Shitting birds, for n00bs, using camera

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

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

This was a quick shot before I went to work. Dumb me had it on ISO100 with too slow of a shutter speed.
This was with a Canon 70-200 2.8L with Tamron 2x teleconverter, cropped.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2009 14:13

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 19:51

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

I had an idea for a setup, and it seems to have worked.

First, I watched the birds for a while to see where they land often. They seem to like the same few branches. I did this all summer, but this tree is in my yard so it wasn't much work.

Next, pick one of the spots they land and see if you can get a good angle of it. I just walked around the tree and picked a spot that didn't have cars in the background or something. Spending more time on this would give better results.

Last, setup a tripod with a remote shutter. I used a 75' cable from monoprice ($4). Sit somewhere you can see your target spot, but you don't bother the birds. Relax and take some pictures.

I wish I didn't have the peanut butter in the shot, but hey, bluejays like the stuff.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2009 17:42

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Yeah, that would have worked. I was really just fooling around on a Sunday morning. I did have some other things go wrong. Some wires in my release came apart, so I wasn't getting any of the shots I though I was for about 45min. The camera was too far away to hear over the birds in the tree.

Anyway, I'm happy with the results and I'll try to find more places to do this.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2009 00:26

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Bird thread needs more love, it's great. Lots of really good stuff in here.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2010 22:10

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

I pointed the camera up to meter the sky and there it was!

[img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4421354596_ee3f737c9a_o.gif[/img]

# ¿ Mar 10, 2010 01:36

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

When I take a picture of a bird in flight they never seem to be 100% in focus.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2010 13:38

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Does anyone know what kind of bird this is?

# ¿ Mar 27, 2010 22:39

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Thanks guys. I think they are Grackles too, I seem to remember someone telling me that now.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2010 23:59

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Is this a crow or what? It had a little better than a two foot wingspan.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2010 19:53

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Oh yeah, it was a raven then, thanks. I wish I had a shot of it when it was still in the tree. It was about 12 feet away and at about eye level because the tree is down a steep hill from where I was standing. It flew away as I raised my camera.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2010 23:10

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

^^^ That's amazing!

I found this guy chilling in the grass:

I was basically laying on the ground shooting into the sun. This had some crazy flair. I had to hold my hand over the end of the lens hood and block as much as I could just to get this:

Here are some birds, I don't know what they are:

# ¿ Apr 11, 2010 02:16

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

I spotted a bird I have never seen before:

He was doing this:

To protect his eggs:

Hi-Ya!

# ¿ Apr 14, 2010 01:10

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

That is some service! Thanks for the link, I can never figure out what bird I'm looking at.

Here is a video of the killdeer doing it's broken wing trick:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom_rintjema/4518942589/

# ¿ Apr 14, 2010 01:57

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Yeah, 200mm hand held, no IS. I think IS can be used with video. What messes me up the most is when I switch to video I stay looking into the viewfinder and wonder why it went black.

Try holding a good 5lbs of camera out in front of you so you can see the screen while crouched down to get a good angle on a bird!

# ¿ Apr 14, 2010 22:19

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

I can always count on geese.

# ¿ May 1, 2010 15:04

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

I wish I knew more about birds. My wife got me a book on birdwatching. It has 600 birds and it says there are thousands in my area. Great, I know the names of 4.

# ¿ May 19, 2010 00:10

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Well, since we are showing off our bird-knowledge.

May I present:

A Shithawk

A pair of Giant-Shithawks

A Giant-Shithawk in flight

And a killdeer

# ¿ May 19, 2010 16:19

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Is this a blue heron?

I don't know what this is:

A duck:

Baby geese:

Another duck:

# ¿ May 22, 2010 19:27

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Birds!
What's this white one? Just a white goose?

# ¿ May 29, 2010 01:13

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

^^Thanks, that bird is not having a good day.

ExecuDork posted:

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?

Thanks, butts are funny, that's why. I think I was about 20 feet away from the killdeer. They won't leave their young, which I don't think could fly yet. I probably could have gone closer, but I didn't want to give them too much of a heart attack.

# ¿ May 30, 2010 00:45

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Thanks toppro, there is no post on the water. I just run them through lightroom and do some minor adjustments to contrast/brightness. Maybe some fill light, nothing major. I haven't mucked with the colours or anything like that.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2010 21:48

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

^I like it!

# ¿ Jun 15, 2010 23:01

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

InternetJunky posted:

This is a very nice improvement over your previous work, the border is much nicer now.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2010 15:38

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Here is a video of a baby duck catching a fly. I shot it hand held with a 300mm lens on a 7D. It was so dark the camera wouldn't lock on them with autofocus.

Click

# ¿ Aug 21, 2010 17:07