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^^^ These look like an old married couple arguing. "I told you to grab the tickets" "No you didn't"BeastOfExmoor posted:Took my M50 out to look for Shorebirds today. The jury is still out on whether or not I can make this camera work for all birds, but I did get some decent shots today. These look pretty good! Smoke is starting to clear up and I got out to a little spot in my neighborhood.  Gyuto Wrentit-6454 on Flickr Gyuto Song Sparrow2-6410 on Flickr Gyuto Pygmy Nuthatch-6515 on Flickr
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Sep 16, 2020 01:24
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Took these last summer, im just that slow at getting round to processing my pictures. Swan on Flickr  Cygnet on Flickr
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Sep 19, 2020 15:57
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It's been a few years since I've had a setup suitable for bird photography, plus with a couple of kids I haven't had much time. I saved up about $1200 in Amazon gift cards through our employee recognition program so I pulled the trigger on the Nikon 200-500mm to go with my D500. I took it out yesterday afternoon to practice, and found some Wood Ducks. I'm still figuring out settings (ISO was too high), and it's been awhile since I've had any practice in light room. But here are a couple of shots I'm decently happy with. Wood Ducks [Aix sponsa] on Flickr  Wood Ducks [Aix sponsa] on Flickr
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Sep 19, 2020 21:34
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This Barred Owl showed up in my backyard the other day. Kind of mixed feelings about it because Barred have only moved into this region in the last half century and have driven out most of the Western Screech-Owls. My house was one of the last places that I knew of where Screech-Owls were still common, but they've grown more scarce over the last couple of years as Barred have gotten more common   20200917-IMG_1351.jpg by Josh, on Flickr 20200917-IMG_1421.jpg by Josh, on Flickr
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Sep 19, 2020 22:03
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Great stuff on this page! I really like the composition in this one. The texture of the leaves complement the bird well. Mega Comrade posted:
This looks like a studio portrait, with a posing swan. Cool! EPICAC posted:It's been a few years since I've had a setup suitable for bird photography, plus with a couple of kids I haven't had much time. I saved up about $1200 in Amazon gift cards through our employee recognition program so I pulled the trigger on the Nikon 200-500mm to go with my D500. I took it out yesterday afternoon to practice, and found some Wood Ducks. I'm still figuring out settings (ISO was too high), and it's been awhile since I've had any practice in light room. But here are a couple of shots I'm decently happy with. Cool wood ducks! I've never seen those, but they're beautiful! I have a Nikon 200-500mm myself, and like it a lot. BeastOfExmoor posted:This Barred Owl showed up in my backyard the other day. Kind of mixed feelings about it because Barred have only moved into this region in the last half century and have driven out most of the Western Screech-Owls. My house was one of the last places that I knew of where Screech-Owls were still common, but they've grown more scarce over the last couple of years as Barred have gotten more common Hmm, that's a tricky situation. Regardless, it's a beautiful bird. Was it shaking it's feathers a lot? I doubt I would have thought of lowering the shutter speed. Nice shot! I haven't been birding much this year, but I decided to go somewhere new this afternoon. It's a popular walking spot, but I didn't feel self-conscious about carrying my big lens, which was nice. If anything, I wish I could have shown people the results! A raven was hopping around in the distance.  After a while, I found some Pygmy Nuthatches (I think?). They were gathering seeds from flowers, and were fairly fearless. I was standing about 10 feet from the flower, and they just kept coming back over and over again.     Anybody know what sort of flower that is? I think it was a big yellow flower, like the one you see in the background of the first picture.
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Sep 21, 2020 05:29
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Looks like a sunflower. Great pics!
