Wildlife Photography across the Water: Nikon D3/s Jack of all trades

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Nikon D3/s Jack of all trades

I was going through my images yesterday and it struck me that since moving over to Nikon and in particuarly getting the D3/D3s that my photography has diversified, Mainly i think to the fact that i enjoy using the Nikon kit so much, It really does suit the way i shoot and has made really has put the joy back into my photography, I dont mean to come over as a fan boy but looking at the different kinds of photography that i now do shows that something in me has changed, I am not saying that you could not do the same with Canon gear its just that when i shot Canon i really only did wildlife images and towards the end dabbled with some portraiture-all in 14 years, Now i have only had my Nikon gear for 20 months i have shot wildlife,Landscapes,Portraits,Architecture,street scenes-well you get the idea so lets take a look back over some of my images over the last 20 months

Wildlife-Night and Day

The D3/s has excellent dynamic range and holds whites and highlights very well

The AF is very good and holds the subject right through the scene

The Nikon CLS flash system is excellent-easily adjustable and controlable

The D3 is renowned for low grain at high ISO opening up new opportunities for the wildlife photographer and soon agencies were accepting images at ISO 1600 and up without question
Here is a marmot at ISO 1600 with the D3

And finally underwater with the new Nikon 16-35F4 it was a great combo that opened up a whole new world to me

Noise reduction has become a thing of the past since getting a D3
I did a fair amount of macro work around my garden last year, Full frame cameras have a different DOF to cropped cameras and the D3 showed great detail in the images
This image made it through to the finals in Natures Best comp for gardens and backyards

and this is still one of my favourites from last year

I did some street photography when i was in NY and really enjoyed it, The 14-24 is perfect for this kind of shoot and used with the SB900 flash can give some very creative results

And whilst in NY i did some landscapes as well

I also did quite a few Landscapes when i visited the beautiful Smokey Mountains in Tennessee

And even at Disney

Since moving to the States i have got involved with some community and sports events

I have a home studio and the D3 images printed from shoots there have met with acclaim from clients who have had their images printed to A3+ and bigger

And of course you always take images for fun when with friends

Well this started out to be a quick blog about how the D3 has changed my style of photography and has ended as being a bit of an epic for my apologies for that, I hoe what it has shown is that it has made me a more rounded and creative photographer, Its the heart of a fantastic system and the D3s can only improve on that-Back to Disney tomorrow but i dont think that their will be much photography done this time

Dave

3 comments:

Bobbster9 June 2010 at 21:29
Some cracking images there, spooky I am toying with the idea of switching from Canon to Nikon!
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Anonymous10 June 2010 at 03:04
beautiful photographs.... Whats the Camera you use?

please visit my Blog
http://tony-fernando.blogspot.com/
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Dave10 June 2010 at 14:32
Hi Tony

The clue is in the title-a Nikon D3 and now i have the s model

Bobbster good luck in making the decision, Its a tough and expensive one to make, Personally i am very pleased that i moved over but it does take a while to get used to the Nikon kit

Dave
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.