Steve,
Do you ever see Red Capped Robins? That looks like a beautiful little bird to photograph. I found this picture on line as an example if anyone wanted to see what I am referring to.
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/imageca..._Robin_WEB.jpg
Printable View
Steve,
Do you ever see Red Capped Robins? That looks like a beautiful little bird to photograph. I found this picture on line as an example if anyone wanted to see what I am referring to.
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/imageca..._Robin_WEB.jpg
Beautiful shot of a beautiful bird, Philip! I can't say I've ever seen one of these before!
I ended up having one other backyard visitor today ...I think he wanted my little lap dog!
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6207/...71048ec5_z.jpg
ddt0725
If I could take pictures as good as yours, I wouldn
Brown Pelican
1D3
500mm f/4 Hand held
1/2000
f/8
ISO 400
Detail in the wings is not great....fairly large crop on this one. But shows the 500mm can be hand held for BIF
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/2364.343V1296.jpg[/img]
male RTHB; f7.1, ISO 1000, 1/500 at 700mm
[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/750x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/3377.a5.jpg[/img]
<span style="color: #ff0000;"]OK....this is the 2nd pic I've posted in the past couple of days and once again it disappeared. Also, I'm unable to see Joel's pic of the pelican this morning....I saw it last night. Can anybody else still see Joel's pic?
<span style="color: #ff0000;"]Is it me or is the TDP (or should I call it HAL) system having an issue?
<span style="color: #ff0000;"]I use the "insert image" icon on the toolbar to imbed my pix into my replies.
<span style="color: #ff0000;"]I don't want this question(s) to divert from this thread's subject.....so if you answer my question, plz start a new thread.
<span style="color: #ff0000;"]Thank you
<span style="color: #ff0000;"]Bill
[:|]
Great shot Denise.
Mark
Thanks Raid & Mark! I don
This is a second try for me for inserting a photo. The first one ended up starting a new thread - which I did not want to do - I just wanted to append this thread with one of my own shots.
I shot this heron at Seattle Ballard Locks. Took some patience waiting for him to get a fish. I missed the eye but with f5 it didn't matter much. I was about 15' above the bird. Shot hand held at iso 200, 1/100sec, 70mm on 7d w/ 24-70 f2.8 L lens. Photo is cropped from center 1/3 of original. Photo is not 100% crop because I had to smash it to 550w pixels for this site. Still working on figuring out the 100% crop effort.
[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/5516.IMG_5F00_2852-crop-550w.jpg[/img]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Williams
OK Bob, I don't know about giving you tips since you have it nailed already but I dug out my flashes and pocket wizards this afternoon and managed a few images of a male ruby throated HB.......
1D3
300mm f/2.8L + 25mm extension tube
tripod with wimberly II head
3 flashes ... one 580 EXII on camera with better beamer and two 430 EXII on light stands with pocket wizard triggers.
All flashes in manual mode at 1/32 power
camera in manual mode : 1/100 sec f/13 iso 400
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/8203.343V4863.jpg[/img]
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/2772.343V4840.jpg[/img]
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri;"]Joel<o:p></o:p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"]</o:p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri;"]You only post these to make mere mortals feel bad don’t you[:'(].<o:p></o:p>
I
Geez those humming birds look good! I was trying to get some myself (not as good of course), but unfortunately, the bees have found my feeders. I took them down and I plan on putting them back up in a couple days. Hopefully no bees will come back. Here's a chickadee from this morning:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6077/...e1d618a5_z.jpg
ps. Everyone was right. The 400 f5.6L is way more fun than the 300 f4L IS! Unfortunately it's only a loaner from my father so these bees need to get lost before it starts getting cold!
Nevermind. My sentinel hummer is still guarding the feeder location. Looks like there will be humming bird shots this year after all!
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6071/...7e74558e_z.jpg
I felt bad for my sentinel and re-hung my feeders. My girlfriend is not happy, as the bees are now back. But oh well...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6078/...edf8e410_z.jpg
Wow, Joel, Your killing me----these are great, I love the fact that you captured the irridescent red throat on the RTHP---something I am still struggling with my birds. And your shots are so sharp----Killer job here. I have to ask.........How do you like shooting the hummers???? Do you find it as challenging and rewarding as I do?------
I fight with setup, settings, flashes, backgrounds and ultimately the birds, but after a few hundred shots you get that one good one, does it make everything else worthwhile?
