AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Review - Part 2

Well, I finally got out and shot a few frames with my new AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens today! As promised, I'll post a bit of a review with some of my thoughts and experiences using it...

Note that in all of the photographs below I had the VR (Vibration Reduction) off since I was shooting from a tripod.

Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E

The Physical World

If you've read anything about the lens you've probably heard it's heavy and big. I certainly don't have anything else like it.

It's weird mounting the camera to it. The lens is heavier than the Nikon D610 (I haven't tried it on my Nikon D3200 yet). I had the lens sitting face down in the bag I'm using to carry it (an Amazon Basics Camera Backpack, which it about fills up). I mate the D610 to the lens and rotate the camera.

I carry the system by either the lens or the tripod mount on the lens.

When I get the lens mounted in my Manfrotto 468MGRC5 Hydrostatic Ball Head sitting on top of my Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod, it is solid. This ball head is paying off now! It's weight capacity of 26 pounds (12 kg) is really not being stressed and the ball head holds the system. The lens (~ 5 pounds) plus D610 (~ 1.6 pounds) is less than 7 pounds total (even with 2 SD cards!).

I did increase the "Friction" setting of the ball head to reduce the amount of play in the head when I loosened it - with that amount of weight the lens does tend to want to sag more. But when the "Friction" is set right, I find that the camera and lens are pretty well balanced. I had no problems at all. I did need to crank on the main knob more than with my other lenses to prevent the lens from drooping after letting go but once you realize that it was no big deal. I don't see a lot of love for this ball head but I sure like it.

Dolly Steamboat on Canyon Lake
Nikon D610 + Nikkor 200-500mm - ISO 100 ■ 500mm ■ f/7.1 ■ 1/160s

Increase the Shutter Release Delay

I didn't get out my IR remote shutter release and instead just used the delay on the manual shutter release button. I noticed by looking through the view finder, however, that when I pressed the shutter release, the camera wobbled more than with my other lenses. I changed the delay from 2 seconds to 5 seconds to compensate - letting the camera settle down before releasing the shutter. I didn't notice the issue in my photographs so maybe it was actually still within the 2 seconds but since I was shooting a lake and desert hills, I felt the extra 3 seconds before the shutter release wouldn't hurt.

Using the wireless remote would probably work fine, unless it's windy. There was some breeze at the lake (Canyon Lake near Apache Junction, AZ), but not enough to visibly affect the camera. I didn't try cranking down harder on the ball head either - that's a chore for next time I guess.

Nikon D610 + Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E
ISO 100 ■ 500mm ■ f/7.1 ■ 1/125s

Auto Focus

As I mentioned in a recent post, I use back button focus. I didn't have any issues using that with the shots I took. It didn't hunt around at all. It acquired focus with no questions asked and it appears to be pretty good. Granted it was a sunny, 97 degree Fahrenheit day in Arizona. I used an aperture of f/7.1 just to get off of the f/5.6 and to get a bit more depth of field.

How's the Focal Length?

I didn't get a chance to shoot any wildlife so I can't comment on that directly. What I can say is that from the Acacia picnic area I wanted to shoot the opening across the lake where the Salt River continues down stream. I couldn't get it all in the frame at 200mm. It made me wonder if the Sigma or Tamron with that extra 50mm at the short end would have allowed me to get the shot.

Nikon D610 + Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E
ISO 100 ■ 200mm ■ f/7.1 ■ 1/160s

Instead, I was able to compose the shot with the sheer wall on the right which is interesting.

In the photograph to the left I've purposefully left the full frame even though the water line isn't horizontal. I wanted to show the difference between the 200mm and 500mm focal length. This is the full image (okay, reduced to a max of 2040px wide for the web).

I did use some post processing in Lightroom, and did increase clarity as well as sharpening - just using Lightroom.

Here's a shot of those mountain peaks at 500mm, from the same location (I didn't move the tripod, just zoomed in to the 500mm focal length).

Nikon D610 + Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E
ISO 100 ■ 500mm ■ f/7.1 ■ 1/200s

I know these aren't great pictures; no one is likely to hang these on their living room wall. That's not the point. I wanted to see how the lens performed and how that 500mm could come in handy. I think I see opportunity here. I've shot landscapes in the past where I wish I could fill up more of the frame with a mountain, for example (like Humphreys Peak near Flagstaff, Arizona). This worked pretty good!

Basically, with a 200-500mm zoom, you should be able to increase the size of the subject by 2.5 times.

Lesson Learned - Update your Camera

One thing I figured out was that I needed to update my camera firmware. When I opened my files in Lightroom it didn't find the lens profile (well, I found out I also had to update Lightroom CC - it wasn't using the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw).

When I looked at the properties of the NEF files the lens information was missing.

