The timing on this video is within minutes of me coming in from trying to capture a hummingbird. I had the area focused while zoomed. Heck I couldn't find that thing in my lens to save my soul. I zoomed back out and of course it had flown off. Frustrated I came back in to get a different camera. It has to be the camera, right? lol I saw your notification and had an ah hah moment. Sure enough worked like a charm with the same camera. Thank you!!
Steve - I am gobsmacked. I have been struggling a bit with my 800mm lens with a 1.6 crop sensor. I just tried your technique and I couldn't believe how well it worked. Thanks!
Steve I have learned a wealth of information from you these past years. Just wanted to thank you again for all the incredible help . Big thumbs up brother...
Amen, me too and thanks Steve you're the best person on the youtube platform. I would say that I mostly photograph sports and breaking news as I am a photojournalist but I also shoot wildlife when I can. I always shoot with both eye's open and this really helps me, but what maybe helps more is knowing your subjects. I played almost every kind of major sport growing up and in H.S. so I really know sports very well. I also am constantly learning about birds and wildlife, so that I too know about them and their behavior, which is huge in my mind.
One other helpful thing you do Steve, that you may not even be conscious of, is keeping your left eye open while finding/framing your subject in the lens with your right eye. Long range/big glass shooting tip that transfers to photography.
Nice - as a landscape photographer who likes to kill time between shots in looking for critters, this is really quick, handy and relevant. Many thanks from a cabin in a swamp in a rainforest in New Zealand.
Good tip Steve. Tracking dragonflies, butterflies and wasps is good fun. Dragonflies can be predictable, but butterflies and wasps (when hunting) fly all over the place like a mad man's kilt. I never swear when trying to capture them - honest.
If you are a keen Wildlife or Landscape photographer, buy Steve's books they are ALL excellent. Detailed and easy to follow and above all very relevant with real world examples. I thought I was a decent wildlife photographer but Steve has taught me techniques that enable me to capture shots I couldn't have 3 years ago. I am very wary about buying e books but I am sure you will be delighted with Steve's they are practical and have loads of hints and tips.
Understanding the basics can prevent a lot of expensive gear-blaming. Thanks for the reminder the photographer counts at least as much as the gear. Great video as usual 👍👍
This is great information. The only thing missing was the trick for determining your dominant eye. I put my hands together to make an open triangle with my arms fully extended and pull my hands to my face and the opening will show up on my dominant eye. As always GREAT STUFF! Thank You!
Steve, another tip I use that may help some is I took a white paint pen and drew a line top dead center on the lens hood. As I'm raising the camera to my eye, the raised portions of the hot shoe and the white line on the lens hood serve kind of like a rifle sight helping me to align the camera as I'm bringing it up to my eye. It really does work.
I got my first 150-600mm last month and have been working at getting better at using it, and one thing I've found useful is holding the camera just under my eye while following the subject, and sighting down the top of the lens just before lifting the viewfinder up to my eye. Since I know I'm centered on the subject horizontally any "hunting" is only in the vertical plane, which makes me much quicker getting on the shot.
Even with smaller hands you can learn how to make this lens go from 200mm to 400mm and beyond with one good turn. Faster and harder turn is the way, but it takes practice and I admit I have average hands not really big but average I'd say, definitely not smaller. So I admit I may not be able to understand exactly what you're dealing with but I know I was able to get this lens to zoom all the way with one turn.
I’ve had the same difficulty with my 70-300 when zoomed all the way in. So now that I am upgrading to a 150-600 lens I need to practice what you suggested. Thanks Steve for the solid advice!!! 😃
I spent ten years working as a land surveyor using transits and I used this exact technique. If you think finding a flying bird in a telephoto lens is difficult you should try finding a plum bob string in a transit scope when the string is only ten feet away. Steve's technique, once mastered, really works!
Thanks for posting this and other clips, Steve. You have the most natural, comprehensive and practical approach to wildlife lens work that I have seen on YT and the sharing of your extensive knowledge is very much appreciated. I use Nikon equipment and recently purchased a Sigma 150-600mm Sport lens with the intention of increasing my skills on wildlife photography. Your YT and website advisories are excellent - as are your example images. Stay safe and keep posting - cheers, from New Zealand.
