm f/4 lenses will also autofocus with the TC-20E III teleconverter and you are not just limited to very bright shooting conditions. I will have to do some more in-depth digging with the TC-20E III and other long lenses, but so far I am impressed by the updated AF system.

What about the TC-17E II that I have been avoiding when shooting with f/4 lenses? Surprisingly, the D800 made my TC-17E II usable again. Take a look at this image, shot with the Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S and TC-17E II:

While this is not a good image sample, this is actually a 100% crop shot at 510mm, 1/1000, f/8 and ISO 250 (click to open the full-size 100% version). I exported the image with default Lightroom settings (my sharpening default is set to Amount: 50, Radius: 1 and Detail: 50) without any sharpening applied upon export. Down-sampling the image by a little and then sharpening it would yield superb results – look at all the feather details.

And here is another sample image that is down-sampled and sharpened:

If you shoot at higher ISO values, you might want to run some noise-reduction before you down-sample the image to get the best results. Please keep in mind that some lenses are rather soft when used with teleconverters, so each lens has to be assessed for performance separately. Also, I have not performed tests for birds in flight with the D800, which I am hoping to do very soon.

Overall, I am quite impressed by what the D800 can offer to sports and wildlife photographers, as long as you do not mind the slow fps speed. This information has been added to my Nikon D800 Review.

1) Tricolored Heron 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

2) Sandhill Cranes Taking Off 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

3) Iguana 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

4) Grouse 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

5) Birds at Sunset 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

6) Common Merganser 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

7) Burrowing Owl 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

8) Buffalo Feeding 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

9) Blue Bird 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

10) Birds at Twilight 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

11) Birds at Sunset 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

I use a Nikon 300mm f/4 paired with a Nikon D200 for my bird photography. While shooting, I notice that I do not get a clean background, which I would expect from a prime lens. I have got such a background in one image of mine, however, the subject is a little too soft for my liking (the picture is attached). Is there any way to get a clean background so as to help the viewers’ focus remain on the subject (the bird in this case)? Could you share a tutorial with us? I’m attaching sample images for this case study in JPEG format with full EXIF info.

And here are the two images Gaurav attached:

The first image above is cropped, showing a pleasant out of focus background (bokeh) with a slightly blurry bird.

The bird on the second image is sharp, but the background is busy.

So Gaurav’s question is why does the first image have a nice-looking background, but a blurry bird, while the second image has a sharp bird, but busy background?

Before I talk about the background blur, let’s first see why the first image is sharp and the second is not. Looking at the first image, the exposure is 1/350, f/4, ISO 100, while the second image is shot at 1/250, f/4, ISO 200. Both are shot in Aperture Priority Mode using Spot Metering. I am assuming that Gaurav was using a tripod or a monopod to get the above shots, because the shutter speeds are a little low to be hand-held for this lens and camera combo. As I explain in my “how to photograph birds” article, if you want to get sharp photographs when shooting hand-held, your shutter speed should be at least the total focal length of your lens multiplied by the sensor crop factor. So in this case, Gaurav would approximately need a shutter speed of 1/450 and above to get good results if he hand-held the camera + lens. But this is an approximate “suggested” value – with a good hand-holding technique, one could certainly get sharp results even at lower shutter speeds.

Why did I think that Gaurav used a monopod or a tripod to take the above images? Because the bird on the second photo, as well as the branches on the first photo appear sharp. The source of the problem on the first photo is focus – it is not on the bird, but a couple of inches off on the branch. Therefore, the only thing Gaurav could have done better, is reacquire focus and try taking another picture. If the lens he was shooting with has no front/back focus issues, he could have gotten good focus on the bird after several tries.

Let’s now talk about the background blur – the bokeh on both photographs. Why does the first image have a nice, clean bokeh, while the second photo has a busy bokeh? The explanation here is very simple – there was nothing close behind the bird on the first photo, while you can see leaves and branches of a tree behind the second bird. So the problem here is proximity of objects behind the birds. If you want to have a beautiful, creamy bokeh, you should pay attention to four things: focal length of the lens, aperture/depth of field, camera to subject distance and subject to background object distance. The longer the focal length of your lens, the larger the aperture, the closer you are to your subject and the further away your subject is from the background objects, the creamier your bokeh will be. Phew…that sounds too darn complex and too long! Basically, try to stay close to your subjects and move them away from the busy background. How could Gaurav have accomplished this on the second photograph? Aside from moving closer towards the bird and filling the frame (which would have probably spooked it), he could have changed the angle. If I see a busy background behind birds, I will move around the bird and try to find a spot that will have the least busy background. It is obviously not always practical, since the bird might not tolerate you walking around it, plus the environment you are in might not be suitable for circling like that. But you hopefully get the point.

