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Pah... all you young-uns with your long tele objectives. It is a known fact, that real pros shoot the birds with ultra super wide! (16mm equiv.)  Pigeon checking out my gear, visibly impressed.  Another, less impressionable, pigeon. Note: More (tele) photographs coming soon, as I get through with labeling and post. EDIT: Okay here goes. These are my first photos for this kind of subject matter, e.g. birds, using a long tele. I've been shooting birds with mid-range zooms before though- with limited success. Criticisms as to composition etc. would be highly welcome. Developed from RAW. No post done besides some minor cropping and sliders.  A (white? young?) Heron  The same heron doing its thing  Seagull portrait  A kind of cormorant? VomitOnLino fucked around with this message at 14:36 on Jan 4, 2011 |
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Jan 4, 2011 11:56
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/\/\/\ All of those are fantastic. I especially like the gull portrait, I don't know why. A few of the birds that visited the feeder in the backyard at my aunt & uncle's house, on Christmas day and Boxing day.  Northern Cardinal male by Execudork, on Flickr  Big Fat Mourning Dove by Execudork, on Flickr  Unbalanced Feeder by Execudork, on Flickr  Square crop Towhee female by Execudork, on Flickr  Red-breasted Nuthatch by Execudork, on Flickr
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Jan 6, 2011 02:47
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VomitOnLino posted:
BWHAHAHA! I like this one the most! He doesn't have quite the "what the hell" stance as the first one, but I think overall it's composed better (or there is more stuff in it). Good work. Also, shooting white birds is a bitch.  Roseate Spoonbill. EXIF Bahama.Llama fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Jan 6, 2011 |
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Jan 6, 2011 04:33
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VomitOnLio- love the pigeons. if you want id's- are you in europe or north america? Not sure what the cormorant was standing on but seeing feet and the whole tail is usually a good idea if you can manage it (or else have a tighter crop). Execudork- your towhee is a dark-eyed junco. The cardinal is nice- I think you probably found the best way to crop that, although you could play with taking a little more off the top and right side. Bahama.llama- the spoonbill is fantastic. edit- have some pics from a trip to Tucson- I'll try to pic a couple to post. I was a retard and turned off image stabalization on my 70-300 so have a whole day of blurry bird photos. grrr. Hummingbird (in an aviary- yes, I know that's cheating). I think costa's?  Gila Woodpecker- common bird but the best pic I got. they always seemed to be half-obscured by something.  Click here for the full 683x1024 image. Cactus wren (not cropped). This guy practically landed at my feet. Thought about trying to get lower but I'm pretty sure that would have scared him off. Also, so busy looking at his head didn't notice I chopped off his tail.  Click here for the full 1024x683 image. BetterLekNextTime fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Jan 6, 2011 |
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Jan 6, 2011 19:07
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Bahama.llama - your spoonbill looks under exposed guessing due to the light colouration of it, try bumping the exposure up a bit. -- 
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Jan 6, 2011 19:55
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Execudork- your towhee is a dark-eyed junco. The cardinal is nice- I think you probably found the best way to crop that, although you could play with taking a little more off the top and right side.  ), so he showed up on my facebook and a few other places.