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Sep 21, 2020 14:46
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my cat is norris posted:Looks like a sunflower. Great pics! Thanks! Do any of you make bird calendars or other stuff for family/friends/yourself? I think I enjoy having a *use* for my photos (even though it costs a pretty penny in printing). I try to only use the current year's photos but, uh, I'm definitely runny behind this year. (I have some nice photos of bees from previous years that I've never used for anything, but I think I'd feel odd giving friends a calendar of the "birds and bees".) If you all wouldn't mind offering some feedback, I've posted two sets of photos below. The first three show a Common Yellowthroat and the others show Pygmy Nuthatches. Which is the best photo of each set? I process my photos after taking them, but I'm never quite sure how close of a crop to make. Is it better to show close details or more environmental stuff, or does it just depend of what's more interesting? Set 1: Common Yellowthroat #1  #2  #3  Set 2: Pygmy Nuthatches #1 #2 #3
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Sep 22, 2020 02:11
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DorianGravy posted:
Birds and bees would be awesome. I do calendars as well. It's not an easy thing to sell given all the free ones you get from money-grubbing non-profits, but it feels good when in spite of that someone actually will fork over $20 for one. Last year I made one for my local park and one that was a western wildlife and landscapes. quote:If you all wouldn't mind offering some feedback, I've posted two sets of photos below. The first three show a Common Yellowthroat and the others show Pygmy Nuthatches. Which is the best photo of each set? I process my photos after taking them, but I'm never quite sure how close of a crop to make. Is it better to show close details or more environmental stuff, or does it just depend of what's more interesting? quote:Set 1: Common Yellowthroat quote:Set 2: Pygmy Nuthatches
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Sep 22, 2020 03:07
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I've been more in fall-migration birding mode than photo mode lately but here's a few from today Wildcat TUVU-6948 on Flickr Wildcat Says Phoebe-7084 on Flickr Wildcat dark red tail-7096 on Flickr
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Sep 22, 2020 03:53
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Birds and bees would be awesome. That's great! I think I recall you mentioning your calendars last year (in fact we may have had this same conversation!). I just give mine to friends and family, but selling some sounds satisfying. My town occasionally has an art fair in the park, and lots of photographers sell prints. They have really great landscapes, but I feel like they rarely sell anything, so I bet it's tough to make much money doing that. BetterLekNextTime posted:Very much a personal style choices and dependent on your photos. For me, its often it's the background colors and lighting that create an overall composition that I like over another photo of the same bird. Yeah, that's what I figured. I usually just try out a few crops until I settle on something, but there's not much method to it. I guess I just decide if there's something nice in the background or not. BetterLekNextTime posted:I'd probably rank these 2, 3, 1. 2 has a great posture and singing, and nice combination of background colors. Maybe raise the shadows a tad? 3 would give an overall green which could also be nice. For all of them, it might be nice to add a spot edit to the eyes, like a +1 EV or something to try to get the eye to stand out a little more. Thanks for all the feedback! It's great to hear an outside opinion. My personal order was 1,2,3 for the first group (since I like all the yellow in the first one) and 2,1,3 for the second (since I like having two birds in the photo, even if the lighting is worse). Still, your input is making me reevaluate things, and I definitely see your points. I'll also have to experiment more with Lightroom in the future. BetterLekNextTime posted:I've been more in fall-migration birding mode than photo mode lately but here's a few from today Nice pictures! What do you mean by "fall-migration mode"? Just looking for new species?
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Sep 23, 2020 04:18
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Petrified Forest National Park, from earlier this year. Two ravens were hanging out, looking for food. They looked hot and thirsty, and I felt a little conflicted taking their photos and then leaving without giving them anything. Ravens have such personality. 
