Why I love the 20D

[Khaos]

It was early evening. She was in the woods a way. I was in the shade under a large tree. Lighting was low, especially for a 400 lens with a max aperture of 5.6

But with the 20D, I bumped the ISO up to 1600 and raised the exposure a few ticks and got these shots. They're handheld. Nothing fantastic, but I never would of gotten them without this camera. Thank you Canon.

http://khaos.smugmug.com/photos/23612981-L.jpg


http://khaos.smugmug.com/photos/23612983-L.jpg

[Khaos]

Damn. Wrong forum.:doh Please move to the Nature and Wildlife one.


Thanks.

[wxwax]

Hey, that second one works really well. My eye goes straight to its eye. very cool. I'll move it.

[bfjr]

Good Eye in the shot, good eye you got to get the shot.
Guess what it ain't the 20D, it's you dude knowin how to handle the situation :thumb

[snapapple]

I'm just going through my shots from my trip and I have developed a great appreciation for this kind of shot. I think I messed up every one of mine. The long lens and low light problem. I didn't have time to adjust my ISO most of the time. I moved - no tripod. You did great!:clap:clap:clap

I like both of these. The eye contact is wonderful.

[Rufio220]

I like the second one too, but those are both hard shots. I tried some last year when i went camping in Oregon, they didn't turn out like that.

Good job.

[Khaos]

Good Eye in the shot, good eye you got to get the shot.
Guess what it ain't the 20D, it's you dude knowin how to handle the situation :thumb
You make me blush.:huh

Thanks for the positive.

You're right, one has to know how to use what one has, but Canon gave me the tools and that's what I'm thankfull for. The ability to bump the ISO that high without major noise and a tack sharp lens like the 400 5.6 L allowed me to set the shot and get what I envisioned. This is why I'm so pumped about photography again, the technology allows me to do what's in my minds eye.

[Khaos]

Thank you snap and rufio.

The one thing I learned when doing theses shots, with a lot of practice with small birds deep in trees, is to focus in on the largest part of the animal you can see using single point focus only with the point in the center.

Keep the focus and recompose as needed. Howeve you must also make sure the aperture is right to keep the subject the focused point and the rest slightly blurred. It's not easy, but if you practice enough it gets better. I do recommend trying it on small birds in trees in low light. You can get a better idea on what ISO, exposure value, and aperture setting work best in certain situations.