I remembered that I'd seen updates to the camera firmware but hadn't bothered with them because I my lenses were already supported. This Nikkor 200-500mm only came out less than a year ago, though, and my cameras didn't know about it. I updated the Distortion Control software on my D610 but on the D3200 I had to do the Firmware and the Distortion Control software.

Now things are cookin'!

The Bottom Line

I'm happy so far with the lens - I think I'll keep it. I really wanted to try it to see if I liked it or whether I should send it back to Adorama but it looks like it's part of my bag now. I just wish it fit in the bag!

Another set of 200mm and 500mm shots for you to ponder. These don't have much processing at all and they both have the same processing. I just think it's interesting to see the difference in composition at both ends of the lens.

Nikon D610 + Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E
ISO 100 ■ 200mm ■ f/7.1 ■ 1/200s

Nikon D610 + Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E
ISO 100 ■ 500mm ■ f/7.1 ■ 1/250s

A short post about Back Button Focus

I am mainly a landscape photographer. My subjects don't often move around much. Consequently, for some time now, when I use auto focus, I've been using "Back Button Focus" on my Nikon D610. I think I've been using it since shortly after getting the D610. I like it.

Hey - why use Back Button Focus?

Most DSLRs (Digital Single Lens Reflex), as far as I know, allow you to press the shutter release half-way down so that the camera can focus on whatever is in it's cross hairs. Note that different cameras and different modes can cause the camera to focus at different areas of the image. I typically use a single focus and metering point so that's what I'll assume here.

When you press the shutter release half-way down and the camera locks in on the focus, you can then move the camera while still holding the shutter release half-way down in order to recompose your shot. For example you might focus on your significant other in the center of the shot and then pan a bit to get more of the Grand Canyon. Once you have the composition you like, you can press the shutter release the rest of the way to take the photograph.

That is pretty convenient, allowing the camera to focus on one thing and then to re-compose the shot after the camera has gained it's focus.

One problem with that technique, however, is that you have to keep the shutter release depressed half way in order to preserve that focus setting. If your finger slips off of the button you have to start all over. So what if you've panned a bit and then someone else steps into your shot? If you want to wait for them to leave, you've got to keep that button held down. 

In landscape photography I often want to focus on something, say a cactus in the foreground, and then re-compose. I may want to try 20 different compositions. And, I use a tripod for almost every shot I take (at least if I want them to turn out I do). Using the "normal" half-pressed shutter release can be a pain in the rear end (so can sitting on cactus).

Another issue with the "normal" focus is if you want to avoid camera shake due to the shutter release, for example if you use a remote release. If you have to hold the shutter release down part way and then trigger the shutter release it can cause unwanted vibration or motion into the camera.

This is where back button focus can help out...

What is Back Button Focus?

Back Button Focus allows you to configure a button on the back of the camera to use as a focus lock. It basically takes the place of the half-press action of the main shutter release button. You move your focus point(s) onto the subject as normal but instead of pressing the main shutter release button half-way to engage the auto-focus, you press the button on the back of the camera. Then, you can let go of that button - the focus will still be locked in. It won't change again until you press that back button again.

The cool thing about this is that you don't have to keep your finger on the button. The camera can even go to "sleep" - the focus of the lens won't be changed.

You can focus on your subject and take multiple images with different compositions and you won't need to focus on the subject again unless it moves. This is great for landscape photography where you can focus on a foreground object and as long as your camera doesn't move much (less than the depth of field) you can recompose without focusing for each shot. There is less time between each shot.

I use manual focus a lot too, but I still often will start with a press of the back button to get the lens either right where I want it or at least close and then I may focus slightly different for one reason or another.

Nikon D610 Back (Official Nikon Image)

How can I set up Back Button Focus?

Most DSLR cameras, at some level above the basic level, have a way to program one of the BUTTONs on the BACK of the camera to work as a FOCUS button. In the case of my D610, I use the "AE-L/AF-L" button, to the left of the rear thumb wheel.

You can usually find out how to set it up by doing a search on the web if your camera instruction manual doesn't outline it (or if you can't figure it out from your camera manual). Here's an example for the Nikon D610 Back Button Focus setup. 

Anything more you can tell me about this?

Luna the Barn Owl - most of him anyway

This subject is on my mind because of my outing at Arizona's Raptor Experience last weekend. I shot a number of images like this one - see anything wrong with it? When I got home I found a number of shots where the feet were cut off.

The problem was, I realized and figured out after shooting 400 pictures of raptors, was that I was setting my focus point on the bird's eye, using the back button focus, and not re-composing or even noticing that I was cutting off the toes of these fine feathered friends. 

I'll admit, it was a little nerve wracking at the shoot. I suppose the more you do it the better you get. But I was paying $190 for the trip to shoot the birds and that added some pressure. I rarely shoot animals successfully and that added more pressure. And the pressure prevented me from getting great shots. 

