No sooner than I'd posted last night's blog than the young male fox appeared in the garden. It was wet. It was windy. He was skittish. I was determined (to get a photo or two).
The camera worked well. The viewfinder on the 7D is a vast improvement on the 40D, and with new batteries in the flash unit I was in business. It's not really an ideal test for the camera, but I was pleased with how the photos came out and the hit rate was slightly above normal (but I may have been taking more care). The colours appear richer (though the weather may account for that).
While still on foxes, I included a very brief clip of some video a few nights ago, and foolishly said I'd edit the rest of it. Well I have, and here it is. The quality isn't great, and the first half (approximately) was taken through a window.
No foxes tonight, but I spent some more time around the pond. The newts are now very active, and numerous. Now with these I definitely achieved an improved hit rate. The image quality improves significantly the nearer the surface the newts are (which is to be expected) and I may need to reduce the amount of flash, but estimating settings when photographing through the surface of the water is never straightforward. I'm pleased with these though.
Finally, a word of thanks to whoever added the Smew post to Stumbleupon! My stats have gone through the roof!
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens. Video taken with the Panasonic Lumix FZ45
wellisteffi
7 Feb 2011Beautiful pictures. :up:
I was able to photograph at the zoo at night, the arctic fox.
Unfortunately I can not take pictures of the red fox.
http://my.opera.com/wellisteffi/blog/2011/02/07/nachts-im-zoo-nights-at-the-zoo
gdare
7 Feb 2011"My stats have gone through the roof!"
You deserve much more attention than what you have here. It's all well deserved :yes:
anonymous
7 Feb 2011jenjen1352 writes:
Thanks for the thanks, and thank you for producing such terrific photographs for my own personal enjoyment!! Heh 🙂
SittingFox
7 Feb 2011Nice fox clip. I must get out the video camera again. Unfortunately mine has developed a fault which means that it is constantly trying to pan out! :left:
I'm impressed with the clarity of the newt shots. The 7D looks like it's worth every penny!
Words
7 Feb 2011Adele, the 7D has video as well (not tried it yet). The Lumix isn't bad though and a lot less to lug around for quick clips. One thing with the 7D… 25MB files soon fill an 8GB card :yikes:
Words
7 Feb 2011JenJen, well thank you! Glad you liked the post.
Words
7 Feb 2011Darko, thanks. The stats will fall back to normal numbers pretty quickly, but it's always odd when it happens.
Words
7 Feb 2011Erwin, thanks!
Words
7 Feb 2011Steffi, thanks. I love your photos of the arctic foxes. They are so pretty!
cakkleberrylane
9 Feb 2011Wonderful shots. I enjoyed the video very much!
Words
9 Feb 2011Lois, thanks. I'd put the main camera away by then so the chance to take some video was too good to miss.
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Very nice shots