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Jan 7, 2011 01:19
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Gila Woodpecker- common bird but the best pic I got. they always seemed to be half-obscured by something. Thanks for the compliments, friend. Having a subject half-obscured can sometimes add to your shots. I like the deep in the woods feel of the woodpecker  Dread Head posted:Bahama.llama - your spoonbill looks under exposed guessing due to the light colouration of it, try bumping the exposure up a bit. Dread Head, I think you're right. I was just terrified of blowing out any of that awesome hairdo. Here are some from this afternoon. My girlfriend and I made it out to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, FL. While we where there 4 Painted Buntings (3 male & 1 female) and 1 female Indigo Bunting decided to join us at the bird feeder at the same time. The feeder has a some wire around it so only the little guys can come through while the bigger ones can gently caress right off. Although birds in wire doesn't generally make for a good picture, I found the variety of color to be neat. Sadly I couldn't catch the female Painted or the female Indigo outside of the cage. Painted Buntings are probably my favorite bird to photograph, but it's such a pain in the dick to get them doing something interesting. Just like a warbler, they fly like a bullet while changing direction every other second, making in-flight pictures extremely difficult. When you do see them sitting around, they don't sing a whole lot, so I couldn't grab any with their beak open. Thank god the colors are brilliant where sitting there is all they have to do to make a good subject. (click for EXIF) Female Painted on the top left, Male Painted top right, and Female Indigo bottom middle:       e:grammar, spelling, & replies Bahama.Llama fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Jan 12, 2011 |
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Jan 9, 2011 04:58
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I was in Pennsylvania last week and spent a good amount of time at Valley Forge. A few birds managed to get close enough to make my 250mm adequate (and a whole bunch of those fuckers didn't). White Breasted Nuthatch  Red Tailed Hawk  Another Angle 
BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Jan 12, 2011 |
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Jan 11, 2011 19:35
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^^^ Beast- I think those are really nice, especially if you were just walking around, it what looks like was fairly boring light. To be nitpicky, it almost looks like the focus on the nuthatch got the trunk rather than the bird? On the first hawk, I wouldn't mind seeing the face a little lighter, maybe a quick dodge brush in post?Bahama.Llama posted:
Bahama.Llama- it occurs to me I don't know what this is. Is it warbler size or tanager size? Love the buntings- I think you posted a couple of feeder shots earlier, and I like seeing the ones on natural perches. Very jealous that you have these in your yard!
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Jan 11, 2011 21:50
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BeastOfExmoor posted:White Breasted Nuthatch This is great. I love how the line from the branch below the subject and beak of the subject are parallel and how the little 'dip' at the end of the stick is about the same length as the beak.  BetterLekNextTime posted:Bahama.Llama- it occurs to me I don't know what this is. Is it warbler size or tanager size? They were more warbler sized. I'm nearly certain it's a Yellow-throated Vireo (geographical patterns work out well too), but my identification skills are not as good when there are so many birds that look similar. I did indeed post one before, but unfortunately they are not at my feeder  . We had to travel to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary for these shots. If you ever make it down to the south-western section of Florida, consider Corkscrew over Ding Darling if you're not totally obsessed with wadding birds. Ideally go to both (check what time low tide is for Ding Darling), but consider your choices if your time is limited. (Also, give me a shout!)
Bahama.Llama fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Jan 12, 2011 |
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Jan 12, 2011 00:26
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*crap, double post*
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Jan 12, 2011 00:31
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I'd believe yellow-throated vireo- nice! My head was in SE Arizona birds. I did a southern Florida bird trip a few years ago but just had an OLD nikon P&S camera then. I'd love to go back. The latest Audubon magazine came to my house, and they had the results of a recent photo contest. I think my favorite one so far may be the 2nd place amateur shot of the snowy owl.
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Jan 12, 2011 04:53
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BetterLekNextTime posted:^^^ Beast- I think those are really nice, especially if you were just walking around, it what looks like was fairly boring light. To be nitpicky, it almost looks like the focus on the nuthatch got the trunk rather than the bird? On the first hawk, I wouldn't mind seeing the face a little lighter, maybe a quick dodge brush in post? It's possible that focus was off, although it looks pretty sharp to me. That guy moved so fast that I'm astonished I nailed that pose and focus at all. Bahama.Llama posted:This is great. I love how the line from the branch below the subject and beak of the subject are parallel and how the little 'dip' at the end of the stick is about the same length as the beak. Would you believe I sat there trying to crop the drat twig out for quite a while last night. As if I didn't want a Canon 100-400mm I had to look at the equipment used for those Audubon shots.
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Jan 12, 2011 06:47
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BeastOfExmoor posted:
Tell me about it...
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Jan 12, 2011 08:21
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Althought the 100-400 is nice, I prefer the 400 f5.6 prime. I thought the faster AF and the $400 cheaper price tag was worth trading for the loss of flexibility and IS. I've been extremely happy with it and suggest it to anyone. I saved for about a year and would do it again in a heart beat. Sometimes I wish it was faster in the lower light situations, but then I keep reminding myself that it was $1200, not $6000.
