14.09.2020 More of the Grebes with the Leica 100-400.

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 Monday 14th Sept. 72F. Unexpectedly warm sunshine found me back at the lake photographing the Grebes. The young were much more independent this time. As they explored much of the pond either singly or in groups. All five of the family dived at intervals.

I had taken my lightweight stool for more comfort than the timber guard rail. Again I deliberately sat right on the edge of the water, on the grass bank, in full view. 

Sitting right back under the the shade of the trees only adds more distance. It seems not to put the birds at ease. They still kept their distance for the first hour. Hugging the far, wooded shore as usual. It was only when I raised the loose hood of my camouflage jacket that they became curious. One adult and a juvenile would dive and surface closer to me. Though still over 30 yards away.

Following the success I had last time, I took only the Lumix G9 camera, the Sirui CF monopod and the Lumix Leica 100-400mm lens. The monopod is everything one needs for a seated position. The Leica lens and G9 body provide all the image stabilization one could possibly hope for. 

Struggling with the tripod and Sirui gimbal head becomes pointless. The stiffness, or complete freedom, is a hindrance. While the horizontal freedom of the monopod can be easily adjusted. Simply by exposing more, or less, of the steel spike in the rubber foot. Gently rocking the camera from side to side will bring the image upright. The gimbal cannot be adjusted without changing the tripod leg lengths.

Yet again I made use of the in-camera teleconverter [TC 1.4x] and the 2x digital zoom. It is the only way to get close enough to the birds at the considerable distances involved: Often 120 yards or longer. 

I captured lots of stills and only a few videos. Even trying slow burst exposures at one point. This is very controllable. The harder one presses the shutter release the more images are captured. Ease off on the pressure and it becomes single exposures again.

Towards the end, as the birds came closer, I switched back to native focal length [400mm] or with the 1.4x onboard TC. Now I just have to master the same image quality using the Kowa 88mm spotting scope!

 

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