As career military and a life long hunter, this is a technique we use all the time. The trick is to always focus on the target (subject...sorry, old habits) and NEVER on the lens. Bring the optics to you, not you to the optics. The best way to get good at it is just to take it out in the back yard or the park and "dry fire". Look at something, bring the lens up into your line of sight and, viola!, there it is. Do that a dozen times or more and it will be second nature (get it? bad dad joke, I know!) Then try it with moving objects in the far distance. Things like running dogs, bicycles, children, etc. You will be surprised at how fast you get good at it!
Great video ! Good info for this old dog!... I just started 'birding' & use of a long lens about a year ago. Somewhat using your described methods, but learned the hard way; trial & error & missing a lot of opportunities. I also use my left hand at the end of the lens barrel and point with my index finger. I'll now have a quantified method and practice. THANK YOU !
Fine approach on most targets. I had a few days ago a problem outside of the presented solutions. I received a dark ND filter for eventual videos of welding arc. So, I decided to test it using the sun as my target. Naturally, I could not fixate my eyes to the sun. It might work with a welding helmet, but then I would not see the camera viewer. The camera was on a tripod, so after two failed attempts I decided to watch the shadow of the camera on the concrete driveway.. That did it, although I found that my tripod could just barely tilt high enough (plenty of down tilt all the way to full vertical). Anyway, I got the test video and am now ready for the welding arc.
Great tip Steve I will certainly be trying that one next time I am out. The other thing I really try hard to do is keep both eyes open when tracking birds in flight. It is not an easy technique to do but really helps me especially with subjects that change direction regularly.
Using the eye not looking through the viewfinder together with the one in the viewfinder - that means opening both eyes, also works - but maybe only for some. My optician told me that some people are able to handle long focus one one eye and short focus on another, at the same time (I'm using contact lenses with the same setup) they call it monovision. But when shooting Aeroplanes this is really helpful regain AF .....
I use an Olympus Dot finder which attaches to the hot shoe Steve although I note that Nikon now have their own which they brought out for the Nikon P1000. I find once calibrated that the dot finders are excellent. Good tips from you however, especially swinging the torso rather than moving your feet :-)
It's easy when you know how ! Thanks Steve !.....I wonder how many other you tubers will parody this tip ? ... You have seen it here first. Good job Steve.
This is true and actually funny when it happens... "where is it, where is it...". It's even funnier when it happens with a very wide zoom, where the subject is too tiny in the viewfinder, "ok, so where is it now..." :-) Nice video.
Hey Steve, i guess the persons who learned that in 2 minutes had some military training before. for me this was like a natural movement and i only had basic army training. A buddy of mine who didnt had the training had some serious issues finding the subject. Great video! explained better than my army instructors! good way to practice is touse something like a teddy, walk and skulk around it and then "boom" pop on it with your camera. get a buddy who like gives you a shout when to focus the teddy and you will be a pro in a day!
oh and, try to guess the distance and pre configure the focus meter, otherwise it might be way off and blurry as hell, if you use the same lens all the time, its muscle memory as well, feel some button on the lens, and have your lens focus in a "neutral" state all the time, it's easy to prefocus manually
great technique. I'm right handed but left eye dominant ... apart from smearing nose grease (wtf?) on the lcd, its awkward using big lenses like that. For the weight, try using small helium balloons. works well, but don't let go or they tend to float away .... :-)
Hey Steve great advice!!! It has already come in handy! I’ve referred to your books many times always solid informational one Nikon shooter to another. Thank you.
Excellent info Steve! It occurred to me practicing with cars passing by (or stationary!) would be a great way to get these techniques down. Just a thought. Cheers!
Great tips, thanks! Does any accessory company do some sort of "crosshair" that would mount on the hot shoe? Would be handy to use to target the moving subject. Cheers!
1:00 Haha! Silly! Thanks for your quality easy to follow content. I do not shoot wildlife but enjoy watching your videos. I use back button focus thanks to you.
A technique I use with lenses like the 500mm F4 and 600mm F4 on a tripod is to have the lens hood screw at the top then to find a subject you align the hot shoe and the lens hood fixing screw on the subject as you bring your eye to the viewfinder.