Bahama.Llama fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Jan 12, 2011 |
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Jan 12, 2011 19:30
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Bahama.Llama posted:Althought the 100-400 is nice, I prefer the 400 f5.6 prime. I thought the faster AF and the $400 cheaper price tag was worth trading for the loss of flexibility and IS. I've been extremely happy with it and suggest it to anyone. I saved for about a year and would do it again in a heart beat. Sometimes I wish it was faster in the lower light situations, but then I keep reminding myself that it was $1200, not $6000. Judging from how crappy my pictures look when I forget to turn on the IS on my 70-300, I think IS is pretty much mandatory for me... Of course, for the price difference between the 400 and 100-400 I could sell my T2i and get a 60D.
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Jan 12, 2011 20:35
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Am I stupid for thinking about getting a Sigma 120-400 for birds and wildlife? There doesn't seem to be that many reviews of it, and if the autofocus is stupid slow I might be better of looking at some Canon lens. Anyway, here's some cheating zoo photos:  IMG_4199 by like okay cool dude, on Flickr  IMG_4171 by like okay cool dude, on Flickr  IMG_4038 by like okay cool dude, on Flickr
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Jan 12, 2011 21:47
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Bahama.Llama posted:Althought the 100-400 is nice, I prefer the 400 f5.6 prime. I thought the faster AF and the $400 cheaper price tag was worth trading for the loss of flexibility and IS. I've been extremely happy with it and suggest it to anyone. I saved for about a year and would do it again in a heart beat. Sometimes I wish it was faster in the lower light situations, but then I keep reminding myself that it was $1200, not $6000. It seems like the 100-400mm goes for about the same price used as the 400mm F/5.6 prime, otherwise I'd consider it. I also already have trouble finding birds in the trees with my 55-250mm zoomed all the way and typically have to zoom out to get my bearings. With 400mm I can't even imagine how hard that would be. The flexibility to use it at wider focal lengths and IS would be nice as well. I'm not waiting for Dread Head to show up and get all  at us with his 200-400mm F/4.
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Jan 12, 2011 21:49
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Gear is gear, make the best out of what you have. I used a 300f4 for a while before getting my 200-400 and that said 400 is a little short for birds really, I think ideally I would like to get a 500 instead.
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Jan 12, 2011 21:55
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Judging from how crappy my pictures look when I forget to turn on the IS on my 70-300, I think IS is pretty much mandatory for me... Well here's the thing: I always have a tripod with me. Always. Would hand holding a longer non-IS lens at f5.6 in overcast conditions yield blurry pictures? Absolutely. Consider borrowing a tripod from someone, turning off the IS, and see the difference. If you're still getting blurry shots, your shutter speed/apeture/ISO is probably a little to slow/closed/low and your subject is moving. It's also possible that your tripod isn't stationary, but former is far more common at the lengths we're talking about. It's a pain in the butt lugging around a tripod, but I don't have the cash for a carbon fiber tripod or a 500 with IS. sensy v2.0 posted:Am I stupid for thinking about getting a Sigma 120-400 for birds and wildlife? There doesn't seem to be that many reviews of it, and if the autofocus is stupid slow I might be better of looking at some Canon lens. That depends on what kind of nature shots you're interested in taking. If you like butterflies sitting on flowers and nature sitting still for periods of time that allow the AF to work, it's a fine choice. If you want that bird in flight nature that doesn't sit still for long, consider getting glass with faster AF. Take both of these video's with a grain of salt. The AF video of the Sigma didn't limit the scope of the AF, while the quick one I just made did. Mine isn't "real world" as it was just taking in my living room, but it should give you an idea. I haven't ever used the Sigma, so I couldn't tell you what the real-world results are. (Please forgive the shakiness. I was holding the battery door of my girlfriend's camera closed with my thumb while moving my camera and pressing the AF button. BeastOfExmoor posted:It seems like the 100-400mm goes for about the same price used as the 400mm F/5.6 prime, otherwise I'd consider it. I also already have trouble finding birds in the trees with my 55-250mm zoomed all the way and typically have to zoom out to get my bearings. With 400mm I can't even imagine how hard that would be. The flexibility to use it at wider focal lengths and IS would be nice as well. But the 400 f5.6 goes used for less then the 100-400 used. I found you get the hang of finding your subject after some usage time. Have no fear... it's not impossible. You're right about it being nice to have the flexibility, but you have to make your own decision on what you feel like compromising on.
