Picture-A-Week 2018 - Week 50

[zackiedawg]

3 hours ago, ski ww said:

We docked in Auckland once and when the people in the hotel woke up, there we were looking into their bedrooms because they didn't close their curtains.

 

I've had somewhat similar situations, though not with hotels - with other ships.  I've woken up in the morning, opened my curtain in my cabin to check the weather, and found myself staring directly into another cabin across the way.   Fortunately I do at least wear shorts when I sleep - but it's still a bit of a kick-start to being awake when someone is 20 feet away looking back at you and you're not expecting it!

[boeckli]

The hotel emails guests with harbour view rooms a few days in advance to say there will be a cruise ship blocking their views and there was also a note in the room on arrival. I however had booked a harbour view on purpose so that I could view my ship arrive (even declined an upgrade to a corner suite which would not have had these great views)

[kenevenpar]

On 12/27/2018 at 9:40 PM, cruises42 said:

Thanks for the information. I've had a Nikon d3400 since February. I just have the kit lenses and I don't feel like I get enough zoom even using the 70-300mm lens. Usually I can't get close enough to the birds so even zooming they look small and then I crop in the camera. Plus in most cases I don't really like the quality once I crop it. I still don't know enough about photography to do much more than to use the automatic setting. I also found that I don't like changing lenses so I think I need to go back to P&S. So I'm looking for a camera with great zoom, be able to take pictures of birds in flight and great macro (I like to take pictures of really small things-like a snowflake the size of a pin head). I like the sound of the Nikon Coolpix P1000 (for the extreme zoom) but it is very big, doesn't get the greatest reviews and I'm not sure if it does everything else I want. The Coolpix A900 has good zoom too. I notice that they are not mentioned much here so I'm guessing all you great photographers don't think much of them. The Sony is a bit more expensive than I would like.

 

A couple of comments:

 

The 300mm (450mm equivalent) with your d3400 is plenty long enough for many wildlife pictures, and if you use the manual telextender (your feet) you can get some great pictures.  If you are shooting JPG (as opposed to RAW), make sure you use the fine setting (highest resolution) and keep your shutter speed up.

 

Getting closer to wildlife is, in my opinion, based on several factors:

 

1.  Learning the behavior of the wildlife.  For example, you learn how close you can get to certain wildlife, and once you get closer, they leave.  Generally if a Cardinal sees you move, he is gone.
2.  Learning where they might be, and waiting (and waiting...).  For example, If I see a woodpecker, and he flies off, I know there is a good chance he will be back to the same spot shortly, if I give him a chance.
3. Learning the best spots to for viewing wildlife close up.  My posts from Green Cay (recommended by Justin) is a fabulous spot for close up viewing from a boardwalk.
4. Most important, practice, practice and more practice.

 

The P1000, while a fine camera, will be near useless at the extreme end of the telephoto.  At 3000mm equivalent it is virtually impossible to hand hold and get a clear shot.  At 1050MM equivalent on my camera, my shutter speed needs to be up in the 1/1500 to 1/2500 range, not an easy task with f/8.  You would almost certainly have to use a tripod.

 

Good luck and ask us any more questions you may have.