any tripod/panning tips?

[jann1033]

i had a really hard time panning with a tripod...i mean for birds, dolphins etc..where you really have a harder time knowing where they are going to go and when...i tried the al servo and a panning head. i really need to use a tripod with my teleconverter and 200mm lens to get anything usable with my teleconverter ...most of my dolphin photos with that arrangement looked like this..find the dolphin

since they move so fast and who knows where they are going to come up next but any tips would help,
finally i gave up using the tripod and teleconverter and just cropped shots but would like to get proficient at using it
Thanks

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Jann,

Those orange things with the numbers on them are buoys, not dolphins. Dolphins are grey, fishy looking things.

 

[AndrewWG]

Jann,

Those orange things with the numbers on them are buoys, not dolphins. Dolphins are grey, fishy looking things.

Jan,

I can't wait to read the responses. As you are aware, I think we are on about the same learning curve together and this is one area that I am not so good at as well. I've tried and had some sucess, but I believe that it was mainly luck.

 

[jann1033]

Jann,

Those orange things with the numbers on them are buoys, not dolphins. Dolphins are grey, fishy looking things.

well no wonder i was having such a difficult time although i would have been happy to get buoy or girl dolphins, not sure how you can tell the difference from the photo

 

[Gdad]

Maybe you need a gimbal.

 

[jann1033]

Maybe you need a gimbal.

that is a pretty good idea....i'll put it on my "list"

 

[boBQuincy]

I got a photo of a green dolphin on a rainy day!

Sorry Jann, I just *had to * do it!


I find that panning with a monopod is a whole lot easier than with a tripod. That may not be enough with a teleconverter though. Some video tripods have a damped pan movement that should really help smooth things out. It may help to have the rotation at the film plane, which is usually well behind where it is on most tripod heads.

 

[jann1033]

I got a photo of a green dolphin on a rainy day!

Sorry Jann, I just *had to * do it!


I find that panning with a monopod is a whole lot easier than with a tripod. That may not be enough with a teleconverter though. Some video tripods have a damped pan movement that should really help smooth things out. It may help to have the rotation at the film plane, which is usually well behind where it is on most tripod heads.

actually, that is pretty big for a dolphin, might be a whale

 

[Groucho]

Kids! Skip ahead. Adults! Highlight the blank area below the quote for my response.

actually, that is pretty big for a dolphin, might be a whale

With that shape, it looks like a sperm whale to me!

I've shot a couple of dolphins in my day... never very good but it definitely helps to actually get out on the water in a boat and take a zillion shots. Mine were about 50% "just missed the darn thing", 48% "can see a little bit of a dorsal fin", and 2% "not exactly Nat'l Geographic but good enough that it's obviously a dolphin!"

 

[boBQuincy]

2% sounds about right. Back in the film days I remember burning through a roll and getting one decent photo of a dolphin.

Our favorite place to spot them is the Intracoastal Waterway between Ponte Vedra and St. Augustine FL. A few of them followed our boat and even surfaced alongside. I guess they weren't intimidated, our boat isn't much bigger than most dolphins.

 

[jann1033]

well at least i am sticking to the normal % then. i did try it from a boat one day but it was so rough i though we were going to be swimming right with them any moment so that was no help

 

[AndrewWG]

Jan,

Around here we have dolphins stranding themselves on the beaches. Noone has a good explaination of why this happens. Possibly an "alpha" dolphin does it and the others follow it, who knows. Unfortunately, this usually ends in disaster for them. I suspect this happened the other day. Here are the pics I got from the event:

I am guessing this one was attacked before it beached itself (poor thing ):

Ok, on a serious note, I did find dolphins very difficult to photograph. They surface quickly and usually don't stay up long enough to get a good focus on. We had a really great guide in the keys last year and he had a good idea of where and when they would surface so I had the camera ready. Unfortunately, you can't be really zoomed in or you'll miss them. Panning wasn't even a thought in my mind. I just shot pics like crazy. Of all the pics I shot (many many) here are the three I got that actually show a dolphin in them.

And a few manatees (much easier to shoot, thus their endangered status):

 

[jann1033]

boy andy you had me going for a moment there
i was watching planet ocean tv series and guess i want those "leaping 20 ft out of the water" dolphin shots. course it took them 10 yrs to film the series and i'm sure husband would complain if i sat in one spot that long
where did you get the manatee shots? we saw them once from a board walk type thing on Merritt island and i realized it's better to be above them since besides them it looks like this
ie lumps in the water( sebastian inlet)

and of course we didn't see even one on the boat trip we took expressly to see them

 

[AndrewWG]

boy andy you had me going for a moment there
i was watching planet ocean tv series and guess i want those "leaping 20 ft out of the water" dolphin shots. course it took them 10 yrs to film the series and i'm sure husband would complain if i sat in one spot that long
where did you get the manatee shots? we saw them once from a board walk type thing on Merritt island and i realized it's better to be above them since besides them it looks like this
ie lumps in the water( sebastian inlet)

and of course we didn't see even one on the boat trip we took expressly to see them

Jan,

We took a boat ecological tour from the Marriott in Key Largo, FL last year. We saw it in a brochure at our hotel (not the Marriott) and went and signed up for it. It wasn't cheap, but the guy really knew where to go to see the cool stuff. He even let DD drag a small net through the shallows near the mangroves to see what she could catch. She got pipefish, small shrimp thingy's and various other small creatures. She loved it. Then he went to a "private" spot to see the manatees. It was in a bunch of houses backyards. One of the houses was his. There were two adult manatees and a "baby" one. The baby was still quite large. It was a great trip, but then again, we were in a boat on the Keys so how could it not be great! I could live there. To a tourist, the photo ops seem endless.

 

[boBQuincy]

Some manatees spend the Winter at Blue Spring Park, near Orange City about 45 minutes up I-4 from WDW. I always stop there if I am driving from Daytona.

The spring is as clear as bottled water and makes for some good manatee photos.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Wow, those are the fattest dolphins I've ever seen. This "obesity epidemic" is out of control.

Here are a couple of dolphins I shot a few years ago. They're west coast dolphins.

 

[Groucho]

One thing not mentioned in this thread (unless I overlooked it) is that a circular polarizer might help, especially with things like the manatee shots. That'll cut down on reflections and help you see into the water, instead of just on it.