Monday, April 9, 2012

Tohono Chul



 While my foot is still recovering, a process that's taking far too long, I continue to take my camera to places that are close by and don't require long periods on my feet. Tohono Chul fits the bill and is worth a visit just to see the gardens and do a little bird watching. Spending a couple of hours there on Saturday morning was quite uplifting.


  I feel like my photography has suffered from being so immobile and spending so much time sitting around but I have put some of the time to good use studying both technical and creative aspects of the craft with an eye to improving my images. Of course this kind of self evaluation inevitably leads to wanting better equipment and really points out the weaknesses of my current equipment especially in the lens category.


My current Canon 70-300 USM IS Telephoto take good images at 70mm but at 300mm it's much harder to achieve good results and I shoot allot of images at 300mm in the field. My goal is to upgrade to an L series telephoto which from everything I read will help me to produce better images at this distance. I have rediscovered my 55mm lens lately and am enjoying using it it on the 7D which for some reason I had not done that much.



I have to say at this point that I don't really enjoy working with a tripod because of all the missed shots that get away especially birds and animals. however I would like a new tripod that is much lighter than my current one which was made for studio work and is very cumbersome in the field. 



As you can see in the photo above a good polarizer would have improved the sky and the overall effect of the picture. It's on the list for multiple lenses as is a lens hood for the 55mm which for some reason I never purchased.


You can access Tohono Chul's website here and I encourage you to take the time if you have it to visit as it is well worth the admission which is $8. They have a tea room and green houses which add to the experience. www.tohonochulpark.org/wordpress/


This hummingbird feeding was taken with my 70-300mm  at the maximum focal length of 300mm with an aperture setting of 5.6 and a shutter speed of 800 and an ISO set at 200.  Although it's a nice shot it's not the result I had hoped for.

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