At one point, when we had some time with a flying hawk, I had to figure out how to get out of back button focus and to let the camera do it's job. Those photos turned out ever worse. I got zero usable shots of the hawk in flight.

My tip would be that, if you start using back button focus, it still is a good idea to practise the other auto focus modes of your camera if you have a chance. Especially if you know you're likely to be needing it at some point in the future.

Some Photoshop CC Post-processing Notes - Part 2

This is a continuation of my prior post: Some Photoshop CC Post-processing Notes - Part 1

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Once I got the jesses removed I turned my attention to trying to make the owl stand out a bit more.

I started with a crop - using the "rule of thirds" guidelines in the Photoshop crop tool I reduced the image so that the owl's body was on the left 1/3 line. I decided to keep the entire stump in the image but cropped out some of the background on the right side of the image. By doing the crop I also reduced the amount of sky in the image. I left a bit more room above the owl's head than I did below his feet, in the hope of preventing the image from looking like he was being crowded on top.

Add a bit of Blur

Since a viewers eye tends to go to the brightest and sharpest objects in an image, I decided to blur out the portion of the stump on the right. It was apparently in the same focal plane as the owl's eyes because it was pretty sharp.

The way I blurred out the stump was to make another copy of the "Merge & Cleanup" layer and place it above that layer. An easy way to do that is select the desired layer and press [CTRL] [J]. This will create a copy and paste it in to a new layer above the one selected. I labelled this layer "Blur". 

With the "Blur" layer selected I clicked on the "Filter" menu, hovered over "Blur" and selected "Gaussian Blur...". Using the dialog I chose to blur the image quite a bit but left it to where there was some detail remaining in the target stump area. 

Mask

Then I added a black layer mask by holding down the [ALT] key while clicking on the mask icon.That will create a fully black layer mask, hiding the "Blur" layer. Next I used a regular brush with white selected as the foreground and about a 10% opacity to paint over the offending portion of the stump. This allows the blurred version of the stump to show through and give the overall effect of blurring out that area of the image. It's quicker than working with the original layer and trying to mask and blur that area.

Dodge and Burn

Following the blurring, I turned my attention to some lighting control. I'd already applied some lighting changes with Nik Color Efex Pro 4, but I thought I'd do a bit more. 

I decided to try to darken the sides a bit, but I wanted more darkening on the right side than the left since the owl was closer to the left side. I wanted to just add a "Brightness / Contrast" adjustment layer and use a mask so first I clicked on the "Blur" layer to select it to ensure that my adjustment layer would be added at the top of the layer stack and then clicked on the "Brightness / Contrast" adjustment layer icon.

I dragged the brightness down until I liked it on the edges. I also reduced the contrast just to kind of make the area less attractive to the eye although there wasn't much in this particular image that was affected. I added a mask to the layer. Then I selected a black foreground and used the gradient fill and the "Reflected Gradient" setting and dragged horizontally across the image to create a mask over the top of the owl, hiding the brightness reduction from that area. It did take some number of attempts to get the mask in the right position. I found I liked it best when the center of the mask was on the owl's beak.

Also, I had to go back and forth with the mask colors. If you end up getting a full black mask with a white area over the subject you can click on the mask in the layers and then press [CTRL] [I] to invert the mask.

I decided to try a bit more additional dodging and burning. In Photoshop I tend to follow similar steps as I just outlined. Create a "Brightness / Contrast" adjustment layer and bump up the brightness for a "Dodge" layer and decrease the brightness for a "Burn" layer. When adjusting the brightness sliders I look at the object I want to change and then adjust the slider more than necessary. Then you can add a full black layer mask and paint over the desired object with a white brush to add either the dodge or burn amounts. It's a little different than Lightroom where you can just adjust what you want the brush to do and then brush over the image.

I labelled my "Burn" and "Dodge" layers appropriately. I only ended up with a bit of a burning on that right portion of the stump to further get out out of the attention of my eye, and did a bit of a dodge on the owl's wings to bring them up a bit more. This could also have been done by going back to the camera raw object but since I'd made a copy of that and worked on cloning out the jesses, I'd have had to redo that step again if I wanted to adjust in ACR. This is a good pointer to try to make sure that you get the lighting right in ACR if possible.

Finally I grouped the three lighting layers into a layer group and labelled it "Dodge & Burn". I'm not sure you can see a lot of difference in these screen shots but here's where were at now:

Dodging and Burning layers applied

Note that the bottom Smart Object layer can be turned off if desired; the layers on top completely mask it. I don't think it matters one way or the other if it's on or not.

Some more Pop Please

I decided to try to add a bit more to try to make the image stand out.

First I added some more contrast using a "Curves" adjustment layer with a full black mask. I clicked on the little finger with arrow icon, clicked on various areas of the owl, and then raised or lowered the values to try to bring out additional contrast in those colors. I renamed the layer to "Contrast".