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Jan 13, 2011 01:07
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I have a couple of tripods, but don't use them often enough (for bird photography, at least). If I get serious enough about wildlife photography to the point that I'm usually out doing that instead of birding, I might think more about a longer prime like the 400. For now I'm taking a lot more pictures if I can just bring the camera and hand-hold it.
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Jan 13, 2011 02:25
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A bird thread! I just got my first DSLR about a year ago (Nikon D3000) though I have been taking pictures for awhile. One of my first purchases for it was a Nikkor 70-300mm Pilated Woodpeckers are HUGE. I chased this bird all over the campground. She has babies in there.  Crow? These last three are from my Holden Beach vacation over the summer.  The focus on this shot was some sort of minor miracle.  A sanderling, I believe.
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Jan 14, 2011 21:39
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MrOpus posted:A bird thread! I just got my first DSLR about a year ago (Nikon D3000) though I have been taking pictures for awhile. One of my first purchases for it was a Nikkor 70-300mm DAAAAAAW. Good work on this. I found a nesting family too, but they were way to far away to get any picture worth posting. Also, that appears to be a male since he has the red patch under his eye. I believe the female has just a gray stripe there.
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Jan 14, 2011 23:02
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MrOpus posted:A bird thread! I just got my first DSLR about a year ago (Nikon D3000) though I have been taking pictures for awhile. One of my first purchases for it was a Nikkor 70-300mm These are nice! I think the woodpecker is the best one. Also one of my favorite birds. I've never seen a nest before. You could try cropping it a bit- the brighter sky on the left side draws your eye away from the woodpecker, although at the same time it makes the woodpecker a little more hidden/less obvious, which usually isn't good but in this case maybe adds more intimacy to the bird popping out of his nest. For what it's worth, the other birds are: boat-tailed grackle, royal tern, and (I think- it's kind of dark) willet. I like the grackle photo, but I can't help wishing it was a little more cropped to feature the bird more and see more details of the face, or else that you had caught the bird not looking directly at you, in which case you could have composed it more off-center. Just a nitpick- again, these are nice.
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Jan 14, 2011 23:45
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BetterLekNextTime posted:These are nice! I think the woodpecker is the best one. Also one of my favorite birds. I've never seen a nest before. You could try cropping it a bit- the brighter sky on the left side draws your eye away from the woodpecker, although at the same time it makes the woodpecker a little more hidden/less obvious, which usually isn't good but in this case maybe adds more intimacy to the bird popping out of his nest. Thank you. I appreciate the nitpicks. I'm always trying to get better at this, so any advice is welcome. I also think I have a not terrible picture of the babies somewhere. i'll have to go back and look. This is also from my Holden Beach trip and I have to post it because it makes me laugh every time I look it at it.  The Enforcer
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Jan 15, 2011 01:29
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Bahama.Llama posted:They were more warbler sized. I'm nearly certain it's a Yellow-throated Vireo (geographical patterns work out well too), but my identification skills are not as good when there are so many birds that look similar. The build and "face" on this little guy aren't quite right for Yellow-throated Vireo, it's definitely a warbler. I think it's most likely a Pine Warbler (see http://www.flickr.com/photos/12369485@N05/4392577300/ ), but Bay-breasted and Blackpoll Warblers can also look quite similar.
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Jan 20, 2011 07:22
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It's not birds but.... Andy Rouse is currently on one of his pay-me-tons-and-I'll-take-you-on-Safari-in-Africa tours (I can't remember the safari price, but the polar bear trips are ~ £8000 / $13,000). He keeps posting some awesome photos . And you have to figure those are the off-cuts!  http://www.photobucket.com/home/andyrouse10 edit: The current Safari is £5000 for 9 days.
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Feb 1, 2011 23:23
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 SD 048 Snowy Owl 1 by Execudork, on Flickr  SD 048 Snowy Owl 2 by Execudork, on Flickr
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Feb 7, 2011 04:36
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I was shooting bugs and frogs with my 100mm macro lens when this guy let me get close enough for this snap. Can't wait for my Canon 100-400mm to arrive tomorrow to get into some serious birding.
