Tamron 100-400mm Lens Test

I have primarily used the Nikon 200-500mm lens when photographing wildlife and birds.  I found it to be a more than adequate lens especially considering the price.  There is a regional park close to where I live.  This park has quite a diverse bird population throughout the year so I go there often to not only practice bird photography but also to study their behaviors.  I don't usually take a tripod but usually have a monopod attached.  This gives me more freedom of movement which I like.  The problem with this set up is that the lens and camera together are quite a bit of weight to carry while walking around the park.  I noticed my images weren't as sharp as they should be because I wasn't able to keep everything as steady as needed.  I needed to try something else.  After a lot of research and realizing what my budget limitations were, I decided on the new Tamron 100-400mm lens.  The price was about half the price of the Nikon 80-400mm and the comparison was favorable.

For the past few days I have been putting the lens through a workout.  I wanted to see if I could improve my shots as well as not feel as though I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.  I was very pleasantly surprised by how much less weight I was carrying around.  I was also pleasantly surprise by how easy it was to handhold without the shaking.  The percentage of my shots in focus improved dramatically.  I still need to improve on my in flight bird pictures but with time, I believe that will come.

Below are a few of the photos made with this lens.

Loggerhead Shrike

Red-tailed Hawk

Juvenile Green Heron 

Mallard Drake in Non-Breeding Plumage

Studying a Wildlife Subject

One of the things I have started to do is learn a little more about the subjects I am photographing.  It is not enough anymore to just make photos of the subjects I am seeing.  I have started to be a lot more deliberate, especially with birds since I have an easier time studying them given my close proximity to a park.  There currently is a family of burrowing owls in the park near where I live near.  I have photographed them several times already in the process of me doing a walk around the park over the course of a little over a month.  So already had plenty of images of them.  Last night, I spent the majority of my time there trying to better understand these adorable birds.  It was so fascinating to watch them.  They were pretty tolerant of my being there.  I moved very slowly or just sat in the grass hoping they would know I wasn't a threat.  I made about 200 images of the owls last night. 200!  I just kept shooting.  I tried not to be indiscriminate.  After all, I was going to have to go through all of them.  What I learned about these owls, they are willing to stay near burrowing hole even if someone is relatively close as long as they don't feel threatened.  They blend in well with their surroundings providing a natural camouflage.  Below are a few of my favorite shots made last night.

Practicing using the Right Light

I have been taking a lot of on-line photography classes from photographers that inspire me.  One of the central themes in the most recent classes has been the use of light.  I know, as photographers we should always be looking for the best light.  The classes just gave me gentle reminders as well as ways to creatively use it.  Last night I went out and shot images with front lighting in mind.  I spotted a bunch of different Mallards and park ducks along the water and decided they would be great subjects with the water as a back drop.  Front lighting really does enhance the detail of an image.  I was really happy with how the images turned out.  Below are these of my favorite.

Photographing Birds

I love photographing birds.  This has only been the case for the last couple of years.  Since I have started though, I have learned so much about their behaviors.  And now I find them fascinating.  Each variety has their own behaviors.  Some are gregarious and some are shy.  This isn't meant to be a post about bird behaviors because I am far from an expert.  I only mention this because I have learned that photographing the different birds takes different amounts of patience and understanding to get a decent photograph.  

Burrowing Owls seem to be relatively active during the day compared to other types of owls.  So when I heard there was a burrowing owl in the park, I knew I would have an opportunity to photograph them.  And as it turned out, I was right.  I have been back three different days to make a number of shots.  I always want to be respectful of all wildlife though.  Burrowing owls will let you know when you are getting too close by bobbing up and down.  When I see that behavior, I back off.  I use a 200-500mm lens on a Nikon D500 camera which gives me the 35mm equivalent of 300-750mm lens.  That allows me to not infringe on the bird's territory and still get my shot.  As long as I don't get too close, I can watch these guys for long periods of time giving me plenty of opportunities to watch their comical behavior.

Below are a few of the pictures taken.