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Thanks BetterLekNextTime. Have a video of a duck doing things: http://flic.kr/p/8Cmwvn
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Sep 21, 2010 16:49
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Short-billed Dowitcher
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Oct 4, 2010 06:14
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drat good job getting low and on the subjects level; it made for a very nice shot. I have some shots from Six Mile Slough, but none I can get to at the moment. Also, I want a 600 bad 
Bahama.Llama fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Oct 25, 2010 |
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Oct 25, 2010 03:40
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^ Sorry, I'm going to gently caress up your planned edit. Bohemian Waxwings:   Waxwing's have been one of my favorite birds ever since I was a kid, but I think I've only seen them in person a couple times in my life. Yesterday we there were a ton of birds hanging out by my house for no reason. At one time I saw Chicadees, Juncos, Robins, a couple downy woodpeckers and a hummingbird all in the same tiny tree. A little later in the day I glanced out and saw a whole flock of Waxwings. Harlequin Duck's  What I wouldn't have given for a 100-400mm in this situation. I tried to get closer to get some up close shots, but they unfortunately took off. Great Blue Heron    
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Oct 25, 2010 06:06
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No worries  I know birders are notorious for wanting longer glass, so I might as well add this one to the pack. This was 160 feet out and is a 100% crop with a 400 f5.6. Tricolored Heron all worked up.  And my favorite, the  Green Heron! The picture itself is pretty boring (he's not really doing anything) and heavily cropped (100%), but I just love these little guys.
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Oct 25, 2010 16:10
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Finally got a photo of a heron without the leggy bastard flying off  :
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Nov 7, 2010 18:52
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Good work bud. That is some interesting plumage I haven't seen on a Great Blue Heron before. Very neat. Went to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and saw the rare endangered ghost orchid that was blooming out of season along with your usual suspects. Unfortunately, it was way to far away to get a picture of with my gear. I did however get what I wanted (sorta): a Painted Bunting. This guy has been on my list for a while now, however he didn't want to sit outside the feeder, so I had to settle for this one this time. Next time you will be in the beautiful sun drat it!  Also got a Little Blue Heron getting a snack  Here's a 100% on the spider  e: added little blue heron Bahama.Llama fucked around with this message at 01:59 on Nov 9, 2010 |
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Nov 9, 2010 01:49
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Bahama.Llama posted:Good work bud. That is some interesting plumage I haven't seen on a Great Blue Heron before. Very neat. It's actually a Grey Heron which is similar to the Blue Heron but found in Europe and Africa.
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Nov 9, 2010 09:25
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That would explain the different plumage.  Thanks for the follow up.
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Nov 9, 2010 18:44
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I was worried all the birds already left town for winter. But a few ducks were still around.  
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Nov 12, 2010 02:40
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Wattlebird: junior wattlebird by Adam McCarthy, on Flickr Don't know what this is, taken in outback Australia:  Miniature Bird by Adam McCarthy, on Flickr
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Nov 13, 2010 06:22
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 Takeoff Big Grey (Heron?) Bird I took this from a hide at the LWC (London, UK), feeling like a bit of an imposter surrounded by all the die hard twitchers. One bird-geek nearly creamed his pants, having spotted a Bearded Tit in the reeds. Sure, they seem to be pretty rare (around 500 breeding pairs), but still, he acted like he'd just won the lottery and shagged the Olsen Twins.  Guts - Feeding time at the Prague Zoo.  Sugar Rush - Sadly this is the best I could get out of these hyper parrots. A walk-in enclosure at the Prague Zoo, on top of the hill - well worth the walk up to these guys (there's a chair lift for the lazy). less_than_one fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Nov 16, 2010 |
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Nov 16, 2010 22:28
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less_than_one posted:
The others are good but this one is really wicked. I finally forked out the cash for a 2x extender for my 70-200mm, so I'm going to see if any birds are around tomorrow if it's not tipping it down (Which it probably will be, stupid England )
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Nov 22, 2010 18:10
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 Cattle Egret  Great Horned Owl  Double-Crested Cormorant
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Nov 24, 2010 03:35
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 owl by zombiidoctor, on Flickr Wish I had gotten its right eye.
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Nov 26, 2010 04:01
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Nov 26, 2010 04:02
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Got inspired by the great photos posted here. Had a break in the rain this weekend, and shot these from my back stairs. t2i with 70-300IS, ISO 800. 
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Nov 28, 2010 05:07
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Nov 28, 2010 23:32
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Nice. I've been trying to get a decent shot of a Bush Tit myself for a while, but they are the jumpiest birds in the world and only have a vague interest in my feeders.
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Nov 29, 2010 06:33
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Proudly showing off the only time I've ever got close to a bird and not have it run away (zis bird doesn't fly) Weka Weka Weka by i.morrison, on Flickr I think I need to order myself a 1200mm f5.6 just for a little walkabout birding lens.