I don't have the tripod mount in that position because I use the top of the lens hood like the sight on the end of a gun barrel. I'm in the UK and I like photographing Common Buzzards in flight, I aim the top of the lens hood first, then raise the camera body to line up the top of the body with the subject, then once I have it sighted I raise both hands together to bring the viewfinder to my eye and the bird into the centre of the frame.
Thank you so much for the tips sir. But one question is If i need to change settings before any action or static shots BCZ we dont knw WHAT SETTINGS WE REQUIRE FOR THE NEXT SHOOTING SUBJECT? Then how could be the Head and Eye stationary?
I just used this info to help me shoot nesting doves in my back yard. Of course, the dove parents and the kids are being their usual uncooperative selves, but that's par for the course. If one's in perfect focus, the other one is hunkering down in the nest.
Cool - this is one of those things that I've known how to do ever since getting my first pair of binoculars as a kid, but I wouldn't have known how to explain it so clearly!
Thank you for the tips, Steve. I could have really used them the past few weeks photographing Ospreys. BTW, how do you like the new 70-300mm AF-P E lens? (I happen to have that lens myself and love it!)
Looks like yet another top tip, Steve. Can't wait to try it. Many thanks. BTW, I was 1 millisecond away from unsubscribing when you mentioned your "captured bear". :-)
I don't have a lot of problems finding my subject who is relatively stationary. It's those pesky little birds flitting about on a tree I have problems with! I think they know they're messing with me and enjoy my frustration. LOL
My Dear Steve Perry.. Just now I went through your site and looked into the above video. Very good guidelines and nice presentation. I am Learning a lot from your RUclips channel. Also I have already purchased Two Books from your esteemed Back Country Gallery. For My Nikon Nature and Wildlife Photography works your Notes and Videos are of very great importance. I am always Reminding and Respecting your honor with immense happiness and utmost gratitude, when I am in the Wilderness. Before One week back I was in the WILDS and even there I Remembered your Good self. I am Learning a Lot for my Wildlife Photography works. Thank you and Warm Regards for all your Sending. Sincerely yours Nikon Wildlife Photographer S U M A N G A L A R A J A P A K S E.
The timing on this video is within minutes of me coming in from trying to capture a hummingbird. I had the area focused while zoomed. Heck I couldn't find that thing in my lens to save my soul. I zoomed back out and of course it had flown off. Frustrated I came back in to get a different camera. It has to be the camera, right? lol I saw your notification and had an ah hah moment. Sure enough worked like a charm with the same camera. Thank you!!
Steve - I am gobsmacked. I have been struggling a bit with my 800mm lens with a 1.6 crop sensor. I just tried your technique and I couldn't believe how well it worked. Thanks!
Steve I have learned a wealth of information from you these past years. Just wanted to thank you again for all the incredible help . Big thumbs up brother...
Amen, me too and thanks Steve you're the best person on the youtube platform. I would say that I mostly photograph sports and breaking news as I am a photojournalist but I also shoot wildlife when I can. I always shoot with both eye's open and this really helps me, but what maybe helps more is knowing your subjects. I played almost every kind of major sport growing up and in H.S. so I really know sports very well. I also am constantly learning about birds and wildlife, so that I too know about them and their behavior, which is huge in my mind.
Thanks for the kind words :)
no 1 youtuber
One other helpful thing you do Steve, that you may not even be conscious of, is keeping your left eye open while finding/framing your subject in the lens with your right eye. Long range/big glass shooting tip that transfers to photography.
Nice - as a landscape photographer who likes to kill time between shots in looking for critters, this is really quick, handy and relevant. Many thanks from a cabin in a swamp in a rainforest in New Zealand.
Good tip Steve. Tracking dragonflies, butterflies and wasps is good fun. Dragonflies can be predictable, but butterflies and wasps (when hunting) fly all over the place like a mad man's kilt. I never swear when trying to capture them - honest.
LOL - butterflies are tough - I sometimes wonder if they fly from spot to spot or teleport!
'like a mad man's kilt' - not a pretty picture - lol - Hamish
Steve “The Sniper” Perry! 😁 Oh man, thanks for that bunch of awesome hints.
If you are a keen Wildlife or Landscape photographer, buy Steve's books they are ALL excellent. Detailed and easy to follow and above all very relevant with real world examples. I thought I was a decent wildlife photographer but Steve has taught me techniques that enable me to capture shots I couldn't have 3 years ago. I am very wary about buying e books but I am sure you will be delighted with Steve's they are practical and have loads of hints and tips.