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Sep 23, 2020 04:22
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DorianGravy posted:Thanks for all the feedback! It's great to hear an outside opinion. My personal order was 1,2,3 for the first group (since I like all the yellow in the first one) and 2,1,3 for the second (since I like having two birds in the photo, even if the lighting is worse). Still, your input is making me reevaluate things, and I definitely see your points. I'll also have to experiment more with Lightroom in the future. quote:Nice pictures! What do you mean by "fall-migration mode"? Just looking for new species? Yeah, not that I've been out a lot, especially not beyond my local patch, but looking for different species coming through and when the first winter birds start showing up. So it's a little more time spent trying to figure out what that little poo poo of a warbler is or scrutinizing dull-rear end flycatchers and a little less trying to anticipate something aesthetically pleasing. Basically more photos for ID purposes. It's not really thaaaat different, but it gives me an excuse for not getting more pretty photos. DorianGravy posted:Petrified Forest National Park, from earlier this year. Two ravens were hanging out, looking for food. They looked hot and thirsty, and I felt a little conflicted taking their photos and then leaving without giving them anything. Ravens have such personality. Nice. I struggle more than I should getting the blacks to work on birds like this. For what it's worth, if they can't make it without your water and leftovers they shouldn't be there. Ravens have become a big problem for some desert animals.
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Sep 23, 2020 17:55
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Also, ravens are crazy resourceful. The most isolated and desolate places I've birded in still have Ravens. The Prudhoe Bay Christmas Bird Count has apparently never recorded a species other than Common Raven.
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Sep 23, 2020 21:29
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Yeah, Ravens are smart. Still, I felt a little weird about it. To anthropomorphize things a bit, it felt like two beggars came up to me asking for food, and I just stood there taking pictures of them while thinking "gosh, what great photos," and then just walked away at the end. And post more pictures, folks! Or post about birding ambitions!
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Sep 23, 2020 23:40
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 Gyuto Brown Creeper-7241 on Flickr
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Sep 24, 2020 00:43
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I posted a long while ago about having an A7R3 and it not working very well with my 300/600 mm Canon lenses. I had a Sigma MC-11 adapter. I mentioned being interested in getting an A9 instead. Well i did, and while it was certainly better it still struggled with any focal length above ~170mm. (the 70-200 worked fine up until about there). A9 was also useless with the 300mm and above. (Literally never finding focus) I held off on bird photography for a while, hoping Canon would release a good mirrorless system. They eventually released the R, which was a big dissapointment, so i more or less decided to start selling off all my Canon glass and switching to Sony. I was however in a period in my life where i had little time for photography so i never ended up doing it. Fast forward half a year or so and rumors of the Canon R56 and R6 started surfacing. The first rumored specs were so outrageous that i blew the rumors off as fake but it soon turned out they were true. When the R5 and R6 finally were official i ordered an R6, and holy poo poo am i glad i did. This thing is just absurd for bird photography. Its almost scary how well it finds the bird's eye in any scene and sticks to it regardless of how erratic the bird moves. My reaction the first time i used the camera was basically   for the entire session. 20 photos per second with virtually every photo being in focus and focused on the eye is simply mind blowing. I am so glad my prediction about the next generation of mirrorless cameras (ie the ones that are new now) getting bird/animal Eye AF was correct.
Ineptitude fucked around with this message at 10:08 on Sep 24, 2020 |
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Sep 24, 2020 10:06
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Ineptitude posted:I posted a long while ago about having an A7R3 and it not working very well with my 300/600 mm Canon lenses. I had a Sigma MC-11 adapter. I mentioned being interested in getting an A9 instead. What lens are you using with your R6?
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Sep 24, 2020 15:19
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300 F2.8 IS II with 2x on. I forgot to mention in my post that not only is AF performance not reduced with R5/R6 and EF-glass + adapter, R5/R6 has BETTER AF with EF-glass + adapters than EF cameras has with EF glass.
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Sep 24, 2020 16:50
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Dang that sounds so nice.
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Sep 24, 2020 17:50
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Ineptitude posted:This thing is just absurd for bird photography. Its almost scary how well it finds the bird's eye in any scene and sticks to it regardless of how erratic the bird moves. My reaction the first time i used the camera was basically Neat! I'd love to see some results. Got anything you can share?
