Shitting birds, for n00bs, using camera

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Shitting birds, for n00bs, using camera

«‹›7 »

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

tuyop posted:

Alright these are some of the shots I've taken of the pigeons nesting on my deck for the last few weeks.
Anyway, I didn't see a pic-per-post limit but let me know if I broke some rule. I'm just pretty pleased with some of these even though pigeons are kind of gross and commonplace.

Your pictures are great. Pigeons are "gross and commonplace" to many people, sure, but how many people see a pair on a nest every day? Those are fantastic!

# ¿ Apr 12, 2010 04:00

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 12, 2024 16:57

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I just got my camera, a Pentax K10D on Friday, and the only lens that has yet arrived is a Sigma 100-300. So I went out today to the weir on the river to shoot things that are far away, such as birds. I'm still very new at this, so I know it will be a while before I get anything nearly as good as the majority of what's been posted here, but I'm pretty happy with these pictures.

Also, Corvids and Accipitriformes are assholes. I saw many such birds today, but as soon as I brought up the camera they took off. There was a raven sitting on a headstone in a very small graveyard, and from my perspective the shot would have included him and about a dozen various gravemarkers against a bleak and cold background. But as I'm lining up the shot, he takes off. Bastard!

# ¿ Apr 26, 2010 05:34

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I seem to be better able to focus on a bird's rear end than on its eye.

Or the folded wing.

TomR posted:

I can always count on geese.

Yup.

I think I'm going to do a lot of practicing on geese; I have a dozen pictures from today of a raptor, possibly a Peregrine falcon, in which the tree's branches are crisp, and the bird is fuzzy. :saddowns:

# ¿ May 2, 2010 04:57

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I went for a drive to a nearby Wildlife Refuge, with the intention of photographing some of the ducks here in the duck factory of North America, the prairie pothole region of several tens of thousands of square kilometres of patchy wetlands surrounded by agriculture. This is ideal habitat for grain or aquatic-invertebrate-feeding birds, especially ducks. But I was only able to get reasonably close to some non-water birds.

How do I put photos here from my flickr site? I can't seem to figure out the formating, so here are some Waffleimages pictures, shrunken a bit from the versions on Flickr.

Click here for the full 1600x925 image.
These two were hanging out on my car as I was preparing to leave, so I took this shot through my living room window. What is that red thing? Everything else in the parking lot were house sparrows. It looks kinda like a juvenile cardinal, but I'm in central Saskatchewan, way too far north and west for Northern Cardinals, according to my National Geographic "Birds of North America".

Click here for the full 1600x1094 image.
Mostly what I saw were tree swallows, which are still highly cool. This one let me get pretty close. Some of them were either dive-bombing me or taking the mosquitoes that were attempting to feast upon my blood. I tried to get pictures of some in flight, but they move way too fast for that. This is the first bird picture I've taken with this camera that I'm really happy with the focus on.

Click here for the full 1200x1183 image.
Yellow-headed blackbird. This is the only one I saw today, but I expect they're fairly common, as I've seen them around before when I haven't really been looking for birds.

# ¿ May 17, 2010 06:02

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

theflyingexecutive posted:

An immature Purple Finch? That crown is really throwing me, it could be an accidental Cardinal like you said.

Despite the crown, the brown pattern around the eye looks a lot like the illustration of a Purple Find in my National Geographic. so, yeah, I'm going to go with immature Purple Finch. I should have thought of that, thanks!

EDIT: House Finches just reach this area at the limit of their range, and adult males seem to have a bit of brown on top of the head. So I'm changing my vote to House Finch. But credit still goes to you, as the description for Purple Finch says "compare with House Finch". Also: "...especially numerous in towns."

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 01:56 on May 18, 2010

# ¿ May 18, 2010 01:53

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

theflyingexecutive posted:

It's cool, you'll get the hang of it after a while. I don't know which bird book you have, but size (even before color) can be a big help in narrowing down what kind of bird you're looking at.

This is true. I can also name four:
1. LBF Little Brown Fucker
2. MBF Medium Brown Fucker
3. BAF Big Angry Fucker
4. "Seagull"

:downs:

Click here for the full 1146x898 image.
Same day as the others, here's a classic MBF. Also known as a Brown-headed Cowbird (unless I'm wrong, which I often am).

toppro posted:

I had no idea how tricky these little guys could be to catch. Kudos to those of you manage to capture the exotic ones. Even these common birds were giving me trouble.

