Wildlife and Wild Animals

[Corran]

Having posted quite a bit in the "Pets/Animals" thread, I thought we needed a more specific Wildife thread, for animals out in the wild rather than mostly house pets. Not that I don't love dogs/cats but it's a fairly different situation!

It's a pretty crazy idea to shoot wild animals with a slow 4x5 but for me it's a lot of fun. Maybe I'm connecting with my inner hunter/gatherer (I don't hunt). I hope others have maybe done the same and will post here!

Anyway - I shot two photos of a yearling Friday. He was one of the calmest and most nonchalant deer I've ever seen. He was only spooked when another hiker with a dog showed up. I stalked him for about an hour to get these two shots. The first is slightly cropped, the second is the whole sheet. Both were shot with a Nikkor-M 300mm f/9 wide-open, 1/30 of a second, on T-Max 400. It was an overcast late afternoon so I needed a speed boost to pull that off, so I used Acufine developer to give me an ASA of about 800 (developed for 4:30 at 70F):

[C. D. Keth]

That second one is a great catch to be full frame. 300mm is positively wide angle in the wildlife world. Well done!

[Corran]

True, and thanks! He was only about 15-20ft. away there. In a perfect world I would have reoriented my GG to vertical and dropped the lens a bit to get his reflection in the water that you can see a hint of at the bottom of the frame.

[Corran]

Didn't know where to put this so I'll revive this thread I made last year!
I guess bugs count!

This "golden silk orb-weaver," or as we commonly call them down here, banana spider, was kind enough to stay very still for me. This was a nice big one, probably almost the size of my hand. They are completely harmless but do look scary!

Chamonix 45n1, Horseman 6x12, 150mm f/5.6 APO Schneider, Pan F+, Tanol, f/11, 15s exposure, cropped to 2x3 ratio:

[gogo120]

roe landscape


4x5
fp4 @200asa / rodinal 1:50
N

[analoguey]

Having posted quite a bit in the "Pets/Animals" thread, I thought we needed a more specific Wildife thread, for animals out in the wild rather than mostly house pets. Not that I don't love dogs/cats but it's a fairly different situation!

It's a pretty crazy idea to shoot wild animals with a slow 4x5 but for me it's a lot of fun. Maybe I'm connecting with my inner hunter/gatherer (I don't hunt). I hope others have maybe done the same and will post here!

Anyway - I shot two photos of a yearling Friday. He was one of the calmest and most nonchalant deer I've ever seen. He was only spooked when another hiker with a dog showed up. I stalked him for about an hour to get these two shots. The first is slightly cropped, the second is the whole sheet. Both were shot with a Nikkor-M 300mm f/9 wide-open, 1/30 of a second, on T-Max 400. It was an overcast late afternoon so I needed a speed boost to pull that off, so I used Acufine developer to give me an ASA of about 800 (developed for 4:30 at 70F):

Nice shots!
You got within 15-20 ft and got to compose? Wow. Must've been a very nonchalant deer then!

[Corran]

Thanks!
He was just chewing the cud for the most part but he moved a lot. It took me a long time to get the shots - I would setup, and then pull the darkslide, and then he'd walk away. But perseverance pays off. I like the second shot and it made a good print.

[analoguey]

Certainly does and the second shot with the water also in frame would've made for some viewing too!

[Chauncey Walden]

Mountain goats in the Rockies taken on 4x5 using a 135mm lens.

[Randy]

Just for fun







360mm Yamasaki Congo @ f/11, 1/25th with Packard shutter, 8X10 X-ray film...out my dining room window