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Sep 24, 2020 20:36
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I'm really excited to see mirrorless advancing. With the simultaneous improvements in chips, machine learning, and the ability for the camera to now actually "see" the image rather than just using AF and exposure sensors it seems like we're hopefully just at the beginning of the major improvements that could happen. Perhaps we may actually see "twig ignore" auto focus or a camera that recognizes that if you're pointing your camera at one object surrounded by sky, you probably want to focus and expose for the object.
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Sep 25, 2020 05:10
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Those things are here already. Eye AF can see eyes among twigs, and Spot AE exposes for whatever you are focusing on. The next generation will refine the AF modes further like let us separate if it is bird or animal, or even which species you want the AF to prioritize, say if you know you want to photograph boobies but there usually is a lot of tits there. The current Eye AF is either «people» or «animal» and you need to select which one you want. DorianGravy posted:Neat! I'd love to see some results. Got anything you can share? Oh i deleted them. It was just a quick trip to test the camera, but it was only Maillarde ducks which are super common here so not very newsworthy (We basically just have just 2 bird species here, maillarde ducks and greyback seagulls) Ineptitude fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Sep 25, 2020 |
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Sep 25, 2020 08:03
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 Shackled.
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Sep 25, 2020 22:58
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I picked up my ancient rear end Nikon D80 from home with a 55-200mm lens so I could poo poo more birds at the park. Aside from only being 10MP and low light sensitivity of newer sensors being way better, it really holds its own. I didn't know some cardinals were brown instead of red:  DSC_0099 by pfibeirut, on Flickr DSC_0117 by pfibeirut, on Flickr DSC_0123 by pfibeirut, on FlickrI think this is a thrush? Bird ID site seemed to say hermit thrush? I'm not sure.  DSC_0171 by pfibeirut, on Flickr DSC_0178 by pfibeirut, on Flickr DSC_0195 by pfibeirut, on FlickrNot sure what this is, a common grackle? rusty blackbird?  DSC_0221 by pfibeirut, on Flickr DSC_0229 by pfibeirut, on Flickr DSC_0230 by pfibeirut, on Flickr
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Sep 27, 2020 23:54
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Mega Comrade posted:Took these last summer, im just that slow at getting round to processing my pictures. LOVE the detail and balanced tone of these. BeastOfExmoor posted:This Barred Owl showed up in my backyard the other day. Kind of mixed feelings about it because Barred have only moved into this region in the last half century and have driven out most of the Western Screech-Owls. My house was one of the last places that I knew of where Screech-Owls were still common, but they've grown more scarce over the last couple of years as Barred have gotten more common That owl is peering right in to my soul. I like the action of the lower half in the second one contrasting with the sharp focus on the head. DorianGravy posted:Great stuff on this page! I like the playfulness of the poses, and how delicate the little birdies look wrapped around those flowers.
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Sep 27, 2020 23:57
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piratepilates posted:I picked up my ancient rear end Nikon D80 from home with a 55-200mm lens so I could poo poo more birds at the park. Aside from only being 10MP and low light sensitivity of newer sensors being way better, it really holds its own. Whereabouts are you? I suspect your brown cardinal to be a juvenile. Your thrush also looks like a juvenile robin, at least to me. That said, it seems a bit late in the year for juveniles, depending on where you are... 
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Sep 28, 2020 01:03
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my cat is norris posted:Whereabouts are you? I suspect your brown cardinal to be a juvenile. Your thrush also looks like a juvenile robin, at least to me. That said, it seems a bit late in the year for juveniles, depending on where you are... Toronto, all taken in Queen's Park downtown. We're in fall now but still pretty warm (23c every day), the leaves have changed but maybe the birds haven't felt the pressure of the season yet.
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Sep 28, 2020 01:10
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Definitely a robin. It does seem kinda late, but if anyone could pull off a late nest it would be one of those guys.