Next I added an overall Warming Filter layer by clicking on the "Photo Filter" adjustment layer and selecting the "Warming Filter (85)". I liked it but dropped the layer opacity to 85% to reduce the effect and make it a bit more subtle. I renamed the layer to "Warming Filter".

Note that the "Layer 1" in my Photoshop project is not used nor does it do anything. It's just there to make you wonder what magic I did in that layer. Did it work?

I liked the image at this point but decided to add a bit more vignette so I applied another "Brightness / Contrast" adjustment layer. I dropped the brightness again then added a fully white mask. I used another gradient fill but this time selected the "Radial Gradient" option, dragged a line to cause the center of the gradient to be centered on the front of the owl's face until I liked it, then adjusted the opacity to add a bit more of a natural "lens" type vignette although it wasn't exactly centered on the image. I just wanted to try to make the eye naturally look first at the owl's head.

After I did that I felt the image was a bit too dark over all so I did basically the opposite, adding another "Brightness / Contrast" adjustment layer but increased the brightness following up with another layer mask to not wipe out the vignette I just added. At that point I felt I was done! Here's the final image again in Photoshop:

Photoshop with all edits

Final Output

The last step is to output the results for whatever purpose desired. I like the Nik Sharpener Pro 3 Output Sharpener. It offers a lot of control although it does require playing around with it to get it the way you want. Again, the plugin allows you to fine tune areas that you want sharpened and to avoid adding sharpening to areas you don't. After blurring the stump on the right why would I want to sharpen it now?

As mentioned earlier, the plugins work on TIF files. The process I'm using right now (I'm sure I'll learn a better way in the future) is to export my edited image from Photoshop as a TIF copy (as opposed to saving with layers). I export at the full size of the image.

Next I open the TIF file in another Photoshop tab. I convert the image layer to a Smart Object so that I can re-edit the settings I'm about to apply if I want to.

Nik Sharpener Pro 3 Output Sharpener

I open the image with the Nik Sharpener Pro 3 Output Sharpener. Then I zoomed in to 100 % on the owl's eye. That's the part I want to have sharp but not too sharp. I have some presets I've saved, the main one I start with is where I've set the "Adaptive Sharpening" slider to 20%, the "Output Sharpening Strength" I left at 100%, and the "Structure", "Local Contrast", and "Focus" controls I have at 3% each. I find this is a decent starting point. 

Note that when you open Sharpener Pro 3 it will use the most recent settings. To reset everything you can click on a different preset and then re-click on the one you want to start with.

Sharpening is a matter of taste and experience using the tool. I sharpened this image for full size display purposes and saved it as a JPEG. I have found it best for met to then open that image in the Windows image previewer and look at it. Sometimes I need to make additional edits and save as JPEG again until I get a version that I like.

But that's not the end...

If you want a different size of the image it's best to apply the sharpening to that size of image rather than resizing an already sharpened image. That is why I do the intermediate step of saving the TIF. After exporting to the full size I save a copy of that Photoshop file (a PSD file). Then I resize the image to the size I want (generally one where the longest side is at 2048 pixels for the best uploading to Facebook). 

After you resize you need to re-apply the sharpening plugin. It's probably best to completely delete the original sharpener layer and start over with it just to ensure it's working with the new image size. Once you've sharpened the new image size and exported it as a new JPEG, you're done! Again, here is the final version:

Luna the male Barn Owl
Final version

Some Photoshop CC Post-processing Notes - Part 1

I thought my post processing of this photo turned out pretty good so I thought I'd share what I did. 

Luna the male Barn Owl
Arizona's Raptor Experience

I am using Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan (I also want to point out that I'm not affiliated with them or any other product that I mention, unless I explicitly mention it, and of which at this time there are none to mention). Since I installed the Google Nik Collection of processing plugins, I've mainly been using Photoshop and that's what I used for this image - Photoshop CC and various Nik plugins. 

First, I almost always shoot RAW, as I did for all of the images at this shoot. Without getting in to that discussion, the RAW format allows you a much greater latitude of adjustments in post processing. The first step in working with a RAW file is to import it using a RAW converter. I used the Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) converter for this file.

Adobe Camera Raw

I've created a few pre-sets in ACR, which are basically everything set at zero with these exceptions: 

• On the "Lens Corrections" tab, I check the "Enable Lens Profile Corrections" check box on the "Profile" sub-tab and the "Remove Chromatic Aberration" check box is checked on the "Color" sub-tab.
• On the "Camera Calibration" tab, I selected a few of the "Camera Profile" settings and saved each one as a different preset. I did this so I could go through them on the "Presets" tab.
• For my Vivid2 preset, on the "Basic" tab, I also set the White Balance to Daylight and on the "Tone Curve" tab I selected the "Medium Contrast" curve. I found that I used these settings often so saved them as a preset.