Thanks so much for the kind words and recommendation :)
Understanding the basics can prevent a lot of expensive gear-blaming. Thanks for the reminder the photographer counts at least as much as the gear. Great video as usual 👍👍
One of the best teachers on RUclips! ❤
Your choice of topics is terrific and insightful, and your pace is awesome. Great channel.
This is great information. The only thing missing was the trick for determining your dominant eye. I put my hands together to make an open triangle with my arms fully extended and pull my hands to my face and the opening will show up on my dominant eye. As always GREAT STUFF! Thank You!
SO glad I found this again. Needed some practice for my new 150-450.
Thanks for the video. I do this and often can't find my subject. It's just something you gotta keep practicing.
Steve, another tip I use that may help some is I took a white paint pen and drew a line top dead center on the lens hood. As I'm raising the camera to my eye, the raised portions of the hot shoe and the white line on the lens hood serve kind of like a rifle sight helping me to align the camera as I'm bringing it up to my eye. It really does work.
I got my first 150-600mm last month and have been working at getting better at using it, and one thing I've found useful is holding the camera just under my eye while following the subject, and sighting down the top of the lens just before lifting the viewfinder up to my eye. Since I know I'm centered on the subject horizontally any "hunting" is only in the vertical plane, which makes me much quicker getting on the shot.
Excellent tips. I found the 200-500 difficult because of the long travel between the short to long end with small hands.
Even with smaller hands you can learn how to make this lens go from 200mm to 400mm and beyond with one good turn. Faster and harder turn is the way, but it takes practice and I admit I have average hands not really big but average I'd say, definitely not smaller. So I admit I may not be able to understand exactly what you're dealing with but I know I was able to get this lens to zoom all the way with one turn.
I’ve had the same difficulty with my 70-300 when zoomed all the way in. So now that I am upgrading to a 150-600 lens I need to practice what you suggested. Thanks Steve for the solid advice!!! 😃
I spent ten years working as a land surveyor using transits and I used this exact technique. If you think finding a flying bird in a telephoto lens is difficult you should try finding a plum bob string in a transit scope when the string is only ten feet away. Steve's technique, once mastered, really works!
Thanks for posting this and other clips, Steve. You have the most natural, comprehensive and practical approach to wildlife lens work that I have seen on YT and the sharing of your extensive knowledge is very much appreciated. I use Nikon equipment and recently purchased a Sigma 150-600mm Sport lens with the intention of increasing my skills on wildlife photography. Your YT and website advisories are excellent - as are your example images. Stay safe and keep posting - cheers, from New Zealand.
As career military and a life long hunter, this is a technique we use all the time. The trick is to always focus on the target (subject...sorry, old habits) and NEVER on the lens. Bring the optics to you, not you to the optics. The best way to get good at it is just to take it out in the back yard or the park and "dry fire". Look at something, bring the lens up into your line of sight and, viola!, there it is. Do that a dozen times or more and it will be second nature (get it? bad dad joke, I know!) Then try it with moving objects in the far distance. Things like running dogs, bicycles, children, etc. You will be surprised at how fast you get good at it!
Great advice :) And yes, I'm very surprised how quickly people pick this up once they get the concept behind it.
Great video ! Good info for this old dog!... I just started 'birding' & use of a long lens about a year ago. Somewhat using your described methods, but learned the hard way; trial & error & missing a lot of opportunities. I also use my left hand at the end of the lens barrel and point with my index finger. I'll now have a quantified method and practice. THANK YOU !
Simple, but will be so useful. That’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder how I never thought about it. Thank you.
Fine approach on most targets. I had a few days ago a problem outside of the presented solutions.
I received a dark ND filter for eventual videos of welding arc. So, I decided to test it using the sun as my target. Naturally, I could not fixate my eyes to the sun.
It might work with a welding helmet, but then I would not see the camera viewer. The camera was on a tripod, so after two failed attempts I decided to watch the shadow of the camera on the concrete driveway.. That did it, although I found that my tripod could just barely tilt high enough (plenty of down tilt all the way to full vertical). Anyway, I got the test video and am now ready for the welding arc.
