Birds 2012

[Greg Beetham]

Thanks Mark and John, birds are a bit difficult to photograph on occasion and you have to hurry your shots to the point of them being snapshots but I guess that's what makes it interesting.
Greg

[Juanito200]

I whole-heartedly concur Greg. Last year I spent the better part of a day trying to photograph scissor-tailed swallows on the back roads North of my house. After dozens and dozens of shots, I only came up with three or four good ones, and those were kinda iffy......

[Greg Beetham]

After dozens and dozens of shots, I only came up with three or four good ones, and those were kinda iffy......

Ha ha love it! but that's bird photography exactly
Greg

[aa los banos]

many thanks guys, appreciate it

@greg, yes this is the same family and they have chicks again this year

[mvanrheenen]

Thanks Juanito!

[aster]

More impressive shots! Amazing expressions on the birds' faces due to the conditions they are in. : )

Mark, those are truly good shots of the Finches. I love them.


Finally, Greg, you've got your Peewee right there where you wanted, in the photo frame. : ))
That's a very interesting black-and-white bird. Congratulations.


Nicely done everyone,

Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

Many thanks Yildiz, those are plucky little birds the Peewees, they have been seen defending their nest against marauding hawks and harry them mercilessly until they leave the area.
Greg

[artington]

I feel a bit of a fraud with these seeing as they were taken through a window from the comfort of my kitchen, but never mind. Light was poor and even at ISO800 the maximum speed/aperture combo I could get was 250/5.6 on the 70-300G so some movement blur, particularly when the nuthatch was seeing off the tit.

[Greg Beetham]

Those are great artington, beautiful bokeh. I like that first one with the two birds pointing vertically downwards.
Greg

[artington]

Thanks, Greg. Those are nuthatchs and they eat upside down.
Martin

[aster]

Thanks, Greg. Those are nuthatchs and they eat upside down.
Martin

These are lovely, Artington.

I love the upside-down-eating habit of the nuthatchs! : ) They make the whole picture more fun.

Photographically, these are very tasty closeups. Thanks for sharing.

What I wonder is how they get the seeds out of the cage with the holes looking smaller than the seeds themselves. Do they break the seed beween their beaks first?

Yildiz

[artington]

What I wonder is how they get the seeds out of the cage with the holes looking smaller than the seeds themselves. Do they break the seed beween their beaks first?

Yildiz

Thanks, Yildiz. Those are peanuts and the appropriately named nuthatches hammer away at them like woodpeckers to break them up. The smaller birds are a little more dainty about it.

[artington]

Three more

[Wildieswife]

Some nice/great/interesting posts here!
I've read some of this thread and heard complaints re difficult conditions and lenses not performing. I believe the Sony 70-400 mm is a good lens (some of my friends are very happy with it) but a lot would depend on the capabilities of the camera that's used and of course the user. For birds I use my old Minolta 300mm f4 with my A700 (want the A77) It's an old and battered lens but is a great piece of glass and I'm very fond of it. 5 years ago it cost less than £300

Whatever lens you are using getting close to the bird beats anything else hands down. Also - if conditions are poor (ie bad light) you will never get a really top notch shot. Light is everything - put simply photography IS light! The art is to try to work with what you have and recognise when you're flogging a dead horse.
Another important pointer - stick at it and listen to advice. Look at other images and try to see why some are good and why some are not. Never be happy with what you've done - always be self critical and aim to improve.
As regards success rate - I'm doing well if I come away with 10% that are keepers! It's often 5%.

Robin contributions from me -







Pat

[Dr. Harout]

Pat, 2nd and 3rd are absolutely great.