Post your best bird shots!

Thanks Andy. Nice photo of the fieldfare!

Dave

My friend's daughter is raising chickens for their eggs. Per the daughter's request, I took some pictures. It was too cold to let them outside, so I brought the 28mm f/1.8 USM. The coop isn't that big. Later that day, they flew the coop but I didn't pull out the camera. I was helping her retrieve them.

Little fact I didn't know. Rooster is not required for eggs. They just start laying. Their egg production peters out around 4 years, at which point you have a pet chicken or stew.


5DII 28mm f/1.8 USM 1/100" f/3.2 ISO1600
http://www.jimslamepics.com/Website/...pp-5dii-XL.jpg

I'm squatting in the middle of the coop for this one. I white balanced off the feathers to remove the red hue from the heat lamps.
5DII 28mm f/1.8 USM 1/500" f/2.8 ISO3200
http://www.jimslamepics.com/Website/...dpp-5dii-L.jpg

Nice detail in the chicken pics:o

This Northern Flicker is becoming a regular backyard visitor. I have been feeding and photographing for several years now and have not (until now) seen one of these visit the feeders.

1DX
500mm
f/4
ISO 1000
1/1000

http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio....08656178-4.jpg

Joel, that is such an interesting looking bird. I've never seen one before, and you have captured it very well. Thanks for showing.

Dave.

You can tell that those chicken feel cold. Great idea - do post some when they are outside

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Johnston

Joel, that is such an interesting looking bird. I've never seen one before, and you have captured it very well. Thanks for showing.

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+1 the posture is just right. Is it a perch you put there?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ahab1372

. Is it a perch you put there?

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Thanks and yes it is perch that I set up near a feeder specifically for photography.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Johnston

Joel, that is such an interesting looking bird. I've never seen one before, and you have captured it very well. Thanks for showing.

Dave.

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Thank you Dave:)

Eastern Bluebird
1DX
500mm + 1.4 TC
ISO 1600
f/7.1
1/400

http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio....11567152-5.jpg

Song bird in flight pictures are tough, but here are a couple. Both are taken with 60D, 70-200 f/4 L USM, and EF 1.4x II teleconverter.

European Starling

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8463/8...dfea6094_b.jpg
2013_02_03_3133_upd by dthrog00, on Flickr

Sparrow

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8187/8...bbce238f_b.jpg
2013_02_03_3107_upd by dthrog00, on Flickr

Thanks for viewing.

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Throgmartin

Song bird in flight pictures are tough, but here are a couple. Both are taken with 60D, 70-200 f/4 L USM, and EF 1.4x II teleconverter.
Dave

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You are so right....I have tried it in my set up before, very very difficult. They are small and move very fast with unpredictable flight paths usually. Plus, in my yard, there is no way to see them coming from a distance. That makes it double tough to acquire focus. I might try this spring with a remote trigger and multiple flashes, sort of like hummingbird shots. I have seen some images like this and they are impressive when you get it right.

+1 Thanks for sharing the great shots! Over the last few days, I spent several hours trying the same thing...and didn't end up with anything nearly that nice Dave.

Joel - I am always in awe of your photos too, I was curious if you would share how close (physically) you are to the birds like the blue bird for example. Of course, I understand if you prefer not sharing any secret recipes!

Thanks, Brian

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 4mozasmiles

+1 Thanks for sharing the great shots! Over the last few days, I spent several hours trying the same thing...and didn't end up with anything nearly that nice Dave.

Joel - I am always in awe of your photos too, I was curious if you would share how close (physically) you are to the birds like the blue bird for example. Of course, I understand if you prefer not sharing any secret recipes!

Thanks, Brian

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Thanks Brian, appreciate the kind words. I have no big secrets however. I actually wrote a detailed tutorial here on this site explaining my set up with text and pictures. The shots I took in the last few days are from around 15 to 20 feet from the subject. I stay hidden with a camo blind and try not to move the lens around very much and when necessary I move very very slowly. Generally birds are extremely sensitive to sudden motion and will instantly flee in many cases, some are more tolerant than others. See if you can find my tutorial.

Brian here is the link to the tutorial

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/P...etup-Tips.aspx

The starling isn't in perfect focus, but I was thrilled with the sparrow shot. Both of those are the bird taking off from my perch. They land and take off fairly regularly so I tried some shots anticipating when they'd leave. Those two worked one. Many others did not!

Dave

Thanks again for the helpful information and the great tutorial. I suspected that you were able to get fairly close. This is an example of one from the weekend - I am trying to decide if 600mm would provide the framing I like (I borrowed a 400mm and added a 1.4x for this shot - 560mm). The camera was probably about 12ft from the bird - and I still felt it needed to be cropped.

