Love your pics! Excellent shots. And those chicks — pretty gorgeous! I must think some more about bird feeders. I have plenty of bird baths but will have to investigate. And think of some 'blinds'. You are very resourceful with yours!
Sometimes I'm just happy if I can get a photo of a bird that is all in the frame, exposed correctly and in focus! But I must say the lighting makes all the difference to the end result and really makes that bird 'shine'! Here are my offerings. Side lighting, rule of three and a slightly different rule of three just to make you smile. Hopefully! 😊
@Fred
Nice shot! I don't mind the background being a bit noisy — it sort of adds a certain arty texture. Yes I agree about the possibility of missing a shot while making exposure adjustments! I've got into a panic on numerous occasions trying to quickly change settings to accomodate a different bird or lighting situation. Those precious seconds. Microseconds!
@gnu_photographer
@gnu_photographer thanks so much for the tips. That's super helpful! I really appreciate it. 😊 Will implement all three!
Cheers
Carole
I went to our local 'Blue Lake' today an hour or so before sunset to make the most of the beautiful late afternoon light. Also I'm still very much learning how to get crisp photos with my camera and lens, so ducks, water fowl and cormorants don't flit around very fast and are great subjects to practise on! The down side is that lots of people use the lake to walk around for their exercise so lining up a shot can be a bit fraught! But I thought I'd take my chances as I know there will definitely be birds there. I thought if I sat in one particular spot where I've photographed pied cormorants before I might get lucky. They can do some interesting gymnastics with their necks.
I got a couple of shots of Eurasian Coots and yes — a pied cormorant presented him/herself — but then a wonderful surprise awaited me! The light was getting low and I was just about to pack up when I looked up to see a Nankeen Night-Heron fly in to a tree right in front of me. One of my favourite birds! And I haven't seen one for ages! People around must have thought I was crazy I got so excited. Anyway, here are the photos! I'm on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria Australia just to the west of Port Philip Bay.
I am using a Nikon D5600 (cropped sensor) with an AF-S Nikkor 500mm 1:5.6E lens. I am in a Facebook group called Australian Bird Photography and took note of what lenses the photographers of the more professional looking photos were using. That's how I came across the Nikkor 500mm. I've only had the lens for a reasonably short while so am still very much a 'learner'! I feel a lot of the time my photography is a bit 'hit and miss'. I'm still trialing what settings work best in various situations. My goal is to shoot crystal clear shots that I can crop to show the exquisite detail of the bird. I love water birds particularly but any bird is a pleasure to photograph! I hope Melissa will be talking about how to get crisp photos! Sometimes I come home and load up my day's efforts onto the computer only to find the great majority of them are okay uncropped but not sharp enough to do a close crop. So disappointing. Hopefully I'll discover the trick to it one day soon! Any tips and tricks are welcome!
Does anyone know if I could use a Nikon teleconverter with this set-up?
Here's a couple taken recently with this lens.A grey shrike-thrush and two hoary-headed grebes.
For a long time I have been trying to capture a great photograph of the Hooded Plover, which is an endangered species along the eastern coastline of Australia. There are a group of 7 that can often be found along a stretch of beach near to where I holiday. It is always a challenge to get close enough for a clear photo without encroaching on their 'personal space' and stressing them. It is hard to leave knowing you have a good photo but not a brilliant one because you made the decision not to get a little closer. The story Melissa shared about the kingfisher really resonated with me and reinforced my belief's about ethical photography. The bird's safety and protection must always be of the uppermost importance.