Post your best bird shots!

[Jayson]

Went out with the boys to see ice fishing on a pond near by and happened to see a couple of Jays looking for nest material. Happened to have the camera handy and caught this picture. Taken with XTi, 70-200 f4 L IS with Kenko 1.4x extender at f5.6, 280mm. Cropped pretty heavily, I believe ISO 400.





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[Joel Eade]

Taken on a snowy afternoon in backyard. Canon 40D, 300mm 2.8L + 1.4 x TC, ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/320 sec., AV priority, metering: center weighted average. Processed with ACR and CS4.





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[Brendan7]

very nice photo Joel. Lucky man, with the 300 f/2.8.


brendan

[Joel Eade]

Thanks Brendan, here's another one with the same setup taken this morning.[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.32.28/_5F00_MG_5F00_6875.jpg[/img]

[Brendan7]

Awesome! I also use a setup; but anything besides titmice, chickadees and nuthatches are usually too shy. How do you attract woodpeckers and cardinals? Please explain your technique, I am intrigued! I'm sort of a beginner at this; your shots are, again, awesome.


Here's my favorite shot so far (I've been using a DSLR for four months). I believe I've already posted it in this thread, but I don't see any problem in posting it here.


Canon 7D + 300mm f/4L IS USM


f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 320. Manual Exposure, Handheld.


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brendan

[Fast Glass]

I only had one chance to photograph a woodpecker, this was taken through the fence.


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This is not really my typical keeper, but since it's my only one I'll keep it untill I get another chance to photograph it.


John.

[Joel Eade]

Brendan,


My house backs up to about 5 acres of woods so we have woodpeckers and cardinals in the area naturally. I have found that woodpeckers like suet the best and cardinals like black oil sunflower seeds. I keep the feeders stocked all the time and use dead tree limbs mounted in christmas tree stands as my perches so they are easy to change and move around to get good light.


Once you get them coming in regularly you can move your perch to a spot where they will stage before coming to feed....the set up your hide to get the best sun angle and the best distance. Sun angle is critical...you have to avoid your subject being backlit or lit from the side with harsh light. With digital it is all about proper exposure and especially avoiding underexposure. You have to learn to push the histogram to the right just enough to maximize detail without blowing the highlights.


You will not be able to get the best detail unless you have good light and can push the exposure a little towards the right on your histogram. Underexposure is death to digital images. You have great gear....don't be afraid to push the ISO up on your 7D to get good exposure, also to enable you to get a shutter speed at least 1/320 or faster. This is especially true of small birds because they are seldom still and a telephoto lens magnifies their motion. You should consider the Canon 1.4 extender it helps to keep back just a little further. You reall cannot have too much focal length. A good tripod will be a valuable asset as well.The 300mm lenses are nice for the backyard but I wish I had saved longer and bought the 500 f4.


Some birds are more skittish than others but the downy woodpeckers and red bellied woodpeckers aren't too bad. I have found the hairy woodpeckers and pileated woodpeckers to be the most difficult.


Scour the internet and read all you can on exposure technique. Look up Arthur Morris and www.birdsasart.com[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.32.28/IMG_5F00_1444.jpg[/img]

[Brendan7]

thanks for all the great info. This will be a huge help! I am going to get me some suet! Beautiful capture with that blue jay.

The 300mm lenses are nice for the backyard but I wish I had saved longer and bought the 500 f4.

I am one of those who go against the grain here. I will refer to the Robert Capa quote, which goes something like, "If your pictures aren't good, you're not close enough". I've tried both the 300mm f/2.8 and 500mm f/4 and honestly I would rather have the 300. You can get close with your legs, not just long scary glass. But that's just me!


brendan