Canon 1200 D DSLR (T5, T6)

Very cool, Karl! It still takes a lot to get a good picture of wildlife!

Pic #1 - Sunrise on the Lake, Pic #2 - A "Downy Woodpecker." I heard him long before I saw him. It took me a moment to find him. Pic #3 - A Beaver standing to reach the Good Stuff. Pic #4 - The Old Valve House. Pic #5 - The Valve. It's all rusted now, but it was opened and closed every day back at the turn of the century to allow water from the lake to flow to Radnor Yard where the old steam Locomotives would stop to refill with fresh water and coal.

All shots hand held, Manually focused and Manually set using the Canon T5 (1200D).

Pic 1, an American Cardinal. A very common bird to see in Tennessee, but I still think they are beautiful.

Pic 2, A Turtle covered in green slimy algae, trying to sun himself on a log.

Pic 3, Another Downy Woodpecker. He was making a Hell of a racket up there.

All Pics hand held, shot with the Canon T5 (1200D) manual focus and manual settings. Using the 70 to 300 mm lens.

They are all great, Karl. But I absolutely adore Cardinals! We have those here an they have a beautiful song as well. I know they are glorified finches, but I just love 'em! Ty for my morning nature fix!

yeah big red finches is all they are. They're all over the place here.

Pic 1, full moon - this morning at about 5:45 I was sitting in the Starbucks drive through buying a Cup to go and I snapped this picture from the Jeep.

Pic 2, Yes Canada, We have your Geese. If you want them back you'll have to pay a small ransom.........

All Pics Hand Held (of course), manual settings and focus.

Sigh.... I wish I could shoot that well with all manual settings. Guess I've just gotten lazy and let the camera make it's own best guess. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Well, sometimes the Manual Stuff works too and sometimes it doesn't. I probably toss out more pics than I keep. You'll probably get more and better pictures with the Auto select options than with the Manual selections unless you're a really good photographer.

I use the Manual Settings more often because I believe it makes me a better photographer. I learn what works and what doesn't. If I simply let the camera "Auto" everything, I may end up with some good pictures, but I'm not learning anything. Back when I used film cameras many years ago, the Instructor I had in my photo classes would not let us use Auto on our pictures. She wanted us to use the Manual options whenever possible. I guess that's still in my head today.

Karl, JMO but anyone worth anything in photography these day tosses a lot of pictures. They also do postprocessing.

I use autofocus and aperture priority most of the time. It gives me a lot of control but also lets all that fancy software in the camera do its job.

With the snakes, the best way for me to get a focused pic on any camera is to use a touchscreen and tap to set the focus point. I let the camera take it from there. But the bottom line is, whatever works for you. If you like full manual, and obviously you can pull it off, go for it!

I believe the product is more important than the process, though it is always interesting to know how it was done. I'm also learning not to let the higher ISOs the camera uses bother me within reason. I limit mine to 1600 tops. These digital cameras are just different animals than the old film SLRs were.

Originally Posted by Karl_Mcknight

Well, sometimes the Manual Stuff works too and sometimes it doesn't. I probably toss out more pics than I keep. You'll probably get more and better pictures with the Auto select options than with the Manual selections unless you're a really good photographer.

I use the Manual Settings more often because I believe it makes me a better photographer. I learn what works and what doesn't. If I simply let the camera "Auto" everything, I may end up with some good pictures, but I'm not learning anything. Back when I used film cameras many years ago, the Instructor I had in my photo classes would not let us use Auto on our pictures. She wanted us to use the Manual options whenever possible. I guess that's still in my head today.

I shot 35mm film for years, and, after having two cameras stolen, I finally got back into the game a few years back with a Canon DSLR. I shot in Auto a lot at first, mostly because I was out of practice. I challenged myself to shoot only in Manual mode for a month two years ago. It really helped me understand my new camera. These days I shoot Manual, or in Aperture Priority Mode (Av) if I'm shooting fast.

Excellent work, by the way. I wish I lived so close to that much wildlife!

Take care, and I can't wait to see a better shot of that bald eagle.