Corvids (Crows, Ravens, Magpies, Jays, etc) are all assholes. Every last one. They know what a camera is, and they know how to spoil your shots. Well done on getting these pictures, you must have been able to distract them for that crucial instant.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 04:28 on May 19, 2010

# ¿ May 19, 2010 04:26

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

LBFs are mostly wrens and sparrows (the wrens I've seen have been pretty small)
MBFs are overwhelmingly Sandpipers (they all look exactly the goddam same)
BAFs includes anything over 30cm wingspan, and pissed off. Such as this Parasitic Jaeger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9lhkDmNBBQ

Warblers get their own special category: LYF (they're all yellow)

# ¿ May 19, 2010 05:56

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

toppro posted:

That looks pin sharp right at the eye. Tough to get given how much these guys tend to move.

Seconding this. Awesome shot!

# ¿ May 21, 2010 02:40

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

InternetJunky posted:

Still completely lost when post-processing these types of shots.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Tree Swallow

Red-necked Grebe

Where are you? Are you following me around? The last two weekends I've gone out shooting birds, and seen those three species both times. Your shots are much better than mine. :gonk:

# ¿ May 26, 2010 05:03

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

InternetJunky posted:

I was in central Alberta (Buffalo Lake) for these shots. There was someone else there at the same time as me taking pictures as well...was that you?

Nope, not me. I'm in Saskatoon, and I like to drive around the countryside on weekends taking poorly-composed and slightly-out-of-focus pictures. But I've yet to venture as far afield as Alberta.

So there appears to be at least 3 of us on the Prairies with such interests.

EDIT: I meant "interest in bird photography" not "interest in taking bad pictures". The latter is just me, I think.

TomR posted:

Birds!

OK, these shots are just awesome. All of your pictures are great (I grinned widely at the goose butt, not sure why), but these two are fantastic. How close were you to these little guys?

# ¿ May 29, 2010 02:31

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

less_than_one posted:

Crows (or is it ravens, how can you tell?) strutting about near a bunch of eating humans, eyeing up leftovers.

Crows. Ravens are all black (your crows have some grey on them - are you in northern Europe somewhere?), are about twice the size overall, and have much heavier bills. A raven generally looks like it could easily take at least a couple of your fingers off with one good snap, a crow looks like it would need to peck away at it. In flight, a raven's tailfeathers form a wedge or chevron shape (the tail as a whole is diamond-shaped), while a crow's tail is usually square-cut at the back. Ravens are almost never found in groups larger than 3 or 4 birds, and much more often 1 or 2. Crows are usually solitary, too, but are fairly often found in much larger groups. They sound different, too - your local crows will have a range of sounds, most of which will be some variation on "aaawk!". Ravens will loving say anything - I once watched one in a tree in Vancouver pretending to be a xylophone: "bong! bong! bing! bong! clung!", plus lots of sounds that probably don't have vowels in them.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2010 00:59

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Huh. I'd long assumed "rook" was a southern-England local synonym for "raven". Not so. I guess, despite my best efforts, I learned something today.

I was in Norway a couple of weeks ago, we went on a tour around Oslo harbour. Dinner was massive amounts of shrimp, so of course a large number of gulls were following us very closely. This is uncropped (though resized to avoid table breakage), and was taken at 143mm on my Pentax K10D (1.5 crop body) with my Sigma 100-300mm lens. The pictures I took at 300mm are either empty sky, horribly badly focused, or just gull-butt. Anyone know the species here? Solid black on the top of the wings and middle of the back, otherwise white, feet are yellow.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2010 04:44

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

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.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2010 05:45

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

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.

# ¿ Dec 9, 2010 05:27

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

/\/\/\ 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

# ¿ Jan 6, 2011 02:47

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

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.

Thanks! I've added comments to the photos. I decided to go with a square crop on the cardinal, for no particular reason. He was the last photo I uploaded before my mom called and I put a link to my flickr site on Facebook (aside: have you ever had to spell out your Flickr / SomethingAwful / whatever pseudo-anonymous username to your mother over the phone? :what:

), so he showed up on my facebook and a few other places.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2011 01:19

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

SD 048 Snowy Owl 1 by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 048 Snowy Owl 2 by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Feb 7, 2011 04:36

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I'm an idiot for wanting so much to get a good shot of a raven, aren't I? I mean, look at it:

Black bird, making proper exposure very difficult
Light / white backgrounds, including overcast skies and snow, further complicating exposure metering
High intelligence (the birds, not me) - they know that some people shoot ravens / crows / other corvids as "pests", and take off as soon as they see me stop moving
They know about cameras and just hate me

All of that is just set-up excuses for my best-so-far attempt at a picture of a raven. Total snapshot, I happened to have my 70-210mm mounted when this guy flew by.

