Honestly I can’t remember what my first digital camera was. It was a Nikon. Maybe a D70. Organizing all my digital photographs has given me an opportunity to compare improvements in cameras and technology. It’s truly remarkable. The noise in my first photographs almost gave them the look of a painting.
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The crazy part is that I have NOT taken any photographs of Big Horn with a D4 or D4s. The most current camera was the D3s. In addition to the noise, after time I started shooting in Raw. Thus giving me more options in post. With most of the photographs I post I crank up the exposure a little. I do this to reduce the darkening that happens when posting on the NET. Also the dynamic range is cut and the photos are more contrasty after posting. Like this photo that has some burned out spots. It stinks….
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The firing rate has dramatically increased over the years. And the addition of vibration reduction on lenses has made it possible to shoot in lower light and still capture sharp photo’s. These little guys were shot in the shadows of a cliff. Amazing climbers!
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I have posted before about the following photo. It was my first summer experience with a manual 600mm lens and a digital camera. I hiked back about three miles near the north entrance of Yellowstone Park. The rangers told me that there was a certain open area that several Big Horn sheep would gather and feed. They mentioned that there were a couple of senior Big Horn with huge horns. When I finally found them it was mid day. Terrible lighting. I waited for some time. As I waited for that “perfect” composition, I was getting tired and hot. I shot so many photo’s I was running out of space on my ONLY compact flash card. Soon I was erasing photo’s. More waiting, more shooting and even more erasing of photographs. Then it happened. Three huge Big Horn sheep struck a pose. It looked wonderful in the eyepiece. So good I almost forgot to fire. I literally took one shot then they move away from their “pose”. The photo seems to have glamour glow, and manual bokah. But if you look close it has tons of noise. It was shot at what at the time was a very high ISO to attempt a sharp photo. In terms of sharpness it is great. It terms of noise it’s out there!! I have to say though that this photograph when displayed gets the most positive comments.
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Over the years I have really enjoyed hanging out with these wonderful animals. They really amaze me. I have found them out in fields and on crazy vertical cliffs. Tons and tons of fond memories that I will not soon forget.
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