Category Archives: Video

Tanzania – The Great Migration – Photo Safari

February 16, 2018 by sverma | 0 Comments

August 21 – August 30, 2018

This is a trip of a lifetime for 10 of you to observe and photograph The Great Migration in Tanzania this coming August. More than 1 million wildebeest and over 200,000 zebra migrate from The Serengeti in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara in Kenya – crossing the Mara River at the risk of meeting their demise in the jaws of a Nile crocodile. This is the GREATEST wildlife spectacle on earth and we put you in the middle of it and we put you there in comfort!

Not only will you observe the migration but you have excellent prospects at photographing every other awesome animal there is to photograph in Tanzania – giraffe, cape buffalo, leopard, cheetah, rhino, lion, elephant, birds galore, monkeys, hippo, waterbuck, mongoose, baboon, crocs, serval cat(maybe), gazelle, topi, wildebeest zebra, and many, many more.

This safari has an unbeatable price for photographers of all skill levels.  Accompanying spouses/partners are most welcome to participate.  

Call 617.759.0010 or use the contact page if you need more information

 

Check out the details and confirmed camps

 

Also posted in Africa, Photography, Workshops Tagged , , , |

Aquatic Birds of Florida

February 16, 2017 by sverma | 0 Comments

Before I say anything, I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not a videographer.  I captured these clips while I was in Florida during the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, late January 2017.  All these were captured during my photo walks/drives in Black Point Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island.  The primary purpose was to tryout the “In Body Image Stabilization” aka IBIS of the Panasonic Lumix G85 camera body.  The camera was used with the Leica 100 – 400 mm lens at its full extension that is an equivalent of 800 mm (most of the time).  All footage was captured hand-held and in many instances during high winds and rain.  

It is important to note, that all the footage was captured before Panasonic released two major firmware updates, one of the camera and the other for the lens.  What this means is that the Dual IS function was not in effect when these videos were captured.  

I was very impressed with the performance of this camera and lens combination and will be doing a comparison to see the impact of the new firmware when I am at the next conference in St. Augustine in April.

To see the video in 4K please CLICK HERE to be directed to YouTube

 

Also posted in Lens, Lumix Leica 100-400 mm, Mirrorless, Panasonic, Workshops Tagged , , , , , , , , |

Zeiss Batis 2.8/18 Lens for Sony E-Mount Announced

April 14, 2016 by sverma | 0 Comments

batis2818_productThe ZEISS Batis 2.8/18 expands the Batis range of lenses with a super wide-angle lens. For the Sony α system with E-mount the new lens, which features a diagonal angular field of 99 degrees, is currently the shortest full-frame fixed focal length with autofocus. The new ZEISS Batis 2.8/18 with innovative OLED display to show focus distance and depth of field is also impressive thanks to its high image quality across the entire image field. The lens will be available from May 2016.

Features for discerning users 
The super wide-angle camera lens has 11 lens elements in ten groups and draws on the ZEISS Distagon optical design. Four of the lens elements are aspheric on both sides and seven are made from special types of glass. The Floating Elements design permits constantly high image performance in the focal plane – from the minimum object distance to infinity.
The lens will be available from May 2016. The suggested retail price is US$1,499
Also posted in Accessories, Lens, Mirrorless, News, Photography, Sony A7R, Zeiss

Photo Plus Expo 2014 and Lumix Lounge

November 5, 2014 by sverma | 0 Comments

PPE2014

Spent three fantastic days in NY City at the Photo Plus Expo.  Saw some great stuff that I will be blogging about soon.  The mirror-less world continues to pick up steam and there is a lot happening with this lighter better world of photography.  Trending – HYBRID – animated stills and more.

Was honored to be invited and to be interviewed in the Panasonic Lumix Lounge by none other than Frederick Van Johnson.  Click here for the interview.

Panasonic had an awesome booth with lost of gear for visitors to test out, demos, 4K TVs and the fantastic new LX100 – I want one.  Use the link to check it out.

Also posted in Panasonic GH4, Photography, Shows, Workshops Tagged , , , , , , , , , , |

Star-trails in the Southern Hemisphere

July 24, 2014 by sverma | 0 Comments

Finding Polaris or the North Star is easy in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, finding Sigma Octantis is very difficult. The star lies in the constellation of Octans and has a magnitude of 5.5 making it barely visible even on a clear night.  One can use the Southern Cross to make an attempt at locating its position but it will never be really accurate.  I did my best and set up my cameras to do a time-lapse.  This was the night Germany played Brazil in the World Cup.

My tripod and camera must have aroused the curiosity of the night security guard at Eagle Island Camp.  He kindly moved my rig to a more secure position on the tiles of the swimming pool.  This was after 395 images had been captured with about 105 to go.  Sequence disrupted but in my opinion the stack is interesting.  Sigma Octantis is in the top left corner of the frame – INVISIBLE.

Stars in Africa are incredibly bright as indicated by the EXIF data.  These images were captured using the Panasonic Lumix GH4 and the 12 to 35 mm Lumix Vario lens.  Exposure triad: f/2.8, 13 sec, ISO 200 – no noise reduction required.

In hindsight, I should have added an ND filter and increased the exposure to 25 seconds or closed down the aperture to f/4.  This would have extended the individual trails.

Your comments would be appreciated.

Eagle Island Star Trail

Eagle Island, Botswana –  Star Trail

Also posted in Africa, Composite, Mirrorless, Motion, Night Photography, Panasonic GH4, Photography, Stacked Image, Star Trails, Time-Lapse, Workshops Tagged |

Southern Carmine Bee-eater

July 23, 2014 by sverma | 0 Comments

It was a rare but awesome opportunity to see this pair of Carmine Bee-eaters in Botswana. The Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoides) is primarily found in sub-equatorial African region. These are migratory birds that spend the winter August to November (breeding season) in Zimbabwe. They move south to Botswana and  South Africa for the summer and then migrate to equatorial Africa from March to August.