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Feb 8, 2011 07:02
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Juaninn posted:I was shooting bugs and frogs with my 100mm macro lens when this guy let me get close enough for this snap. Can't wait for my Canon 100-400mm to arrive tomorrow to get into some serious birding. Thats nice man, what macro lens was it? And where in Oz did you take that?
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Feb 8, 2011 07:24
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ricepaddydaddy posted:Thats nice man, what macro lens was it? And where in Oz did you take that? Thanks. I went the whole hog and got the 100mm f/2.8L IS USM for my first macro lens, and I can't speak highly enough of it. That thing is absolutely amazing. I took the shot near Healesville, Victoria. Stayed there for the weekend for A Day on the Green, just spewing that it pissed down the whole time. Apparently the place where we were staying normally has an abundance of wildlife when it's dry.
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Feb 8, 2011 07:37
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My first attempt at shooting birds. Sadly, I did not get any good flying pictures. I was using a slower 55-250 lens and they were just so far away and so fast... IMG_1174 by Kiri koli, on Flickr  IMG_1080 by Kiri koli, on Flickr It was really sunny and the color came out a bit off on this one. I tried to fix it, but this was the best I could do.  IMG_1157 by Kiri koli, on Flickr
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Feb 14, 2011 02:16
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Got a couple pictures of the unofficial and official state birds of Hawaii on my recent trip to Kauai. 
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Feb 14, 2011 03:43
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^^^^ Kiri Koli- those are nice photos- no need to apologize! Faltion- NENE !!!! I missed those on my one trip to Kauai. Beautiful rooster too. We're having an early spring out here in CA, and the plum trees are starting to bloom. Not the best photos but at least a different backdrop for my backyard birds...  Click here for the full 1024x683 image.  Click here for the full 682x1024 image.
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Feb 14, 2011 05:11
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What do you do about weeds, dammit? through the weeds by torgeaux, on Flickr
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Feb 21, 2011 03:09
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^^^^^ It's called "habitat"  I had a bad experience with a film-maker once. He had a blind with a close shot of a bird nest I was studying, and there was one piece of grass in the shot. He got out of his blind to clip it, spooked the bird who abandoned the nest and caused it to fail. After that I've always thought twice before clipping something just for a shot.Foreground veg can be annoying, but I actually like it in your shot. I don't think the bird would have been quite as interesting without something else going on. Some gloomy day birds shot through my back window. Hard to say how much of the crapiness is due to that or to pretending my t2i can shoot at ISO 800.   This is my first time linking to picasa- anyone know how you get the photo that is also a link to the album?
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Feb 21, 2011 05:58
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Feb 27, 2011 08:21
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 DSC_0554.jpg by JCleasy, on Flickr  DSC_0548.jpg by JCleasy, on Flickr
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Feb 28, 2011 11:29
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Some gloomy day birds shot through my back window. Hard to say how much of the crapiness is due to that or to pretending my t2i can shoot at ISO 800. Probably the window. The T2i shares the same sensor as the 7D and 60D which is the best crop sensor Canon makes and should be able to do ISO 800 with very little noise. On my 50D I don't start worrying about having issues until I get past 1600. Windows, however, always gently caress with sharpness and contrast like crazy. I've got a suet feeder next to our sliding glass door that routinely gets over a dozen Bushtits on it. It pisses me off because I could fill a frame with the nifty 50, but any shots through the glass look like absolute poo poo. Edit: That said, yours don't look that bad to me, at least in web size.
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Mar 2, 2011 23:25
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Thanks! Although maybe I'm doing something wrong at high ISO because I've never been super-satisfied (or maybe I'm expecting too much) I just ordered a 60D and 70-300L... Not many bird photos yet from Wyoming, but I'll try to post a few here and there. Hopefully will have lots of rad sage-grouse photos soon. Rough-legged Hawk  also Big Floppy- you captured a great moment with the cardinal and blue jay! Dread Head- love the towhee as well. What an eye!
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Mar 10, 2011 02:11
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