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Photo of the day May 2020
- Thread starter oblomow
- Start date
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Presido-22-190428.jpg by Charles Martorelli, on Flickr
Last of the sequence. The bass (two days ago) was too large, the bream (yesterday) was just right. The only problem I have is that I could fish all day with nothing, but this Cormorant, from the same place within 3 minutes discards one and comes up with another. It's not fair!
A rare (for me) oriole sighting. If you’re wondering about the tree, it’s a black walnut in flower.
Interesting Yard #1 Denver by Ray Harrison, on Flickr
I'm excited to see all this talk about long lenses and new people venturing out into bird photography (even if I'm a little late to the party as I've been offline for a few days).
Here is a Gray Catbird I took during a walk on a fairly busy jogging/bike path. Had to get out of the house for a showing, so figured might at least take the camera with me
This is with my Sigma 150-600 C on crop sensor at 516mm.
Here is a Gray Catbird I took during a walk on a fairly busy jogging/bike path. Had to get out of the house for a showing, so figured might at least take the camera with me
This is with my Sigma 150-600 C on crop sensor at 516mm.
Birding and bugging have become my primary targets with the current state of things. I purchased a 8-18mm lens last month on sale and haven’t gotten to use it much yet!I'm excited to see all this talk about long lenses and new people venturing out into bird photography (even if I'm a little late to the party as I've been offline for a few days).
Here is a Gray Catbird I took during a walk on a fairly busy jogging/bike path. Had to get out of the house for a showing, so figured might at least take the camera with me
This is with my Sigma 150-600 C on crop sensor at 516mm.
View attachment 915003
Locked in or not, birding has been my passion for a long time.
You're going to enjoy that 8-18mm, widest I got is 14mm and that's a lot of fun as well!
I am looking forward to being able to get outside again!
Black-Throated Blue Warbler at the Shakespeare Garden in Central Park
So you all who are the pro birders. Do you just hang out a spot for awhile and wait patiently for birds to come by? Obviously you have to sort of plan where their habitat is. I’m not sure I’m patient enough to be a birder!! ????
I wouldn't call myself a "pro," but when we go out it really depends on what we're looking for. If we're just looking around a nature area we'll generally wander around looking for birds. If we have a set bird in mind, that's when we'll sit and watch
Definitely not a pro birder but putting food and water out in the garden certainly helps a lot!
As above, not a pro birder here either, but a couple things that have worked for me in the past:
Setup bird feeders close to the house. Sometimes I just shoot through the window, but of course image quality suffers.
Not a big deal in the beginning, because you can still practice getting them in the viewfinder, focus and anticipation.
At some point you'll realize what specific birds like to do and you can anticipate their next move.
I also like to setup branches for photo ops. That way you can determine the lighting, background etc.
Just try to be close to an area where you know birds hang out. In my case that would be close to the bird feeders, or some bushes I know they like to nest in. Then you could even set your camera up remotely and trigger it from farther away. Just pre-focus on the branch and use a wide enough field of view (and DOF) to get the birds on the branch in focus and in the picture. Then crop if necessary. This practice worked for me for nest sites. I just put the camera close enough on a tripod and then left. From a farther away, with binoculars I could see the bird fly onto the nest and I would trigger the remote.
Some of the pictures I get would be on walks. Again it helps if you're aware of areas that the birds frequent.
his seems to work better for me for bigger birds, as you won't be able to get close to smaller birds when you're walking.
Try practicing with bigger birds if you have the opportunity. That'll make it easier to get them in the viewfinder and also get them in focus. Don't get frustrated too quickly. Sometimes you're out on a walk and you don't get any pictures. Try again next time out.
I've also been in my backyard for hours trying to get a shot of a Gray Catbird last year. I had a nice branch setup with the berries that they like so much. I see them through the window in that same are all the time, but the didn't show up for me. Then I ran out of daylight and tried again the next day and finally the day after I got pictures I liked.