Great tip Steve I will certainly be trying that one next time I am out. The other thing I really try hard to do is keep both eyes open when tracking birds in flight. It is not an easy technique to do but really helps me especially with subjects that change direction regularly.
Thanks Steve for the tip. Definitely practice is the key to learning new things!
Using the eye not looking through the viewfinder together with the one in the viewfinder - that means opening both eyes, also works - but maybe only for some. My optician told me that some people are able to handle long focus one one eye and short focus on another, at the same time (I'm using contact lenses with the same setup) they call it monovision. But when shooting Aeroplanes this is really helpful regain AF .....
Thank you Steve. That’s a great tip.
Hi Steve
Thank you so much for these videos. it helps us so much in our learning curve to get better and better at photography
Thanks Steve, you always bring something I can use to your videos. Amazing!
This is such a fantastic video! So simple yet brilliant. Been one of my issues but NO longer, Thanks!
Another very insightful video. Thank you...
I use an Olympus Dot finder which attaches to the hot shoe Steve although I note that Nikon now have their own which they brought out for the Nikon P1000. I find once calibrated that the dot finders are excellent. Good tips from you however, especially swinging the torso rather than moving your feet :-)
It's easy when you know how ! Thanks Steve !.....I wonder how many other you tubers will parody this tip ? ... You have seen it here first. Good job Steve.
Cant wait to try this tip. My 800 F11 can be challenging in this respect.
Your videos are so helpful thanks so much for sharing.
This is true and actually funny when it happens... "where is it, where is it...". It's even funnier when it happens with a very wide zoom, where the subject is too tiny in the viewfinder, "ok, so where is it now..." :-) Nice video.
Excellent, Mr. Perry.
Thanks for the tip, works great after less than 2 minutes I was zeroing in on by subjects with no problem at all.
Hey Steve, i guess the persons who learned that in 2 minutes had some military training before.
for me this was like a natural movement and i only had basic army training.
A buddy of mine who didnt had the training had some serious issues finding the subject.
Great video! explained better than my army instructors!
good way to practice is touse something like a teddy, walk and skulk around it and then "boom" pop on it with your camera. get a buddy who like gives you a shout when to focus the teddy and you will be a pro in a day!
oh and, try to guess the distance and pre configure the focus meter, otherwise it might be way off and blurry as hell, if you use the same lens all the time, its muscle memory as well, feel some button on the lens, and have your lens focus in a "neutral" state all the time, it's easy to prefocus manually
Simple and efficient procedures, great work, thanks.
Pure gold as always, thanks again Steve!
great technique. I'm right handed but left eye dominant ... apart from smearing nose grease (wtf?) on the lcd, its awkward using big lenses like that.
For the weight, try using small helium balloons. works well, but don't let go or they tend to float away ....
:-)
Works like a charm!
Thanks Steve, simple instruction and valuable tips as always
great video as always thank you Steve
I love your videos as I have learned more from you than reading a book. Thank you 467%.
Great tips, Steve!
This is very helpful. Thank you!
Fantastic tip I found this difficult with my 200-500 many thanks for the help I have all youre books probably easier seeing you do it
Hey Steve great advice!!!
It has already come in handy! I’ve referred to your books many times always solid informational one Nikon shooter to another.
Thank you.
Great advice Steve many thanks
A great tip for me .Thank you
Excellent info Steve! It occurred to me practicing with cars passing by (or stationary!) would be a great way to get these techniques down. Just a thought. Cheers!
Great tips, thanks! Does any accessory company do some sort of "crosshair" that would mount on the hot shoe? Would be handy to use to target the moving subject. Cheers!
1:00 Haha! Silly! Thanks for your quality easy to follow content. I do not shoot wildlife but enjoy watching your videos. I use back button focus thanks to you.
Thanks Steve. Great tip as always of you.
Love your tutorials. Thank You Steve!
Rented a 200-400mm and used this technique to shoot birds today. Definitely takes practice but it helped significantly!
A technique I use with lenses like the 500mm F4 and 600mm F4 on a tripod is to have the lens hood screw at the top then to find a subject you align the hot shoe and the lens hood fixing screw on the subject as you bring your eye to the viewfinder.
did you put iron sights on your camera? thats glorious :D
That's a great tip for me. Thanks a lot..