Now the critique---I do the same to myself------In the first shot, you have some ghosting of the left wing---If this is what you prefer-----then cudos to you and a great shot--If not, I have some suggestions:
1. You have to isolate the bird and the background with flash only---any natural light sneaking in will cause ghosting----This is actually a good thing since you can tighten down the aperature to get more DOF---sometimes f16 or even f22.
2. Use your flashes to adjust the amount of wing-blur you like. if you like mild to moderate wing blur try 1/8th to 1/16 flash power, if you want frozen wings, you may have to go as high as 1/64th or 1/128 but not all flashes will go that high-- I have two vivitar flashes that only go to 1/16 so I almost always have a little wing blur. If you can
Dsiegle, beautiful shot of this little guy.
Bob
Here is a challenge for all of you Humming Bird experts, how about a front on shot of the whole bird while hovering?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Williams
Bob, thanks for the kind words and helpful hints. I agree with everything you suggested. I very much enjoy the technical challenge of getting a great hummingbird shot.
The throat (gorget) is a challenge for sure....I find if I lower one of the flashes off to the side about 45 degrees and angle it upwards toward the birds it seems to help.
For flowers you probably need live plants and then "seed" one blossom with sugar water to get them coming to your spot. I haven't done that yet but have read about it.
For backgrounds I am just using the trees in the distance (50 feet or so) behind my house but I know many people use large prints that are out of focus or blurred, then you need some way to position them and hold them in place, maybe an old tripod and some clamps.
Sharpness....I use AF, central sensor only, I try to prefocus where I expect to get the shot. In post I use Topaz Denoise and Topaz In Focus they are awesome. When resizing for the web I use the bicubic sharpening option and set the resolution to 300 then resize to 800 pixels wide.
Here's spme from this morning...
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/1602.343V4886.jpg[/img]
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/5531.343V4874.jpg[/img]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Williams
Bob, thanks for the kind words and helpful hints. I agree with everything you suggested. I very much enjoy the technical challenge of getting a great hummingbird shot.
The throat (gorget) is a challenge for sure....I find if I lower one of the flashes off to the side about 45 degrees and angle it upwards toward the birds it seems to help.
For flowers you probably need live plants and then "seed" one blossom with sugar water to get them coming to your spot. I haven't done that yet but have read about it.
For backgrounds I am just using the trees in the distance (50 feet or so) behind my house but I know many people use large prints that are out of focus or blurred, then you need some way to position them and hold them in place, maybe an old tripod and some clamps.
Sharpness....I use AF, central sensor only, I try to prefocus where I expect to get the shot. In post I use Topaz Denoise and Topaz In Focus they are awesome. When resizing for the web I use the bicubic sharpening option and set the resolution to 300 then resize to 800 pixels wide.
Here's spme from this morning...
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/1602.343V4886.jpg[/img]
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/5531.343V4874.jpg[/img]
DSEIGEL.....I like your sentinel pix. I have an alpha male and alpha female lording over my feeders and garden....boy they can have some royal battles. I'm just not quick enough to catch them.
Joel.....I've used up my thesaurus on your pix, so just accept this for your 2 m RTHBs pix; OUTSTANDING!!
My full frontal; f8, 1/500, ISO 800, 1.4x on 500 attached to 7D on a tripod
[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/700x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/6303.full-frontal-3_5F00_DxO.jpg[/img]
Thanks for looking
Bill
OOPS!![:$]
Sorry for the double post, I got an error message the first try so I hit post again and voila! both came up.
Thanks for the kind words Bill, nice frontal shot by the way, I love the inquisitive pose. It's always a surprise to see what you have after you press the shutter on these little jewels.
Another from this morning.....why did you get me started Bob?[8-|]
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/1526.343V4883.jpg[/img]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel Eade
GRRRRRRRRr, another great shot----This Genre is addicting, isn't it--[:|]
It is very addicting ... I will be out of the game for a couple days due to my daughter's wedding tomorrow but will hopefully post some more images early next week .... here's one last image from today
[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/1346.343V4864.jpg[/img]
Beautiful hb pics!!! I put my feeders away a few weeks ago when I hadn't seen any in quite awhile ...you guys are making me want to bring them back out & hope they make at least one more return visit!