The only other thing you can do, is try to fix the image in post-processing. Now this would require some advanced Photoshop skills, but if you have the time and patience in your hands, you can do it with pretty good results.

Here is my quick attempt to clear up the background on the second photo (took me 5 minutes):

And here is what I did in Photoshop:

1. Create a duplicate layer
2. Select the second duplicated layer
3. Select Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur
4. Radius: 125 pixels, Click OK
5. Select the second layer and set it to “Overlay” in the Layers panel
6. Pick the eraser and start erasing the bird
7. Work on the edges with the eraser tool and get rid of extra branches
8. Set the second layer back to “Normal”
9. Merge both layers
10. Sharpen the image
11. Crop the image
12. Resize the image
13. Save for Web

I did it very quickly and obviously did not do a good job with feathers, but I hope this shows what you can do with the background in situations like this.

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions!

While in Yellowstone, there was not a day when I did not see black bears. First day I was super excited about seeing a bear cub walk alone and eat flowers, so I took several hundred pictures of him eating, resting and playing. My favorite picture was with the cub sitting in between many wildflowers. Of course those pictures are all gone, so it is only a memory. During the next bear encounters, I only photographed when the bears were close. For the first couple of shots, I would use the Nikon D5100 and then switch to my D3s, due to better and more accurate autofocus. Here are some images of bears from the Nikon D5100 + Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR combo.

This is a black bear that some call “Cinnamon” bear:

This guy was rubbing his back on a tree trunk:

And then eventually moved on:

Another bear that got very close to us (less than 100 yards):

By the end of the week, whenever I saw black bears, I would just move on, since I was more interested in seeing grizzlies instead. A video of a grizzly bear roaming around will be posted shortly.

We saw plenty of other wildlife in Yellowstone and I took many pictures of coyotes, hawks, falcons and eagles, pronghorns, mountains goats and more. Don’t ask me where those images are! The biggest loss was pictures of 6 coyote cubs playing and one adult coyote catching and eating a ground squirrel. My previous coyote pictures were a joke in comparison. Oh well, let’s move on.

I rarely even look at bison in Yellowstone. Because they are just everywhere. While driving through one of the roads, I noticed a calf feeding at sunset and took a picture from the car window:

Here are some other pictures of Yellowstone taken with the Nikon D5100:

These two crows were enjoying the early morning at Yellowstone:

And wildflowers were everywhere:

It turns out July is a great month to be in Yellowstone.

On the road to Glacier, I found this old truck and took a picture:

We started our first day at Two Medicine, which is the southern part of the park. There was a waterfall, very close to our campsite and we hiked there to take some pictures. This is one of the first pictures from Glacier:

Never take pictures of waterfalls in sunny days!

Again, wildflowers were everywhere:

Lakes and waterfalls were breathtaking:

Some more pictures of the Two Medicine lake:

Here is Saint Mary lake during on a windy day:

And more waterfalls:

Here is Avalanche Creek’s rain-forest:

Sunrise at Saint Mary Lake:

This prairie chicken showed up while I was taking pictures of mountain peaks and just stood there. I switched from my Nikon 24-70mm to 200-400mm f/4 and took this picture while it stood still:

Another sunrise shot of St Mary Lake on a clear morning with the moon:

Hope you like these, although it is a pity that most of the good pictures have been lost.

Too bad he turned the other way…would have been a nice shot. The rabbit was pretty heavy, so he did not make it very far. I guess food was scarce and he just decided to feed off the rabbit carcass. After a short while, he abandoned the carcass and went back to sit on a tree branch:

Looks like a juvenile Swainson’s hawk to me, but could be a rufous morph red-tailed hawk as well.

Here is a shot of a Swainson’s hawk in flight:

1) Roseate Spoonbills 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

2) Osprey Eating Fish 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

3) Marmot Standing Up 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

4) Great White Egret 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

5) Coyote 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

6) Clark’s Nutcracker Feeding 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

7) Burrowing Owl in Flight 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

Western Meadowlark 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

1) Geese at Sunrise

2) American Pika 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

3) Hawk on Hay 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

4) Burrowing Owl Chick 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

5) Roseate Spoonbill 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

6) Black-necked Stilt 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

7) Black Bear Cub 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

8) Baby Marmot 1920×1200 Widescreen Wallpaper

Shot with Nikon D3s and Nikon 300mm f/4.0 AF-S lens in aperture priority mode, Auto ISO with Minimum Shutter Speed set to 1/1000th, f/10 for increased depth of field.