I don't have the tripod mount in that position because I use the top of the lens hood like the sight on the end of a gun barrel.
I'm in the UK and I like photographing Common Buzzards in flight, I aim the top of the lens hood first, then raise the camera body to line up the top of the body with the subject, then once I have it sighted I raise both hands together to bring the viewfinder to my eye and the bird into the centre of the frame.
Whatever works is good :) I used to use the method you describe too a long time ago, I just find this easier.
Thank you Steve, extremely helpful info. Was just at an airshow with the Thunderbirds and I could have used this info!
Thank you Steve for making this fantastic video and sharing the tips with us.
👍🙏
Thank you so much for the tips sir. But one question is
If i need to change settings before any action or static shots BCZ we dont knw WHAT SETTINGS WE REQUIRE FOR THE NEXT SHOOTING SUBJECT? Then how could be the Head and Eye stationary?
Steve, a great video with tips I can't wait to practice in the field! This'll definitely make getting action shots a lot easier!
I just used this info to help me shoot nesting doves in my back yard. Of course, the dove parents and the kids are being their usual uncooperative selves, but that's par for the course. If one's in perfect focus, the other one is hunkering down in the nest.
What an amazing tip !! I am or hopefully was one of those flaying around with the lens trying to find subjects
Another way is to use the flash shoe, center your subject within that and then drop your head/eye to the viewfinder.
Great advice.
Thanks for this just what I need. Going to give it damn good try. Love all your tips, I really think they help me improve as a wildlife photographer.
Your bear is like my bird I photographed yesterday in the backyard 😂
Excellent video! Really helpful tips!
Cool - this is one of those things that I've known how to do ever since getting my first pair of binoculars as a kid, but I wouldn't have known how to explain it so clearly!
Fantastic tips thank you so much steve
Great tips Steve - thank you!
Lots of great tips.Thank you, Steve! Oh and I did subscribe to your channel! Looking forward to more cool stuff like this ✌️
My treat of the evening👌👌❤️
great episode!!
Fantastic video Steve. Thanks. What is the Gimble/tripod set up you're using there?
Thanks - it's a Really Right Stuff TVC-34L with a Wimberley WH-200 gimbal head.
@@backcountrygallery thank you. 👍
It's a very similar procedure that you use with a firearm. Same thing with breathing, shooting is shooting.
Thanks for the useful tips!
Great video as usual!
Love your vidoes . Stright to the point
Great job with video and images #subscribed 😊
Thank you very much
Excellent
Thank you for the tips, Steve. I could have really used them the past few weeks photographing Ospreys. BTW, how do you like the new 70-300mm AF-P E lens? (I happen to have that lens myself and love it!)
Cracking tips thanks again great help
Thank you
Looks like yet another top tip, Steve. Can't wait to try it. Many thanks.
BTW, I was 1 millisecond away from unsubscribing when you mentioned your "captured bear". :-)
I knew I'd get some attention with that one :)
what is the gimbal you used on the tripod in this video? Thanks.
It's a wimberely WH-200 - great unit.
Great tips I had this problem, just thought I was sorry photog
I don't have a lot of problems finding my subject who is relatively stationary. It's those pesky little birds flitting about on a tree I have problems with! I think they know they're messing with me and enjoy my frustration. LOL
Thank you Steve, great channel and appreciate the effort you put into it. I learn a lot from your videos, well done sir.
Thanks!
Thanks so much!!
Awesome
That's a weird lookin bear
My Dear Steve Perry..
Just now I went through your site and looked into the above video. Very good guidelines and nice presentation.
I am Learning a lot from your RUclips channel. Also I have already purchased Two Books from your esteemed Back Country Gallery. For My Nikon Nature and Wildlife Photography works your Notes and Videos are of very great importance.
I am always Reminding and Respecting your honor with immense happiness and utmost gratitude, when I am in the Wilderness. Before One week back I was in the WILDS and even there I Remembered your Good self.
I am Learning a Lot for my Wildlife Photography works.
Thank you and Warm Regards for all your Sending.
Sincerely yours
Nikon Wildlife Photographer
S U M A N G A L A R A J A P A K S E.
OMG this bear look so ferocious
It was an incredibly dangerous situation!