Nature Photo taking with T6s

[jameswingert]

I just screwed myself out of a possible nice shot because I realize I'm so still a novice not an intermediate like I thought.  I'm shooting with a T6s EF S 18-135mm STM,  I saw a coyote tonight with a rabbit in his mouth.  Shooting conditions were this: Full Night. Good amount of ambient light from the many parking lot lights around.  Low cloud ceiling reflecting light and snow on the ground.  I'm just not happy with my shots, too grainy from high ISO 12800, too dark from bad choices on aperture and shutter speed 1/60 at f/5.6 but really anything around there isn't giving me light I want.  And shutter speed too slow to still movement.  with the light conditions I describe does a setting jump out at anybody that they would use in that situation...??

[jameswingert]

TCampbell-  Thanks so much for the great words.  It's great to hear all of youz thoughts and comments.  Here's some of what I got, about five shots total.  I'd be willing to go with a softer image for any noise reduction.  I've tried in LR but it doesn'tget close to where I want to be.  

[jameswingert]

ahhhh....that's fantastic info! This was the best image I got.  I wished I had been able to get him with some white behind his head for a better silhouette. But what you said about the lower aperture is good to know.  I'm still just figuring out what I got.

 

[ebiggs1]

This is one answer ....

"You can get the Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM Lens and instantly improve your chances.  It is three stops faster right off the bat."

Your current lens is just way too slow for what you seek.  Beside the obvious noise introduced with a higher ISO, you also need to think about 'Dynamic Range' (DR).  You are well beyond your camera's DR when you have the white highlights in the background.

Remember shoot RAW.  Recoverable data is more likely in under exposure than in blown out.  If you can see yourself getting Photoshop and ACR9, you will have better RAW processing ability.