So far, I’m in love with the Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II. It is so sharp and full of contrast, that I don’t even see a reason to shoot it without teleconverters. The Nikon TC-14E II is unnoticeable on it and the Nikon TC-17E II performance is just superb – that’s what I have been shooting with and I am more than impressed with this setup. The TC-17E II makes the Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II a 510mm lens and the new VR system helps me keep the lens stable while hand-holding it. I do not have an arca-swiss mount for the lens yet, so I have not used a tripod once so far – only hand-held shots.

This super cute fur-ball is a fledgling burrowing owl chick. My presence did not scare him and he just sat there watching me as I got closer with the 300mm to take his pictures. Like I’ve said in my Raptor Photography article, finding YAS (Young and Stupid) birds works great for bird photography. They are so curious, that they will let you get really close, as in the above example. Shot this video with VR on, hand-held:

And here he is in flight, after getting scared from a tractor that was loudly passing by at sunset:

Here is a shot of a flycatcher to show you the sharpness of the Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II with TC-17E II (1.7x TC):

One more sample (flycatcher chick):

The Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II lens review is coming soon!

I have already written a detailed guide on how to photograph birds, so if you have not seen it yet, I highly recommend to check it out. I cover pretty much everything when it comes to bird photography and I provide plenty of information on what gear to get, what camera settings to use, how to locate and approach birds and how to photograph them. The tips I provide are also generally valid for raptors, but I wanted to add a few more to the list:

1. Find the YAS (Young and Stupid) – adult birds of prey, especially several years old, are extremely hard to approach. They always see you first and they know quite well when you cross their comfort zone. The situation with the youngsters (fledglings and older), however, is quite different. Young predators that have just learned how to fly are always very curious and they can often let people get extremely close to them. You can get some great shots, especially if they are ready to show off. If they are still in the nest and have not yet fledged, please keep away from them and do not disturb, since you will agitate their parents who might never return.

   

2. Use a blind – hunting blinds are never fun to set up and camp in, unless you are close to a breeding area or a spot where the birds of prey hang out. Your best blind is your car – most of the predators, especially the adults are very used to vehicles and they typically do not mind approaching vehicles. Obviously, this limits you to photographing predators perched on trees and electric poles close to the roads, but do not get discouraged – I have taken many great shots of predators from my car, especially when they take off.
3. Approach slowly from a distance – especially if you are driving in a vehicle. If you are going fast and then making a sudden stop, you will most likely scare the bird. Try going slowly from a distance and get the bird used to your presence. Open your window long before you get to the bird.
4. Slow down if the bird raises its tail – when predators raise their tail, it means that they are getting agitated and will be ready to take off anytime soon. If you see a bird doing that, go even slower, which should calm the bird down a little.
5. Stop if the bird poops – predators almost always defecate before flying away when they are bothered by humans. If you see such behavior, it means that the bird is agitated with your presence and thus it is giving you a visual “warning”. Here is a visual example from a Red-tailed Hawk:

   

   And another one from an Osprey:

   

   So, if you see something like the above, stop and wait until the bird gets comfortable with you again (which might not happen no matter what you try). Note the different color of excrement – hawks eat mice and voles, which is why the color of their excrement is dark, while ospreys consume fish. I apologize for providing such gross details, but it is all in the name of science, LOL :)

6. Arrive early and stay late – don’t try to hunt for diurnal predators during afternoon hours when it is too hot outside, but rather arrive early right at sunrise, when the birds are hungry and hunting. No predator would want to miss a good breakfast and you might get some good action photographing the food consumption process. The same is true for sunset – predators always try to get something for the dinner before they go to sleep and might hunt for a while even after sunset. Here is an example of an osprey eating fish in the morning:

   

   I even managed to record a video of the same osprey:

   

   Nocturnal predators are extremely tough to find and photograph, since they only start appearing 30-45 minutes after sunset and disappear before sunrise. For challenging light conditions, it is always a good idea to have a tripod with you. While not very practical, a tripod would help you keep your camera stable while allowing you to decrease ISO.

Other recent photographs of predators:

On the side note, I have recently received the Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II lens and I’m waiting for the new Nikon 2x TC to do some serious testing. I am really enjoying this lens, so stay tuned for more predator photos!