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Sep 28, 2020 01:37
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Definitely a robin. It does seem kinda late, but if anyone could pull off a late nest it would be one of those guys. oh no kidding. there's tons of robins around here so I had that in the back of my mind, but the spotting on the breast/belly threw me off. is that a thing on all robins? only juveniles?
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Sep 28, 2020 01:58
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piratepilates posted:oh no kidding. there's tons of robins around here so I had that in the back of my mind, but the spotting on the breast/belly threw me off. is that a thing on all robins? only juveniles? Bluebird youngsters have it too, and I think all the thrushes (at least North American ones) have spotted juveniles? Many thrushes have adult plumages without breast spots, although the somewhat confusing group of Hermit/Swainsons/Veery/Wood/Gray-cheeked/Bicknells all are more-or less brown-back w/spotty front.
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Sep 28, 2020 02:11
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The spotting is meant to provide extra camouflage. It has the added benefit of being very cute!
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Sep 28, 2020 04:44
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my cat is norris posted:Whereabouts are you? I suspect your brown cardinal to be a juvenile. Your thrush also looks like a juvenile robin, at least to me. That said, it seems a bit late in the year for juveniles, depending on where you are... BetterLekNextTime posted:Definitely a robin. It does seem kinda late, but if anyone could pull off a late nest it would be one of those guys. BetterLekNextTime posted:Bluebird youngsters have it too, and I think all the thrushes (at least North American ones) have spotted juveniles? Many thrushes have adult plumages without breast spots, although the somewhat confusing group of Hermit/Swainsons/Veery/Wood/Gray-cheeked/Bicknells all are more-or less brown-back w/spotty front. my cat is norris posted:The spotting is meant to provide extra camouflage. It has the added benefit of being very cute! Sincerely thanks a lot you two, I learned a lot today. I also discovered that the latin name for an american robin is Turdus migratorius and I have been laughing like a child at that for an hour.
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Sep 28, 2020 05:34
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piratepilates posted:Sincerely thanks a lot you two, I learned a lot today. Shh, nobody tell him about the Tibetan blackbird!
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Sep 28, 2020 12:22
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my cat is norris posted:Whereabouts are you? I suspect your brown cardinal to be a juvenile. Female cardinals are brown, too. The famous bright red cardinals are specifically adult males.
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Sep 28, 2020 12:38
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Finger Prince posted:Shh, nobody tell him about the Tibetan blackbird! maximum turds, my man
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Sep 28, 2020 14:57
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A few from a nearby Buddhist monastery. Gyuto Cal Towhee headshot-7397 on Flickr Gyuto Raven prayer flags-7418 on Flickr Gyuto roof junco-7316 on Flickr Gyuto fountain hummer-7361 on Flickr
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Sep 29, 2020 03:47
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Oct 3, 2020 19:33
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 Osprey Egret Limpkin A couple shots from Lake Apopka this weekend.
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Oct 4, 2020 15:27
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I really like this one. I think it's because there is a strong sense of setting. Does Florida have nice lakes, or are they mostly just wetlands that are difficult to access? Does anyone have recommendations for bird books/articles? I feel like know awfully little about where and when to find birds, beyond the very basic (e.g. birds like water; birds mate in the spring).
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Oct 4, 2020 18:02
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| # ? May 16, 2024 21:18 |
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Florida has a lot of "normal" lakes. These photos are from a part of Lake Apopka (the northern end) that is wetlands that were former farms that were formerly just lake. In the 40s 20,000 of the lake's 50,000 acres were blocked by large levee and used for farming. The farms were shut down about 25-30 years ago and the land was allowed to turn to wetlands/swamp. The land is still maintained and the water is controlled with levees and pumps. The old farm roads are now used for this maintenance and to allow people to view the wildlife. On Google Maps you can see just how much of the Lake was removed: https://goo.gl/maps/wSr5mW9K418tG61EA and if you go into historical images in Google Earth you can go back and see the farms. What it looks like from the farm roads today: 
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Oct 4, 2020 20:21
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