I kind of enjoy the hunt, make getting a great picture that much more enjoyable!
I'm no pro, but I have had a few experiences with shooting birds with long lenses. A few years ago I went on photography trips with fellow Nikon users, and we would get up before dawn and be at our destination -- a dam, a wetlands area, a wildlife refuge -- around the time of sunrise and would be able to capture some shots of birds then. Around that same time frame, too, in the fall we went to Conowingo Dam near the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania, and would shoot eagles and GBH there.
It was interesting, but yes, there was always a lot of standing around waiting for birds to show up, and especially with eagles, we were interested in being able to catch them in flight and also in action when they were fishing. I never had much luck with that but did manage to get a few good shots when one day I was standing under a tree, heard a rustling above me, looked up and saw a juvie bald eagle about to enjoy his lunch. I hurriedly swung the Wimberley gimbal around and up, focused the 300mm f/2.8 lens and began shooting..... That was a fantastic and unforgettable day.
These days so far my birding has been primarily the birds I see on the lake, and I appreciate the 200-600mm I bought this past winter for shooting right from my deck. Eventually when things open up again I want to revisit some of my favorite local areas for shooting. Although we also have small birds around here, since we are not permitted to have bird feeders we probably don't attract as many species as other places do. I haven't had much luck in trying to shoot the smaller birds that I do see when walking around the neighborhood, usually because they fly away too rapidly and I wasn't quick enough with the camera. So far I haven't taken the 200-600mm out on a walk with me, but I used to take the RX10 with its equivalent 24-600mm lens on my excursions around the neighborhood and the lake. A long lens is ideal, though, for capturing elusive birdies and fast-moving squirrels. I'm not much for tromping around in the woods in search of birds, but many photographers thrive on that, and yes, there is a lot of waiting quietly for the birds to show up, and it really is useful to know their general behavior patterns and habits.
For me, the most wonderful place for shooting birds is Florida, which is filled with gorgeous water birds and I was blissed-out the entire week that we spent there some years ago, shooting roseate spoonbills, pelicans, egrets, GBH......
Yes, some birders do use a "blind," a small structure where they will sit for hours patiently awaiting the arrival of their subjects, and where they can get some beautiful fairly close shots of the birds in their natural environment. Other intrepid souls will take a different approach, sometimes lying on the sand or in the grass with their gear, ready to capture the perfect bird shot.....
My turtle friend showed up again this morning. Cloudy day, but got down eye-to-eye with my 50mm and managed to make a couple of decent shots. This one is a crop.
Duck family feeding.
Nikon D3300 with their 80-200 VR lens. Editing in Luminar 4 plugin for Photos.
My first good shot with the Quicktake 200 - aquilegia in the garden, probably my favourite flowers at the moment.
If you'll excuse the double posting, the first picture is SOOC, while the 2nd is the same shot massaged a little in Elements.
The camera produces images 640x480 by the way - 0.3MP
Cheers
Hugh
If you'll excuse the double posting, the first picture is SOOC, while the 2nd is the same shot massaged a little in Elements.
The camera produces images 640x480 by the way - 0.3MP
Cheers
Hugh
Beautiful!My first good shot with the Quicktake 200 - aquilegia in the garden, probably my favourite flowers at the moment.
If you'll excuse the double posting, the first picture is SOOC, while the 2nd is the same shot massaged a little in Elements.
The camera produces images 640x480 by the way - 0.3MP
View attachment 915083
View attachment 915084
Cheers
Hugh
How on earth do you handle files that large? I bet it took ages to upload!My first good shot with the Quicktake 200 - aquilegia in the garden, probably my favourite flowers at the moment.
If you'll excuse the double posting, the first picture is SOOC, while the 2nd is the same shot massaged a little in Elements.
The camera produces images 640x480 by the way - 0.3MP
View attachment 915083
View attachment 915084
Cheers
Hugh
The Sigma 150-600c makes a surprisingly good macro type of image also. ?