Canon EF 1.4x II Extender Sample Pictures

A Black-Capped Chickadee stands on a piece of dead wood in this picture.

A White-Breasted Nuthatch in a classic pose.

A Pennsylvania Groundhog senses danger in this picture.

The ball leaves the foot of a young lady putting everything she has into the big kick. A 1.4x extender was used for this shot.

This Pennsylvania Opposum (not to be confused with the related but different Austrailian Possum) was venturing out of hibernation in search of some early spring food. Opposums are generally slow and not hard to catch up to - but watch out for those teeth!

This Eastern Bluebird is fending off another bird while holding its meal - a spider.

Cute wiskers! And what a nice long pink nose this Opossum is sporting! Thin leathery ears, a soft fuzzy face and thick winter fur. This Opossum was a compliant subject.

This Dark-Eyed (Slate-Colored) Junco, with his feathers ruffled, sits on a frozen Butterfly Bush as the snow falls around him.

A beautiful Tufted Titmouse stands atop a dead tree.

Two upside down, two right side up. Impressive precision flying by the US Navy's Blue Angels.
 
Air show photography tip: Because many of these passes are made at low elevation, it is extremely helpful to have a front row (against the fence) shooting position. In this location, you will not have heads in your way as you swing with the action.

The US Navy Blue Angels fly in a tight diamond formation over Andrews AFB.
 
Air show photography tip: Jets fly fast and have no fast-moving visible parts (such as a propeller), so use a fast shutter speed to get sharp shots. Try to shoot at 1/1000 sec or faster and always pan with the aircraft.
 
Or get creative - try a panning motion-blur shot to show speed.
 
Notice the clouds framing the diamond formation.

This Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly had the patience and tolerance I needed to capture the shot. Extension tubes (12mm + 25mm) and a 1.4x extender were used to get the desired magnification and defocused background.

This Sharp-shinned Hawk made an attack on the birds I was photographing. He appropriately perched on a Blue Bird Box nearby after the failed attack.

Listen up guys! Want to make the spouse happy AND get a great subject? Bring flowers home with you.
 
This sample photo was taken at near the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM Lens' minimum focus distance. A Canon EF 1.4x Extender was used for this full frame shot - an APS-C/1.6x DSLR would be able frame this shot even slightly tighter than this.
 
Lighting is from studio lights and reflectors.

A beautiful male Cardinal sits in a Thornapple Tree during a winter snow storm. The bright red of the Cardinal stands out in stark contrast to the white falling snow in this picture.

A Black-Capped Chickadee perches in a classic pose in this picture.

A Black-Capped Chickadee that didn't sit still long enough makes an artistically designed picture.

A Blue Jay ruffles his feathers while sitting in the sun.

A Gray Squirrel peers out of a hollow stump in the bright late afternoon sunshine.

Sometimes (not often) wild birds cooperate. Here, two Blue Jays landed on this dead tree at the same time - each looking a different direction. I needed a little more DOF (depth of field) to keep the top birds head in sharp focus.

A flowering Spirea adds color to a Gray Squirrel sitting on a stump.

A beautiful Monarch Butterfly enjoys dinner on a Zinnia flower. Extension tubes (12mm + 25mm) and a 1.4x extender were used to get the desired magnification and defocused background.

The United States Navy's aerobatic flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, performs the Diamond 360 at the Andrews Airforce Base Joint Services Open House. In this formation, the wing tips are 18" from the canopies.
 
Air show photography tip: Because of the distance air show craft are typically performing at, even the widest apertures on most handholdable telephoto lenses will provide enough DOF to deliver an all-in-focus subject. More important may be to stop down the aperture enough to eliminate any vignetting that will be noticeable on an evenly-colored sky.

There are few animals more dangerous than a mother Grizzly Bears with cubs. Lots of focal length is really helpful for safety reasons when not in the protection of a vehicle. In this case I added a 1.4x extender and still cropped to get this framing. My understanding is that it is rare for a Grizzly to have four cubs. This family was at Dunraven Pass.