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Nov 29, 2010 13:06
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Nice. I've been trying to get a decent shot of a Bush Tit myself for a while, but they are the jumpiest birds in the world and only have a vague interest in my feeders. Thanks- yeah, the bushtits they were after bugs on our plantings, not the feeder. They seem really bold until you pull out a camera. This was the first time I've managed to get half-decent pictures. Oh, and beautiful light on the coot, Dread Head. I'm so happy this thread is picking up steam again. A few more from the same day (hope this isn't too critter-questy).  Dark-eyed Junco  White-crowned Sparrow  Western Scrub-jay  Downy Woodpecker  Red-breasted Nuthatch 
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Nov 30, 2010 07:25
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We actually got some nice weather today so I spent some time in the backyard with my far-to-short nifty two-fifty. Yellow Rumped Warblers. First time I've ever seen them.  Yellow Rumped Warbler by beastofexmoor, on Flickr  20101204-20101204-_MG_7179.jpg by beastofexmoor, on Flickr Female and Male House Finches, I believe. Could be Purple Finches as well, I suppose.  20101204-20101204-_MG_7191.jpg by beastofexmoor, on Flickr  20101204-20101204-_MG_7135.jpg by beastofexmoor, on Flickr Black Capped Chicadee.  20101204-20101204-_MG_7133.jpg by beastofexmoor, on Flickr
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Dec 5, 2010 05:35
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Dec 6, 2010 04:49
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Since it says "for n00bs" in the thread, I hope it's ok for a real n00b to ask a question. If this is the wrong thread, please ignore me. This is shot from a distance of maybe 4 meters, here's other relevant data: Camera: SONY Model: DSLR-A200 ISO: 1600 Exposure: 1/400 sec Aperture: 5.6 Focal Length: 300mm Flash Used: No Honestly, it was sunny outside (winter) and I had to go all the way up to 1600 ISO to get it bright enough. My photos seem to get grainy at 800 ISO too, but any lower and my picture is all dark. How do I go from this dark unsharp photo to those beautiful and clear photos in this thread? I think I have a basic understanding of the A/F/S settings on my camera, but I don't think that's the problem here or is it?
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Dec 6, 2010 10:01
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Looks like you've focused on the bird feeder, not the bird. The white of the background is likely messing with your meter too, resulting in an underexposed image. If you shot RAW this isn't such a huge problem, just fix it in post. Sony isn't known for great high ISO, but it isn't that bad at web resolution. Also fixable in post. A fast, quality lens is going to help as well, but the above points seem to be the bigger problem with this picture.
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Dec 6, 2010 13:47
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That still seems pretty dark at those settings if it was sunny outside. Are all of your lenses that dark? If it was sunny at all I can't imagine needing ISO 1600 with f5.6 and 1/400 with my camera. Not to mention it's still underexposed. You don't have a UV filter or anything on your lens do you?
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Dec 6, 2010 14:41
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This seems counter intuitive but the background is what makes a good bird photo. Look at any "good" bird photo and they will usually have a nice plain background with no details, this helps showcase your main subject, the bird in this case without taking away from it. If you are using a feeder you can setup a natural perch with something that is going to give you a pleasant background such as some cut branches or something along those lines.
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Dec 6, 2010 18:08
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My lens isn't L glass or anything fancy, but it does have image stabilization which helps some for hand-holding. If you are having problems with stability, you might try a monopod or tripod (or beanbag/deck railing or whatever you have handy), which might get you another stop for ISO. You might check on-line reviews for your lens to see what kind of performance you should expect. I've been thinking about upgrading to a better telephoto or telephoto zoom, and from what I've been reading, apparently many of the lower priced lenses suck when shooting wide open at their longest focal length. Also, at feeders, you can to some extent pre-focus if you know where the bird is going to land. If your camera has slow or crappy AF, shooting MF might get you another few pics, which for flitty little birds might be all you need.
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Dec 6, 2010 18:50
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subx: No UV filters, no.BetterLekNextTime posted:If you are having problems with stability, you might try a monopod or tripod I'm using a tripod and remote control. quote:Also, at feeders, you can to some extent pre-focus if you know where the bird is going to land. Yeah I prefocused on the feeder (as scottch noted) then moved abit right to try to catch the bird in-flight before or after it landed. It doesn't seem to be 100% focused though. The lens I'm using (75-300mm) is probably the cheapest you can get since it came with the camera (along with a 18-70mm) but it seemed like a good deal at the moment. The problem now is that the sun is up from 10:00 to 15:00 here, and I work from 8 to 16 so not much chance to take more shoots before Saturday.. Thanks for all the pointers, guys! I'll keep shooting and see if anything improves.
