Need urgent help on using Nikon 600mm f4 VRII to shoot snow owls

[Ligament]

Howdy all,

I'm not a bird photographer, but a friend is taking me to shoot snow owls in one day. I have rented the Nikon 600mm f4 VR II to mount to my D800e, have a wemberly gimbal head and RRS top of the line tripod. Also have a nikon 900 speedlight and better beamer.

Anyway, I need a real fast tutorial on how to properly use a 600mm lens and photograph such birds. Also have no experience with the better beamer. thanks in advance!

[BrianWJH]

This would be a good place to start http://www.glennbartley.com/

Cheers.

[Rocco Penny]

I don't have a vr zoom, but an old Nikon ED 600mm f5.6 and a 1.5 crop sensor-
soo,
shooting birds with a bigun and a nice tripd/head is supposed to be fun,
see the owls...
then stop down as far as practicable getting a detailed but focused loci
realize that with my 600 the DOF is really quite flat
so try and get the dof at the same time,
then color and field
because doing all those things at once with a 600 is really a matter of practice,
like firing a pistol.
not so easy but clearly defines one's mindset and determination, not to mention physicality and just out and out luck finding these creatures and hoping they'll pose-
also be quiet-
wild animals are used to that
just enjoy is the main thing