Southern Carmine Bee Eater - Panasonic Lumix GH4 with the Lumix 100 - 300 mm lens. Exposure: f/6.3, 1/2000 sec at ISO 400

Southern Carmine Bee-eater – Panasonic Lumix GH4 with the Lumix 100 – 300 mm lens, hand held. Exposure: f/6.3, 1/2000 sec. at ISO 400

Also posted in Africa, Mirrorless, Panasonic GH4, Photography, Workshops Tagged , , , , |

Chobe National Park – Leopard

July 21, 2014 by sverma | 0 Comments

Leopards are normally shy and elusive, not this one.  This very large male allowed us to follow him for an hour while he marked his territory.  At times he came to within ten feet of the Land Cruiser we were following him in.  We lost him when a large male hyena charged him.  This was one magnificent specimen and as per the guide one of the largest leopards in Chobe National Park – Botswana.

Male Leopard - Chobe National Park

Male Leopard – Chobe National Park

 

The animal is partially backlit that made this image worth including in this post. Click on the image for a larger view.

Photographed with a Panasonic Lumix GH4 and the 100 – 300 mm Lumix lens.  Exposure triad: f/8, 1/500 sec at ISO 400.  Focal length 170 mm (340mm full frame equivalent).

Also posted in Africa, Mirrorless, Panasonic GH4, Photography Tagged , , , |

In search of the Lilac Breasted Roller

July 19, 2014 by sverma | 2 Comments

I do not believe a trip to Southern Africa would be complete without a good image of the Lilac Breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus). Many images were taken during this trip to Botswana and many rejected till this opportunity. The bird is fairly skittish and very fast in leaving its perch. Here it gave me a lovely pose and the catchlight was just right.

Panasonic Lumix GH4 with the Panasonic Lumix Vario 100-300 f/4-5.OIS lens at 264mm. Exposure Triad, f/5.6, 1/3200 sec, ISO 400. The image has been slightly cropped on the left for improved composition.

Lilac Breasted Roller, Botswana 2014

Lilac Breasted Roller, Botswana 2014

Also posted in Africa, Mirrorless, Panasonic GH4, Photography, Workshops Tagged , , , |

Using Mirror-less Cameras in Africa

July 16, 2014 by sverma | 0 Comments

For my 2014 South Africa and Botswana photo tour I used only MILS cameras – a Sony A7R for some of the big landscapes and night photography, a Panasonic Lumix GH4 for action and wildlife (mainly with the Lumix Vario 100 to 300 mm which is  a 200 to 600 mm equivalent) and the Olympus OMD EM1 mainly with a Lumix Vario 35 to 100 mm (70 – 200 mm equivalent) for closer subjects and wider FOV.  Have no regrets and no disappointments at all.  The focusing is fast, shutter actuations at 12 and 11 FPS, accurate tracking and continuous focus. The next two images are of a sunset captured in the Shinde concession in Botswana:

Shinde Sunset - Panasonic GH4, 100 mm (200 mm eq) f/5.6, 1/6400 sec, ISO 800 - Hand held

Shinde Sunset – Panasonic GH4, 100 mm (200 mm eq) f/5.6, 1/6400 sec, ISO 800 – Hand held

 

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New Moon in Botswana – Panasonic GH4, 100 mm (200 mm eq.), f/5.6, 1/10 sec, ISO 6400 – Hand held

Red-billed Francolin (Francolinus adspersus)

Red-billed Francolin (Francolinus adspersus) – Panasonic GH4, 100-300mm at 300 mm (600 mm eq.), f/7.1, 1/1250 sec, ISO 800 – hand held.

Earlier in the day this Red-billed Francolin was captured sitting on a termite mound.

Contact Gary Farber or Keth Patankar at Hunt’s Photo & Video for all your Mirror-less Camera Needs

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Also posted in Africa, Mirrorless, Panasonic GH4, Photography, Workshops

Absence

July 14, 2014 by sverma | 2 Comments

It has been over a month since I posted on my blog. Here is the excuse – I left for an Iceland trip (the third one this year).  We did a complete circle around the island and more.  It was an incredible trip.  Many images – downloaded but not reviewed yet.  Came back to the USA for three days – enough time to pack for the next excursion – Africa. Specifically South Africa and Botswana.  A WOW trip.  Flew back on Thursday arriving at 11:30 AM.  Home by 1:00 PM – a quick switch of suitcases, shower and off to Amherst for the 69th annual NECCC conference.  This is undoubtedly the best photography related event in the US if not the world.  Next year it will be extra special – the 70th.

It has been a lot of fun and getting used to the mirror-less world.  Took a Sony A7R full frame, Panasonic GH4 and Olympus OMD EM1, both MFT bodies with a full compliment of lenses from 7 to 300 mm (14 to 600 equivalent in full frame terms)  I have never been happier – small, light, easy, and super image quality.

I posted this on Facebook but here it is again:

A lion at sunset.

A Lion at Sunset

Panasonic Lumix GH4 with the Lumix Vario 100 – 300 mm f/4 – 5.6  lens at 300mm. EXIF info:  ISO 400, f/6.3 and 1/100 sec.  Hand held with image stabilization on.

Contact Gary Farber or Keth Patankar at Hunt’s Photo & Video for all your Mirror-less Camera Needs

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Also posted in Africa, Mirrorless, Panasonic GH4, Photography