By having everything else at zero I know I'm starting with a clean slate.

Here's what the RAW file looks like as shot. This version has no processing other than converting to JPEG and re-sizing.

Straight Out Of Camera
(SOOC)

In Camera Raw I normally do some spot cleanup for dust spots but since this was shot at f/4 the dust spots weren't visible anyway. Nice!

I adjusted the shadows to bring up the wing but that's about it. I planned to do the initial shapening and noise reduction in Nik so left those tabs alone and opened the image as an object in Photoshop.

By opening the image as an object you can go back and adjust things in Camera Raw as well as the other adjustments I planned to make with the Nik plugins.

Nik Plugins

Following the Nik plugin suggested workflow, I planned to do the "pre-sharpening" with the Nik Sharpener Pro 3 Raw Presharpener. I'll have to admit that using the Nik plugins adds time to a workflow because it takes time to open them up. They have to convert the files to .TIFs to work with them and each plugin has to go through that process. On the positive side, for this plugin, you can more easily control what you want sharpened and what you don't. 

I didn't want to sharpen the sky or that background in the lower left. By using the control points I could apply the initial sharpening to my subject only and to not try to sharpen the blurred areas that I paid more for a lens that would try to blur things out in camera.

If you don't use the Nik plugin you should at least always use the "Masking" slider in Camera Raw or Lightroom to control where sharpening is applied by hitting the [Alt] key as you move the slider and adjusting it until only the desired edges are highlighted in white. This is a trick I only found out about in the last few months but it means you're NOT applying sharpening to the entire image but only the edges that need it.

Nik Dfine 2

Next I used the Nik Dfine 2 to do a slight bit of noise reduction. Similar to the pre-sharpener, you can use control points to control what you want noise reduction applied to. 

I've just recently (within the last few weeks) stopped worrying about noise reduction much but I still like to apply it to large areas of the same or similar color such as the sky. I used control points to prevent or reduce noise reduction on the owl but I did use it for the sky.

You can see that the owl is masked (black) which means that noise reduction is NOT being applied in those areas. Noise reduction works by blurring pixels. Even if it's slight, I don't want to blur the details on this subject with noise reduction. I didn't really see any noise on the owl anyway but by masking him I know that there won't be any blurring of the detail in his feathers due to the noise reduction.

Nik Color Efex Pro 4

Since I didn't feel I needed to adjust the general lighting much I didn't use Viveza 2 and instead went straight to Color Efex Pro 4. Note that Viveza 2 can also be used to add "structure" to an image, basically to bring out additional detail, in addition to allowing you to do lighting and color adjustments.

I also didn't feel the need to do a lot of color effects but I did some. I used the "Detail Extractor" filter to help bring out more detail in the feathers. I used the  "Polarization" filter to darken the sky a bit as well as to bring out the blue in the sky. This filter also provided a bit more contrast and saturation to the owl. Finally I used the "Darken / Lighten Center" filter to add a bit of a vignette, but I ended up doing even more directly in Photoshop later.

Those are the initial edits I did with the raw file and the Nik plugins. You can probably see in the image in the initial images that Luna has the leather "jesses" around his feet. My next step was to create a copy of the smart object and put it in to a new layer to begin working on that. You can't edit a smart object directly as far as using the healing brush.

Adobe Photoshop Clone and Heal

By clicking on the smart object layer and selecting everything ([CTRL] [A]) you can make a new copy by pasting the copied image ([CTRL] [V]). This will create a merged copy on top of the smart object which will allow cloning out items such as the jesses. Note that I took the time to re-label the new layer to "Merge & Cleanup".

After some time I got an acceptable removal of the jesses as shown below. I think it's okay - and I don't think most people are going to know what the legs truly look like without the jesses nor will they concentrate on that portion of the owl as much as his head. Here's a shot of Photoshop up to this point. I'll continue with the rest in the next post. 

Photoshop after the initial edits, merge, and cloning

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For the Birds!

Mike, a shipmate of mine that I hadn't seen since at least 1991 moved to Arizona a few years ago. We've been trying to get together but it hadn't worked out until this last weekend...

Cade - male Peregrine Falcon

Mike set up a visit to Arizona's Raptor Experience in Chino, Arizona. This place offers up close and personal photography of their raptors in natural, desert settings. They take their birds outside where they've positioned stumps and they'll do what they can to pose the birds for you. You can walk around them, shoot low or high. You can easily get within a few feet of them. The owners, Anne and Paul Schnell, will keep the birds out, moving them from location to location, until you've captured all of the shots you want or until the birds get too hot (it is Arizona!).