The shot below isn't the sharpest but I love the large wing spread and the fact that I didn't clip any of it off! [:D]
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6193/...8d31014c_z.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel Eade
Yes it is. I am going to be able to feed my habit today andgo out and shoot some of these little guys. I put a bamboo curtain up across my back porch to limit some of the morning sun so I am hoping it will help with the ghosting when I shoot in the AM---we'll see. Maybe I'll get some shots posted this afternoon if all goes well.
On a side note: I have seen a lot more H-bird activity this last week---up to twenty birds fighting over the feeders when I normally only have two or three. Are others out there seeing a big increasein activity? I am hoping this will increase opportunity, but they really seem to do more fighting than eating. Well see[:S]
BTW----another great shot Joel---I really have to work on my post processing.
Bob
Sorry I keep going against the latest theme here! HB feeder going back out today ...wish me luck with it!
In the meantime ...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6068/...566d508c_z.jpg
Denise, This is the "birds" string[:D] Post away. Nice shot, Cool duck, what is it?? I love the rich green plants and algea and the old tree branch--it really gives this shot character.
Nice Job.
Bob
Well, I didn't have much luck yesterday, fought the the sun and had a great deal of ghosting in almost all of my shots, plus I was having some flash problems. I tried to use the IR triggering on the 580 ex II and 2 430 exII's but really inconsistant flash output if they triggered at all---so it was back to the pocket wizards for me early this am.I also tried out a new feeder prop I made and it worked very well. I was actually able to remove the feeder from the prop and replace it with some flowers and the birds seemed to like it (of course the flowers were charged with sugar water). Here are a couple from this AM.
7D, 500 f4l, tripod, remote trigger, 1 camera mounted flash, 2 stand mounted flashes (one on bird and one on background)
ISO 400, f11, 1/125, everything manual
http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/v28/p454185944-4.jpg
http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/v31/p301893536-4.jpg
Thanks for looking and commenting
Bob
Bob, I think these are some of your best hb shots yet!! They are SO MUCH BETTER with flowers in the shot!! Truly beautiful!
Denise
Quote:
Originally Posted by ddt0725
I agree Denise, the flowers just seem to do the trick---you well know that I have been struggling to get flowers in the shot, but I made another pvc contraption yesterday and it really seemed to work for me and the birds this morning (less than an hour of shooting)---and it was cheap. Wow---"Cheap and Functional"; you don't hear those two words used in the same sentence on this forum very often[:D]
Thanks again for your comments---
Bob
Here are a couple shots from my favorite Mexican Restaurant
[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/700x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/4807.DSC_5F00_1557.JPG[/img]
[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/800x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/5822.DSC_5F00_1595.JPG[/img]
First time for everything ...this is the second time I am posting the first two pics since they seem to have gone bye bye!
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6203/...5c10915c_z.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6078/...f9b0073c_z.jpg
The next two are the first time I have ever seen a Black-crowned Night Heron. Too bad I had to heavily crop to really see it! [:(]
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6199/...6286e639_z.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6185/...680b23cd_z.jpg
Great pictures on these pages, super sharp and well framed.
But now here's one from me. Pelican down at Redland Bay.[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/850x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/3733.Pelican_5F00_1.jpg[/img]
Thanks for viewing,
Steve
Nice work Denise, love the wood duck.
Bob, the HB
I went over to Southwest Illinois last weekend to shoot Herons. Unfortunately, I didn't take into account how skittish they were. Those birds will sit right by the road as cars drive by, but as soon as I get out of my jeep with a tripod, they all take off and land a half mile away. So, my only keeper from the weekend was another humming bird in a tree, slightly silhouetted by the setting sun.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6084/...2255d270_z.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsiegel5151
Don't get out. Assuming it's safe, park and shoot from inside your car. Then you aren't perceived as a threat, and they'll stay put.
Yeah, that will be my strategy for my next attempt. I figured if I drove around enough that they would come back toward the road after the initial "scare"; however, that was not the case after about 3 hours of killing time.