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Dec 6, 2010 19:24
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zapateria posted:Since it says "for n00bs" in the thread, I hope it's ok for a real n00b to ask a question. If this is the wrong thread, please ignore me. Not quite sure what the deal is, but this looks like an issue I've run into before when shooting in overcast conditions with sky as a backdrop. Even if I bump up exposure compensation in the camera the sky in the background makes things really difficult. subx posted:That still seems pretty dark at those settings if it was sunny outside. Are all of your lenses that dark? If it was sunny at all I can't imagine needing ISO 1600 with f5.6 and 1/400 with my camera. It may have been sunny outside, but I don't think there was direct light hitting the bird. More than likely it was in shade or possibly there was a cloud over the sun. For reference, the first photo in my post up above is almost the same settings (250mm, ISO 1600, 1/400s, F/5.6). It was taken in the shade of my house on a partly cloudy day. Edit: On the focus issue, it's always possible that the feeder swayed enough from the bird landing on it that it went out of focus. BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Dec 6, 2010 |
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Dec 6, 2010 19:56
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Like shooting fish in a barrel... 
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Dec 7, 2010 01:36
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 Lapland Longspur for critique by Execudork, on Flickr Please feel free to criticize this photo, I'm planning to print it (fairly large, like 8 x 10) and give it as a gift for christmas. It's one of the few bird pictures from my summer fieldwork that's not completely out of focus.
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Dec 8, 2010 05:45
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ExecuDork posted:
I'm honestly not finding a lot to like with this. The composition pretty bland. If you haven't already cropped it to death I'd crop it some more. I'm kind of unsure what's going on with the processing. I assumed it was tone mapped, but the fact that the other stuff in your photostream isn't makes me wonder. Either way, the grass seems was too distracting for me and the bird really gets lost in the mix. Cropping could help this, but I'd also think about seeing if you can isolate it even more. Desaturate specific colors in lightroom or use some masks if you have photoshop maybe?
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Dec 8, 2010 06:08
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ExecuDork posted:
I pretty much agree with the comments above. You might get rid of the left most 15% or so, and maybe the bottom 10%. I think this would make for a better composition, although I'm not sure what size this will end up giving you. The bird isn't big enough to dominate the photo, so I think you need for it to be more offset from the center. I don't know much about color processing, but what you have seems kind of in between a "fresh, realistic" look and a purposefully antiqued look.
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Dec 8, 2010 06:35
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Thanks for the feedback, both of you. I think that image is pretty much beyond salvaging, it's already a pretty tight crop. I don't know how to do tone mapping (or, for that matter, precisely what that is... I'll go looking for a tutorial one of these days). I have GIMP, and I know how to do only the most simple, simple edits. The slightly weird look is probably from the "unsharp mask" filter I ran over it, and pushing the contrast up a bit too high. But enough about that picture. Here's one that I think is better. Too much sharpening?  Snow Bunting Juvenile for critique by Execudork, on Flickr Plectrophenax nivalis There were at least 2 families of Snow Buntings with nests within a few metres of my tent. The males were especially prone to perching on top of my tent and chirping their drat heads off at each other, at 2:00 am (24 hour sunlight means they Never. Shut. UP.). Once the chicks were at the fluttering-around-semi-effectively stage, the parents got even worse, probably because they were pissed off and stressed out from the constant chirping demands of their offspring, who followed them around (clumsily) across the tundra. Cute, though.
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Dec 9, 2010 05:27
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I love shooting birds   Reflections by Jenseale, on Flickr  IMG_1323 by Jenseale, on Flickr  IMG_1235 by Jenseale, on Flickr
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Dec 9, 2010 09:04
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Dec 9, 2010 17:18
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ExecuDork posted:Thanks for the feedback, both of you. I think that image is pretty much beyond salvaging, it's already a pretty tight crop. I don't know how to do tone mapping (or, for that matter, precisely what that is... I'll go looking for a tutorial one of these days). I have GIMP, and I know how to do only the most simple, simple edits. The slightly weird look is probably from the "unsharp mask" filter I ran over it, and pushing the contrast up a bit too high. Tone mapping is the processing that makes HDR's go from bad to terrible. Avoid it and your photos will be much better, IMHO. I think the Snow Bunting picture is much better, although I would have to say it is oversharpened a bit. The bird itself isn't terrible oversharpened, but I think the background is really bearing the brunt of it. If GIMP has a way to use masks to mask out areas I'd mask out everything behind the bird and only sharpen the bird itself.
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Dec 9, 2010 21:31
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This is the first time I've ever photographed a bird. This (Red-tailed?) hawk killed a squirrel behind my apartment building. It was too heavy to carry, but it didn't want to leave it. I ran inside, grabbed my camera, and went prone nearby. The hawk, trying to figure out if it could carry the squirrel, kept hopping towards me, even though I was upwind. It was also like 20 degrees outside. Camera Nikon D7000 Lens 55-200mm VR kit lens Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250) Aperture f/5.6 Focal Length 200 mm ISO Speed 800 
red19fire fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Dec 24, 2010 |
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Dec 24, 2010 00:42
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Cardinal Red Tailed Hawk. He took off from the post when I took this and while it makes for a great shot he was just barely out of the side of the frame. In half a day driving through Kansas I probably saw 200 of these.  Female Anna's Hummingbird. This species apparently winters in Washington. The female just hung out in my parents backyard most of the day and let me get within 10ft or so.   Evening Grosbeaks, who also let me get amazingly close. 
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Dec 28, 2010 05:05
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