Post your best bird shots!

[dsiegel5151]

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Took this last weekend. Canon 40D, 70-200mm (@200mm), f4, 1/2500s. Not my best bird shot ever, but for some reason I was drawn to the colors produced. Very ominous; like jaws is going to come out of the water and eat this pelican.

[bob williams]

How about your worst bird shot?


Well, It's the story that really matters. Some of you may remember that some time ago I posted a question about how to achieve focus in pitch black conditions---I realized that you could infact do this at least with a 580EXII and a 7d. With flash mounted and tunred on you can hit the Depth of field preview button and the modeling flash (Series of rapid fires) will engage and if your quick enough on the focus button, you can actually achieve focus during this cycle. Now, an experienced photographer would probably ask---"why would you want to" of course I failed to really think about the "why" and was obsessed with the "how". Well, I went out before dawn this weekend (as many wildlife photographers do" in an attempt to to get set up and ready for first light. I got to my blind early, got set up and had some time to play. So I knew my birds were out on the water based on the "morning chatter" that sandhills are known for. Though some light was starting to creep up over the mountains, it was still too dark to see anything so I decided to put my "focus in the dark" method to practical use. I pointed the camera in the general direction of the chatter, did my new found focus trick, then fired off a few shots. Now, keep in mind, these birds were about 75-100 yards away and you could not see them with the naked eye. Here is the result after pushing the exposure to about 75%, maxing out the noise reduction and significant cropping----What you end up with is:


<span style="font-size: medium;"]GHOST BIRDS:


<span style="font-size: medium;"][img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/5516.ghost-birds.jpg[/img]


It neverdawned on me that shooting wildlife in the dark with a flash would result in the infamous "red eye" or for cranes--"white eye"----


Note to self: Don't try and out think the Canon Engineers, there is probably a reason why they didn't offer the feature in the first place.


I often find, that I learn more from my failures than I do from my succeses.


Bob

[Richard Lane]

Bob,


Very interesting and creative stuff there. It looks like it could be the cover for a Stephen King Novel.


Rich

[bob williams]

Bob,


Very interesting and creative stuff there. It looks like it could be the cover for a Stephen King Novel.


Rich
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Thanks Rich, this was really justthe bad result of a bad idea--thought I would share it . I was hoping someone else would share any experiences of miserable failures, but I guess we don't really want to talk about those. So for now,lets keep those wonderful bird shots coming.


Bob

[Joel Eade]

Bob,


I like your birds in the dark, I think if you worked with some filters in pp you could make it look like a painting, very artsy to me.


Joel

[Joel Eade]

This is from by backyard, a backlit setup to get the "high key effect"


1D MKIII + 300mm 2.8L + 1.4 TC + 580 EXII + Better Beamer





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[Joel Eade]

Another shot of a Black Capped Chickadee with 1D MKII + 300mm 2.8L + 1.4 TC + 580 EXII + better beamer in my backyard setup





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[Richard Lane]

dsiegel,


Nice composition of the Pelican. I also like the calm, deep-blue look of the water too. However, it also appears that the birds white balance may slightly towards the blue or cool side. This may be due to the reflection off the water or the slight blue tint on a CPL filter.


Rich

[dsiegel5151]

Rich,


Yeah, that was caused by intense sun reflection. I

[Richard Lane]

I