Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/06/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 6/20/04 10:44 PM, Richard F. Man at richard-lists@imagecraft.com wrote: > Doug, your pictures never fail to amaze. Exactly how do you chase a small > animal like that with a manual focus lens? For example, how much time do > you have to set up that shot? Since you are not using a zoom, do you > "stalk" it within reasonably shooting distance and hope it doesn't run > away, or? > > At 09:17 PM 6/20/2004, Doug Herr wrote: > >> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/mammals/cgsq02.html > I take some time to allow the squirrel to get used to seeing me as a non-threatening creature. A bit annoying perhaps, crowding his personal space, but non-threatening. How much time is required depends on many parameters including the species, my behavior and that particular animal's past experience with people. This squirrel took about 1/2 hour, the turkeys I posted recently took a couple of hours, and I've heard of a Black Bear researcher in the appalachian mountains, using the same techniques I use to approach his subjects, finding that after 100 hours or so the bears will allow him to radio-collar them w/o tranquelizers as long as he distracts them with a can of condensed milk (I don't recommend this!!!). Manual focus isn't an issue. The squirrel is in constant motion. Not big motion, but turning its head, reaching for another seed pod, scratching an itch, so the plane of focus is constantly changing. The SL's viewfinder lets me see what's in focus, or out of focus, ANYWHERE on the viewscreen, not just at the manufacturer's pre-determined focus points. This lets me put the squirrel anywhere I want to in the composition and still focus on it as it moves. The shoulder stock/monopod setup helps a lot because my left hand is free to focus rather than support the lens, and because I keep the tilt head of the monopod loose I can also fine-focus by leaning forward or backward slightly. Can't do that with a tripod. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com