SD 049 Raven Snapshot by Execudork, on Flickr

More ranting: I pass ravens right at the edge of the road all the drat time, they don't care in the slightest as long as I'm whipping by at 100 km/h. As soon as I hit the brakes, though, they're airborne.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2011 20:21

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Magpie Interrupted by Execudork, on Flickr

The magpies are marginally less skittish than the ravens. I caught this one grooming after a bath, he (she?) didn't seem to want to fly too far away with wet feathers.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2011 03:19

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Hawks are as much jerks as are corvids. So I didn't get any good pictures of the big acipiter (Red-tailed hawk, I think) hanging in the updraft on the top of the downstream slope of Gardner Dam. However, the Western Meadowlarks were busy establishing their territories, and surging testosterone made them foolishly brave; this one was willing to sit still and scream defiance while I mishandled my telephoto lens.

SD 057 Western Meadowlark (1 of 4) by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 057 Western Meadowlark (2 of 4) by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 057 Western Meadowlark (3 of 4) by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 057 Western Meadowlark (4 of 4) by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Apr 22, 2011 22:46

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

quote:

tamaron

caradinal

# ¿ May 19, 2011 01:46

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

SD 063 18 Cliff Swallows flock by Execudork, on Flickr
The cliff swallows that I suspect are nesting under a small bridge on a low-traffic rural highway fly way too quickly and never seem to land. They were probably eating mosquitoes, though, so I can't get mad at them.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2011 03:50

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

INTJ Mastermind posted:

Trumpeter swans! Largest bird in North America.

Males (also known as Cobs) typically measure from 145 to 163 centimetres (57 to 64 in) and weigh 11.8 kilograms (26 lb); females typically range from 139 to 150 centimetres (55 to 59 in) and weigh 10 kilograms (22 lb). The average wingspan is 2.03 metres (6.7 ft)

God was kind when he decided to not make these guys carnivorous.

Fantastic pictures!

But, the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) can hit 14 kg (and they *are* carnivorous). I don't know what the maximum recorded weight of a Trumpeter is, though.

Pelicans by Execudork, on Flickr
Taken the day I got my camera. I still haven't learned much, I need to pay more attention to my shooting rather than spray-and-pray.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2011 06:12

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Being the southern edge of the Arctic Tundra, we routinely get Snowy Owls around here (Central Saskatchewan). As you said, they tend to avoid trees. They seem to like the tops of poles, which makes them incredibly easy to find - wooden powerline poles line most secondary highways in this province, and the roads are straight and flat. On a winter day with nice clear blue skies (pretty common) you can just stop at the intersection of two highways and look down the looooong lines of powerline poles, looking for white things on top.

Getting a good photo, on the other hand, is a bit trickier - they seem to think any car that stops and a person gets out means somebody with a gun is going to shoot at them; this is an attitude that probably isn't entirely in error, unfortunately.

Edit: I put up a couple of shots of one that apparently didn't hear about human asstards from last winter, on page 14 of this thread. I spotted him from a couple of km away, they really stand out when in full winter plumage.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 06:32 on Nov 28, 2011

# ¿ Nov 28, 2011 06:27

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

PREYING MANTITS posted:

What could have been..

This exact thing has happened to me so many times I don't even try with hawks anymore. I see them landing, I see them taking off, I see them in trees and on posts and lurking in the ditch right at the side of the road.

But I never see them through my viewfinder, they gently caress right off as soon as I lift the camera.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2011 04:48

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Snowy Owls are great. They don't spook as easily as other big birds, they're active in the daytime much more than most owls, and they're clearly visible from far away.

SD 83 16 by Execudork, on Flickr
"Hey, Owl! Look at me!"

SD 83 17 by Execudork, on Flickr
He didn't leave, despite my verbal abuse.

SD 83 18 by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Dec 28, 2011 01:57

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

InternetJunky posted:

Are they obvious and easy to find? Any extra details you could provide would be most welcome! I've driven around in Alberta now for 2 weekends looking for snowys without luck. They are the top of my bucket list, so your post is making me consider an extended weekend trip to BC.

Dude! How have you been so unlucky? Driving home from Calgary to Saskatoon I saw several hanging out in their usual spot on top of powerline poles - they're visible from kilometres away. Go east, south, or north from Calgary and find a tertiary highway with a line of poles next to it and just drive. You'll find some for sure.

BeastOfExmoor posted:

Awesome Owl shots

Go to Reifel. It's a bird sanctuary in Delta, north of Tsawwassen terminal and west through the blueberry fields. Try not to run over any mallards in the parking lot. There are towers in Reifel, about 3 or 4 stories tall, that overlook some wetlands that usually have all sorts of fun feathery things. I expect the owls have found it and are snacking on ducks and geese.