This is the version with cropping and minor LR and NIK adjustments.
http://4mozasmiles.smugmug.com/Anima...dit-Edit-M.jpg

Fantastic dark-eyed junco!

I have a perch setup and take pictures through glass that overlooks the deck. I haven't found the glass to soften the image.

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 4mozasmiles

Thanks again for the helpful information and the great tutorial. I suspected that you were able to get fairly close. This is an example of one from the weekend - I am trying to decide if 600mm would provide the framing I like (I borrowed a 400mm and added a 1.4x for this shot - 560mm). The camera was probably about 12ft from the bird - and I still felt it needed to be cropped.

This is the version with cropping and minor LR and NIK adjustments.

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I can tell you that when it comes to birds, more focal length is better in almost all cases. Getting closer is better as well. In this case you will notice that even though you had to crop a little the image quality did not suffer....that's what more focal length and getting close will do!

I think what it boils down to is that the longer focal length combined with close proximity gets you more pixels on the subject and hence better IQ. I would love to have the version 600mm. I think that lens with the option of using teleconverters is probably the best and most verstile kit for bird photography that you could have....it's very pricey however:(

Here's one of a juvenile bald eagle attempting to take a fish away from a sea gull. Notice the US flag in the background. (note the eagle did not succeed)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8385/8...9098498f_c.jpg
2013_02_09_3145_upd by dthrog00, on Flickr

Thanks for viewing.

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Throgmartin

(note the eagle did not succeed)

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Eagle went and forgot how to 'murica!

Great to have the story though!

Dave.

Mourning Dove
1DX
500mm
ISO 3200
f/4.5
1/500

http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio....24983820-4.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8...4f209ec5_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8230/8...6644b3de_c.jpg

Very nice images of the Cowbirds, the light is so soft and you got great detail.....awesome!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Joel Eade

Very nice images of the Cowbirds, the light is so soft and you got great detail.....awesome!

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Yeah, I have about 40 Cowbirds in my backyard at all hours right now, so I've been playing all day. The males are tough. I can't get their heads and bodies both exposed without the heads ending up overly "shiny." When I get their heads right, their bodies are just shadows (like above). My 40d retains about zero shadow detail (especially at over 300 iso), so I think this might be as good as I can get with my current setup.

I just put an offer in on a house with a much nicer backyard for bird photography (not a requirement for the house...I'm just getting lucky). The lighting is very uniform thanks to some big trees. Unfortunately, this house is bigger than my current house so I'm going to have to blow some money on furniture (not my idea) if my bid is accepted, and thus, my next camera upgrade will be pushed back even further :(

I wonder if the T3i would be better for backyard birding than the 40D?

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Throgmartin

I wonder if the T3i would be better for backyard birding than the 40D?

Dave

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Maybe, but my T3i sits on top of my personal microscope at work or is in the hands of one of my students 100% of the time.

Tufted Titmouse.....testing the 1DX AF at f/8....it is a little slow but it does work and the images are sharp with the 2X TCIII:)

1DX
500mm f/4 + 2X TC III
ISO 1600
f/8
1/250
1 430 EXII flash placed about 3 feet from the right side of the perch and set to 1/16 power (triggered with pocket wizards}

http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio....32034360-4.jpg

Love that light Joel

I wouldn't say that this is my best bird shot, just my latest that I took with my new 70-300L lens. I'm hoping to get more opportunities to test out the lens. In the larger linked version you can see the snow being flicked off.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8387/8...6d1ef08d_h.jpg

Female Northern Cardinal
1DX
1000mm
ISO 3200
f/9
1/400
http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio....33560222-4.jpg

Processing some old photos from last year ....

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8102/8...349ee6a9_c.jpg
Adult Male House Finch by Denise Trocio ( www.dtrociophotography.com), on Flickr

Beautiful image my friend.

Denise, once again you are demonstrating your creative flair with the textured background ... tres cool:)

Another Cardinal from the yard.....1DX, ISO 3200, 1000mm, f/8, 1/400

http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio....36730460-5.jpg

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing these.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8219/8...32dbb419_c.jpg
Peacock by Kickasskev81, on Flickr

Gorgeous Peacock! What camera and lens did you use?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 4mozasmiles

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing these.

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You're most welcome and thanks for the compliment:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Joel Eade

Gorgeous Peacock! What camera and lens did you use?

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Hi Joel

Nothing expensive Im still just learnin, I used a canon eos 1100D and the canon EFS IS 55-250