The facility is available by appointment only and isn't cheap but it doesn't break the bank either. We were there almost 3 hours and it cost a bit over $200. That included some flight time (of which I didn't get any usable photographs).

I decided that I'd leave Phoenix after getting off work at my day job on Friday. I arranged for a motel in Prescott Valley, Arizona, about 95 miles north of Phoenix. The Prescott Highland Games event was going on so I was lucky to get a room for about triple the weekday rate. Woo hoo! That's why I don't like staying in motels very often. I don't spend much time in them for the money. I decided to try to get more out of my stay this time.

Luna - male Barn Owl

I got to Prescott Valley at about 4:45 PM. I stopped at a Circle K and picked up a 6-pack of an IPA. I then went to Pizza Hut and got a small Meat Lovers pizza with mushrooms, olives, and onions added, and a small order of spicy wings. I checked in to America's Best Value Inn and discovered that I'd got one of their handicapped rooms. I don't know if that was the reason but the bed was great!

I first checked in with wifey then enjoyed my dinner. I ate less than 1/2 of the pizza, ended up drinking 3 of the beers, and had 3 of the wings. I wish you could get smaller portions of food items! I just can't often eat the "normal" portions. I also didn't care for the IPA much and ended up leaving the rest of it in the refrigerator when I left. Hopefully someone gets some good out of it! 

I made use of their swimming pool and hot tub. I can't remember the last time I had been in a swimming pool, probably around 2003 or 2004. I had the pool to myself so really enjoyed it. 

I placed a wake-up call for 5:15 the following morning. Chino Valley is about 15 miles from where I was staying and we were going to meet at 6:30 at the McDonald's. As it turned out, I made it about 2 minutes early. Mike and his family were already there.

It's something meeting someone that you went through a war together with (Desert Storm) but basically hadn't seen since. He offered his hand and I took it but then made him give me a bro hug. I think it surprised him a bit. We made a bit of small talk, which, surprisingly, centered around photography. 

Eventually we headed out to see the birds...

Anne and Paul met us with smiling faces, happy to show us their feathered friends. They posed them for us on the various perches, let some of our party hold some of the birds, and gave us a lot of information about the birds. It's clear they love what they do and want to share their friends and promote respect for the raptors.

Emily - female Swainson's Hawk

Not only is it really cool seeing their birds up close, but I learned a lot too. Raptors need padded perches, for example, because their feet aren't designed to support a lethargic lifestyle - they're not normally on their feet much. Consequently it is necessary to monitor and care for their feet so they don't develop "bumblefoot" infections.

I shot about 400 pictures of the birds and another 200 of our party. I even got some good shots of the birds. I have learned that I rarely get a good handheld shot so I shot almost everything from the tripod. The 8 or 10 handheld shots I took are unusable other than for memory purposes. Even still, the birds constantly turn their heads or bodies so it's not as easy as you might imagine to get a great shot. It's better than stalking them in the wild, of course, but it's also not like every shot is a winner.

I also got zero usable shots of the hawk in flight. I so rarely use auto focus that it took me a while to remember how to engage it. I use back button focus and had a hard time letting the camera try to take over. If / when I go back I really need to refresh myself on auto focus operation. 

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I got some photographs I couldn't have gotten any other way. If you get a chance to visit them please do!

Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED AFS VR Zoom Lens

The Need

Sea Lions at Haceta Head Viewpoint, Oregon Coast
Nikon D610, Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 @ 200mm

Last summer, August of 2015, I took a drive through parts of Oregon and Washington. Along the Oregon coast, at the Haceta Head lighthouse viewpoint (located a mile or two south of the lighthouse), I tried to shoot some sea lions that were in the small cove between the viewpoint and the point the light house is perched on. 

I don't do a lot of wildlife shots, but I do enough to know that a longer lens would certainly help. But besides that, I've had enough cases where I'd actually like to be able to zoom in on landscape features too, and to be able to do it in camera rather than cropping in post production.

For example, I wanted to shoot a mountain (I think it was Humphrey's Peak near Flagstaff, Arizona) but I didn't like the shot and didn't end up doing it. If you're close to a mountain often times you have a strange aspect or can't get it all in the shot. It'd be nice to zoom in from a distance and be able to isolate the subject from a better vantage point. At least that's what I'm telling myself in order to add a longer full frame lens to my growing collection!

I believe that getting a longer lens will answer some more of my composition needs. 

Why the Nikon?

I started out eyeing the Tamron 150-600 f/5-6.3 when it was announced in 2013 and thought I'd eventually add it to my collection. Then Sigma announced their 150-600mm f/5-6.3 in September 2014, in two versions. That also appeared interesting and after some time the reviews seemed to point towards the Sigma as being better than the Tamron. Okay, I adjusted my sights.

Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED AF-S VR

Jumping forward to August 2015, Nikon announced their 200-500mm f/5.6! Another option, with a constant aperture although with a shorter focal range. Hmmm...

