Barbara's Photoblog
Just a Baby
Posted by Barbara (Florida, United States) on 26 January 2008 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.
This young one sat a few feet off shore. About 3 feet in length, I would say he is from last years hatchlings. Alligators can sit motionless and be gone in a flash.
I did use my 300 mm lens with 2 X Teleconverter but the 900 mm posting must be inaccurate.
Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada
Wow, that is awesome, great shot Barbara :) a little baby gator, how neat is that;)
26 Jan 2008 11:27am
Harald from Frankfurt am Main, Germany
A very nice capture. Congratulations. The 900mm is correct: 2x 300mm=600mm x 1,5 crop factor for APS-C System(alpha 100) = 900mm .
26 Jan 2008 12:10pm
@Harald: Thank you Harald for your comment. I appreciate you pointing out the 900 mm issue. It makes better sense to me now. I had this reading on other images and could not understand it. Thank you for your knowledge and input.
Judy from Brooksville-Florida,, Afghanistan
GREAT shot, Barb........he's watching your every move!
I'm thrilled to have Harald's math calculations as well.
26 Jan 2008 3:29pm
Dylan from Delhi, United States
Nice dof here. Alligators are really cool looking creatures.
26 Jan 2008 4:39pm
Calusarus from St Sorlin en Valloire, France
Nice shot. Great sharpen. 600 mm ! Did you use a tripod ?
26 Jan 2008 5:27pm
@Calusarus: I did not use a tripod, for the shot I laid on the ground near waters edge to be at the same level as the gator. Thank you for your comment.
bm from Budapest, Hungary
Wow, scary even with the 300mm and the teleconverter...but must be fascinating living in such proximity to so amazing a wildlife!
26 Jan 2008 6:21pm
Toño from Estella, Spain
Very good shot.It must have been difficult to get such a good focus with that powerfull tele.Congratulations.
26 Jan 2008 6:53pm
Michael Rawluk from Prince George, Canada
It has a gorgeous eye there.
Did you have someone watching your back. Maybe he was just the distraction.
26 Jan 2008 8:30pm
@Michael Rawluk: Thank you Michael. Interesting thought that he may have been the distraction. There was no need to worry in this situation. Their eyes are amazing. In the larger gators the size of their eyes are like golf balls.
Anita from West Nottingham, United States
I like that huge eye staring out of the photo; it makes me smile.
Even after Harald's explanation, I still don't understand the 900mm. I have had a similar question on my site.
27 Jan 2008 11:58am
Kristen Piece from Brooklyn, United States
their eyes are magical-- beautiful shots--- cheers!
27 Jan 2008 5:12pm
baobab from Cambridge, United States
Very cool shot! Seeing the great shots on your blog makes me even more excited about a planned trip to the Everglades/Keys. I think you've also convinced me that it's worth hauling along my Really Big Rather Heavy lens :)
29 Jan 2008 5:36am
@baobab: Thank you for your very kind comment. If it were me I would bring that big heavy lens. My theory is I would hate to miss a shot because I didn't bring what I needed. In case you have not been to this area, we also have a variety of birds of prey and waterfowl. The gators are easy to capture if you go to the right places. For the best shot you do not behave like a tourist. Enjoy your Everglades/Keys adventure.
baobab from Cambridge, United States
Thanks Barbara - that's great advice. I haven't been to that part of Florida before, and love wildlife and wilderness. We're really look forward to the trip!
2 Feb 2008 11:25pm
Twelvebit from Victoria, United States
Nice shot. I've got a cheapo 70-300 zoom and I found out quickly that I couldn't get anything sharp enough unless I cranked up my ISO --I imagine bracing of some kind is also critical at 600 mm. I noticed my 300mm reports in EXIF as 450mm, and assumed it was as Harald says, but I'm still not sure why. After all, the lens is sold as a 300mm not a 450mm. I've never seen the EXIF standard but I'm guessing it must include some kind of reference conversion to the 35mm film frame ---hence the focal length conversion. Still, since the camera type data is in EXIF,so why not report the focal length as it relates to the camera instead of how it relates to the focal length of old 35mm film based cameras?
11 Feb 2008 3:08pm
Sony DSLR-A100
1/500 second
F/11.0
ISO 800
600 mm