The dam down the road (dial up warning)

[CC]

had gates open today so after I came home from the vets, grabbed the spouse and the camera to go take pics. The weather was even decent. So here are some dam photos and extras.


Conowingo Dam
Nikon D70 ISO 200 Tiffin 87 infrared filter 1sec. F 4.0 17mm


Conowingo Dam
Nikon D70 ISO 200 1/320 F9 35mm


Conowingo Dam
Nikon D70 ISO 200 1/800 f7.1 105mm (maybe)


Conowingo Dam
Nikon D70 ISO 200 1/800 f7.1 158mm (maybe)


Seagull at Dam
Nikon D70 ISO 200 1/1600 F25 122mm



Then we got really lucky because the eagles came out for the evening tease the photogs game. They fly in fast, get as far as they can while still making you hope you can get a shot of them. Then they sit, and sit, and sit, while you wait and wait for them to fly. All together counting what we could see with binoculars across the river there were 19 of them. So here are our sadistic eagles.


Way across the river on the tower.
Nikon D70 ISO 200 1/250 f6 300mm


Coming in for a landing.
Nikon D70 ISO 200 1/800 f5.7 300 mm convert to bl & wh.


Sitting and laughing at photographers.
Nikon D70 ISO 200 1/320 f6 300mm


A photog left, time to take off, oops one sees me gotta drop behind the tree before she gets another pic.
Nikon D70 ISO 200 1/800 f6 300mm


Then they kicked us out because it was almost 5pm and as spouse said "Can't get close to the dam, can't watch the sunset because of * wars." Once the last photog left the eagles most likely had a great laugh and partied on all the fish the dam was churning up.

Credit for the Eagle conversation goes to everyone at the dam waiting for flights.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Very cool...

I like the rainbows. I got an eagle shot the other day, too, but it wasn't really good enough to post. Yours are beautiful.

[CC]

3. I weeded through a lot

of very bad ones. also stayed there for two f'ing hours with the camera trained on one eagle. good thing I was one of about 5 with cameras so I was arrested for staking out the dam with camera. I really didn't think I would have any worth seeing until these. If I want to do eagles, osprey etc I really really need a longer lens. But I priced those 1500mms and I can just dream on.
Will have to wait until spring and try again one day when they open all the gates. Course they flood the towns down river when they do that. We decided not to go see if Port was flooded today.

[ConsAreLiars]

2. The "Coming In" and "Seagull" images are stunning.

All very nice and worth sharing with some pride, but those two stand out. The Seagull pic is not "fine art" according to all the rules, but it is one of those images that demands that the viewer look again, and again, and wonder, and look again. Not sure why, but I like it. Why the eagle "coming in" is appealing is more obvious.

[CC]

4. The seagull was a lucky shot

and trying to follow rules would of meant no shot. He swooped in as I was getting ready to focus further out in hope of some bird fishing in the spray. And he was gone before the second shot. Eagle coming in another luck shot and one of many just trying. Helped to have others around to warn me and by then I knew where his tree was. Thank you.

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. Love the eagle coming in for a landing!

First photo of eagle flying over the tree :thumbsup:

[FM Arouet666]

5. Love the first pic

I will have to get an infrared filter, makes the shot look surreal.

[CC]

8. Well first make sure your

camera can do IF. If you are digital you can start here http://www.nature-photography-central.com/DigitalInfraredPhotography.html on reading. F. Gordon started me looking at this, then I saw E. Zippi's photos using the D70 and decided to try it. I am a beginer on IF so do a lot of searches and reading.

[usedtobesick]

6. I lived in Aberdeen for many months during my Army time

this was where I went to get away from post and enjoy being normal. Great shots!!!

[CC]

9. I will have to start putting where

some of my photos are taken. At least the ones in Susquehanna State Park or the ones from The Rocks. The parks have stayed pretty much the same though you can no longer walk on top of the dam or get too close to it. Depending on how long ago you were in Aberdeen you might not recognize Harford County. Except for the very north east corner near the park or toward Delta PA it has become a suburb of Baltimore. Rt.24 is a death defying adventure in travel anymore.

[F.Gordon]

7. Photographers? As in more than one?

The eagle shots where .... (doing my worst Ashcroft impression) the eagles soar are simply awesome. And I love the shots where the light prism is seen in the huge water spray.

I have too many questions so I'll just keep it short and ask one. Since my digie can't do infrared and since the "King of Stupid" didn't research his filmsie to find out that it can't shoot infrared film....relied on the "expertise" of some jerk in a camera store.....

Question: On your filter shot how did you come up with your settings?

[CC]

10. You could ask away

question wise. You don't have an old point and shoot digital around that you could test for IR? As for the settings, that is when I really learned to use a histogram and I bracket a lot. I have to tripod it, set up the shot and get everything in focus. Then I have to make sure to flip it over to manual focus and not move the camera at all when putting on the filter. I take one camera metered shot to get an idea of what setting to use. Usually it is way over exposed but gives me a starting point to base my guesstimates on. I need to find time and weather to just go out and shoot IF over and over. I was told that with time and practice I will get better at guessing what the settings need to be.
Maybe you could watch pawn shops for a D70 to use for IF. With the new D50 and D200 out they may have some show up. A D100 will do IF too. Course they are all Nikons, seems Canon can't do digital IF. I'm thinking of watching for a second one since I found out you can make a D70 a permanent IF camera by having a filter on it removed. I bring up pawn shops because I met someone that bought a film Rebel and digital Rebel together at a pawn shop last year for $450.00 for both.

Edited to add-- Yes photographers (about 20 of them eventually), birders and a lady that found it while lost. She had never seen an eagle in the wild so got two of her must see, a wild eagle and one in flight. It was sunny and near 60 here so a great day to play hooky from work and go take pics.

[F.Gordon]

11. My Nikon 950 can be converted to infrared

I printed out the instructions. Have to replace the green glass inside the camera with a clear glass piece... and presto chango.... infrared camera. But it's a bit complicated. Tear the entire camera apart and put it back together again.

I hate the idea of buying another camera :eyes: just for infrared but I know that the digital rebel can be converted to infrared. Maybe I should check out the pawn shops. Given this "booming economy" we are in :eyes: there might be something cheap I can pick up. I can still shoot with the filmsie using the filter... just haven't tried it yet on regular film.... just the infrared which has gone to the land of dead shots.

Thanks for the tips on using the filter. I "guessed" that it is a bit hit and miss. Requires a lot of practice and learning... sumtin' you've seemed to have picked up very quickly.

[Cobalt Violet]

13. Those are some great shots.

Those eagle are so cool.

[alkaline9]

14. Cool!!

The eagle landing and the seagull are both great captures. The infrared filter photo took me a few looks to realize that the trees in the background weren't a tidal wave (looks like lots of whitewater), but I really like the look and feel of the sky and water in that one.