After another bit of time, once the lens was available to the public, the reviews started coming out. The Nikon had a lot going for it and most reviews I read claimed a better image quality compared to the Tamron and Sigma, not to mention generally better build quality. Not all reviews came to that conclusion (see this Photography Life review, for example, which recommends the Sigma 150-600 Sport over the Nikkor).

The reviews swayed me towards the Nikon, however, included one of my faves, Thom Hogan. While he admits he hadn't had much time with the Tamrons or Sigmas, his assessment of the Nikon was very influential and consequently I've finally got one on order as of May 3, 2016 from Adorama. I'll see how much I like it, and may be able to talk a photographer I know who really likes her Sigma 150-600 Sport to do a test comparison with me. I'm not against trying the Sigma, but one other guy who I also take with a grain of salt, didn't have any reason to get the Sigma over the Nikkor - Ken Rockwell's review.

(update) Basically, I decided to get this lens instead of the Tamron or Sigma because:

• A common thread that the image quality (IQ) is better on the Nikon, and generally better throughout it's focal range.
• A constant aperture throughout the focal length. I don't know if I'll do it, but it supports using a teleconverter (Thom Hogan has tried it but doesn't generally use one either).
• 50mm missing on the short end - this might bother me, it might mean swapping lenses more if 200 is just too long. However I'm already swapping lenses more than my original mentor Jon B. (and suffering / putting up with dirty sensors as a result). 
• 100mm missing on the long end - from what I've read, with few exceptions, the Tamron and Sigma IQ is reported to fall off over 500mm anyway. 

Known issues

I know two things about this lens that will cause me to do something more or different:

1. I will need some sort of case for it that I can strap to a belt or hang over my shoulder. I haven't quite started looking in to this issue yet. I use a LowePro waist bag that I really like. This lens won't fit in it. I don't like backpacks (I have one but don't like using it). I just want a protective case for the single lens that attaches to my waist or hangs from my shoulder but isn't free to move around.
2. I will need to mount a plate compatible with my Manfrotto ball head. I have two plates so it won't be a problem, but I may want to pick up a third (I have the additional plate because I have two camera bodies). However, I've actually been looking at switching to some sort of arca-swiss setup that I can mount on my Manfrotto ball head (I really like it - the Manfrotto 468MGRC5).

When it arrives and I get to spend a bit of time with her, I mean it, I'll write a bit more about what I think. (update, 5/8/2016 3:41PM) The UPS tracking says it's arrived here in Phoenix!

First Milky Way Photo of the Year (for me)

No, it's not an award, it was the first photograph I shot of the Milky Way this year. 

After dealing with some minor health issues until mid-April this year, I've finally started getting out again. This weekend I had arranged an exclusive photographer access to the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park near Payson, Arizona, but decided to cancel it due to predicted inclement weather. Instead, I headed to the Chiricahua National Monument in southeast Arizona, which was predicted to have cool but dry, cloud free weather.

Some Planning

I was hoping to get a Milky Way and/or other star shots. By checking out the Photographer's Ephemeris, I found that the moon was also cooperative, being a waxing crescent one day after the new moon, and with a moon set at about 8:30PM. That means no bright moonlight to contend with. If you haven't used the Photographer's Ephemeris, it's available online (and as a download). Here's a screenshot of the information available from Massai Point for 5/7/2016. Note that the pin can be moved by dragging and dropping to any location. It shows not only the sun and moon rise and set times, but the angle for the actions:

Photographer's Ephemeris

Using the Stellarium application, I found that the Milky Way should be pretty visible by 1:30AM on Saturday morning, through until a bit before sunrise, approximately 4:30 AM. If you haven't used Stellarium, it's a free app that shows you space objects at selected date and times. It's free and available for multiple operating systems. I use it on my Windows 7 desktop and my Kindle Fire. Here's a shot using the Massai Point location at about 2:30 AM on 5/7/2016, clearly showing the orientation of the Milky Way:

Stellarium

Wilcox, Arizona

Friday night, 5/6/2016, I packed my Exploder, got my dog, and headed to Massai Point. We left home in Phoenix, AZ at about 11PM. We drove straight through to Wilcox, AZ, arriving at about 1:30 AM. I wasn't sure if I was going to spend the entire day and following night there so when I fueled up at the Circle K, I picked up some jerky, Doritos, and another gallon of water (I already had a couple of gallons of water with me). I tried to go through the McDonald's drive through but they were closed (no 24 hour service there if you're passing through and relying on them to be open!). 

I ended up stopping at the Shell station in Wilcox to get some coffee. The station was attended by a man who was hosing down the parking and fueling lot. I asked him if he had some coffee and he said he did. He had to unlock the door for me to enter, and I bought a large coffee. I was skeptical about how it was going to be - it didn't look like he'd been brewing coffee recently and the streets of Wilcox were pretty much empty. It turned out to be okay; I'd had worse in the Navy at 1:30 AM!