# ¿ Jan 5, 2012 02:45

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

InternetJunky posted:

I drove from Edmonton to Jasper, with a bunch of side roads in between, specifically looking for the trademark white blob on top of trees/poles and saw nothing. Is there a time of day that's best?

I'm getting a little tired of chickadees. A snowy would be awesome.

OK, that's just weird. I don't know if it's "best", but most of the snowys I've seen have been in the late afternoon or at sunset. This isn't a case of me carefully planning my photography for periods of good light, it's a case of my inherent laziness meaning I don't leave the house on a Sunday until about 2:00pm; at this time of year, at this latitude, the golden hour starts around 4:00pm.

I can't think of a 2-hour+ rural drive I've been over the last two winters where I didn't see a snowy.

On the plus side, your chickadee pics are very good.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2012 19:51

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

The ravens are back! And still generally avoiding my camera!

SD 086 1 Raven by Execudork, on Flickr
Also, I think I'll avoid stopping on narrow highways for owl shots, if all I'm going to do is mis-focus anyways.

SD 086 2 Snowy Owl by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Jan 23, 2012 03:54

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Ravens usually avoid me. This one is too young or too used to humans to be bothered about me, though.

Noisy Raven (2 of 3) by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Feb 4, 2012 21:58

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Another winter weekend, another Snowy Owl on a pole beside a highway.

SD 088 Snowy Owl 1 by Execudork, on Flickr

Today I bought a Takumar 500mm f/4.5, getting closer without spooking the birds will be fun once it gets here (i.e. expect more whining from me about birds flying away, out of focus).

# ¿ Feb 7, 2012 03:29

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

PREYING MANTITS posted:

Argh! I'd love to see a wild snowy owl.
Something brought the hawks out to play today, I saw 4 of them total in a 10-15 mile stretch of road.

Tell you what: we'll trade places for a week. I can't get anywhere near a hawk, and the corvids all (except the rare foolish young raven) mock me from heavy cover. I saw 4 snowys on that drive, but I only bothered to stop for the first one.

\/\/\/ When I lived in Vancouver I saw hordes of crows on a daily basis, they slept on islands in the Fraser river I think. I see a few magpies pretty much every day on my walk to work, they get out of the way of my point-and-shoot but tomorrow I'll carry my 100-300, see if I can't get a lucky shot.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Feb 9, 2012

# ¿ Feb 9, 2012 04:00

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I uh, I bought a lens. Or an anti-aircraft gun, I'm not sure which.

500mm f-4.5 (1 of 2) by Execudork, on Flickr

500mm f-4.5 (2 of 2) by Execudork, on Flickr
Now birds will have a reason to flee from me.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2012 02:08

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Probably the last snowy of the season. It had been about a month since the previous one, though, so who knows? It's been such a weird winter here.

SD 095 12 by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 095 13 by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 095 14 by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Apr 2, 2012 06:22

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I don't know if it's mostly males or not, but if it is, those little birds are being superbadass in an effort to impress the ladies.

Littlebirdy: "I fukin' took on a heron!"
Littlebirdy 2: "An EAGLE! gently caress yeah!"

Ladybirdy: *swoon*

It's my running hypothesis for why you can usually get pretty close to a red-wing blackbird when he's screaming out his territory boundaries. You're proof of his bravery. Testosterone is common across vertebrates, at least.

# ¿ May 26, 2012 07:24

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Pelicans and cormorants and griebes.

SD 101 57 by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 101 55 by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 101 52 by Execudork, on Flickr

SD 101 33 by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Jul 8, 2012 05:49

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Snow geese, moving from daytime hangout at a salt lake to nighttime hangout in a wheat-stubble field.

SD 103 33 by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Sep 11, 2012 04:50

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Are there Kookaburras in Tasmania? I'm going there soon, and I'd love to see some.

Sandhill cranes will never not look like goofy overgrown chickens to me.

Sandhill Cranes 5 by Execudork, on Flickr

Sandhill Cranes 15 by Execudork, on Flickr

Sandhill Cranes 18 by Execudork, on Flickr

Sandhill Cranes 21 by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Oct 1, 2012 02:18

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

ruro posted:

There are. They'll be easy to find as well, just listen for them "laughing" in the morning and evening: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/daceloNovaguineae.mp3

Fantastic! Thank you!

I *think* this is a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), but I'm not sure. It flew away when I tried to get closer to it.

Raptor by Execudork, on Flickr

# ¿ Oct 2, 2012 03:19

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 12, 2024 16:57

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Those would be European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris.

They were introduced to North America in New York in 1890, and have successfully colonized most of the continent.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2012 02:36

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Shitting birds, for n00bs, using camera

«‹›7 »