It's about 36 miles from Wilcox to the Chiricahua National Monument, and then about another 12 miles or so to Massai Point, or almost 50 miles beyond Wilcox. I drove a tad slow along the way because there were a lot of mice, desert rats, and cotton tail rabbits running across the highway and I didn't want to ruin their morning. 

There's also a bit of that road that has some alarming hills, at least to me. There are blind hills that have curves right after the summit and I've been surprised by them in the past when I drove faster (the speed limit varies from 45 to 65 MPH along the highway). When I got to the park gate there was a fox crossing the road near the cemetery.

The road up to Massai Point only recently opened up to traffic. It had been closed for road work. There were a number of places where the pavement has not been replaced as the culverts had been repaired or upgraded. I even had to dodge a tree that apparently had just fallen down that night and was jutting out into the road, blocking the east bound lane! I believe it had just fallen that night because in the morning, when I went back down from Massai Point, it had been removed.

Massai Point

I arrived at Massai Point at about 2:40 AM. It was dark! When I shut off the Exploder's lights, I was engulfed in darkness. There were some city lights on the horizon in spots, but the parking lot was pretty dark. (Here's a link to the aerial view of Massai Point in Microsoft Bing Maps - better than I could get from Google for some reason.)

Massai Point is at the end of Bonita Canyon road in the park. It's a bit over 6,000 feet in elevation. The parking lot area is oriented sort of south west to north east. It overlooks the wonderful hoodoos but I couldn't see them at all in the basically moonless night. I did find a couple of trees that I could place in the foreground of my shot of the Milky Way that was obvious to the naked eye and stretched from horizon to horizon. 

I took in the view a bit before worrying about the photograph. I'm getting close to 60 years old and it's only been since taking up photography in the last few years that I've even had a desire to notice the Milky Way. However, I spent time camping in my youth in remote places and I would have thought I'd have noticed it before. But apparently I didn't nor was it pointed out to me. Perhaps it was never visible because my youth years were spent mainly in Washington and Oregon and it may not be very visible there. I think that's sad and amazing at the same time, but I'm thankful now that I live in a place where there are some remote areas such as the Chiricahua's and near Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument that it is very visible.

After letting my dog Elmer do his business, I put him back in the Exploder with the windows rolled down. I set up the Nikon D610 with my wide angle Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 on my Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod. 

Shooting the Milky Way

I had a hard time focusing for some reason. Normally I use live view to focus night shots but it took me a while to get it configured. I guess it was just too out of focus. 

I had the camera pretty low to the ground since I wanted to include the trees in the shot and they weren't that tall. That meant sitting on the pavement in the middle of the parking lot. That's okay at that time of day - no one else was up there and since they'd have to have their headlights on to drive up the side of the mountain, I'd see anyone approaching. But in the dark I got startled a few times when I turned my head and saw a dark patch on the pavement. This is rattlesnake, mountain lion, and bear country and the park has many warnings about that to remind you (and make you nervous if you're alone in the dark).

I really wanted to take some shots and get back in my vehicle!

I zoomed in with the live view, found Saturn which was very bright, and focused on the planet. I still had a hard time seeing the trees on the LCD so eventually I took shots and re-composed as necessary to get the trees in the shot.

I also used a number of shots to adjust my exposure. The shot below ended up at 16mm focal length, f/4, 25 seconds at ISO 1600. I wish I'd used more of a 17mm focal length; the images are generally a bit sharper if you don't have the lens into either stop. I also wish I'd tried bumping up the ISO another stop and shortened the shutter speed. The stars have some elongation and I really wanted more of a pin-point star shot. But it's still pretty cool and after being in the pitch black for an hour or so, I had enough of tempting fate.

The shots remind me of one of my photography books recommendations - you really need to get to know your camera so you can adjust it in the dark. Turning on a flashlight really makes you loose your night vision (and if you're with someone else, it can ruin theirs or their shots!). While I can adjust my camera in the dark, I couldn't get the text on the LCD to be dim enough. And how do you adjust that? By using the camera menu which was also brighter than heck. It points out to me that if you're going night shooting, if you can, it makes sense to make any adjustments during the daylight before you start the night shots so that you can hopefully avoid using the menu or other bright lights.

Here's the best of the shots I got, processed in Adobe Photoshop. This time I used some processing tips from a YouTube video from Kenneth Brandon. The bright orange/yellow object on the right edge is Saturn.

Milky Way from Massai Point, Chiricahua National Monument, 5/7/2016
Nikon D610 with Nikkor 16-35mm @ 16mm, f/4, 25.0 seconds, ISO 1600