Anne

These images of a Red-Tailed Hawk were taken in San Diego along the San Diego River.  I noticed the hawk sitting on the fence and then jumping down into the grass to try to catch something.  After he didn't catch anything, he decided to sit in a tree.  I got as close as I could and waited.  I don't particularly care for the first image because of that fence in the background, but it's a good shot of the bird and its expression.  The second one I am very happy with, he was coming right at me.  Capturing BIF will take lots of practice.   And another hummingbird shot.  Even harder to catch these speedsters in flight And in focus.

My goals for bird photography are more often to fill the frame than not.  I would like to do more birds in flight, and that will require more practice for sure.  I use a Canon 6D with either a Canon 300mm F4L or the Tamron 150-600 5.6-6.3 G2.  I love the reach of the Tamron, but I cannot hand hold it.  I have a ProMaster gimble head on a Manfrotto 055 tripod.  For those that haven't invested in a tripod yet, I can attest to Melissa's comments on getting the right one the first time.  It will be less expensive in the long run.  I now have three tripods; the sturdiest one that holds the gimbal head all the time because swapping it out was a PITA; the one I had prior to getting the 150-600 and gimble head; and the one I bought way before any of these, when I knew very little about it all.  . The drawback on the gamble is the weight of everything and lugging it out where the birds are.  So I take my 300 on hikes.  Sometimes I use the 1.4 teleconverter with it as well.  I find that the fill the frame or with environment question depends on the subject and/or the environment.

nicely done.

We have just passed the nesting season for hummingbirds in San Diego, but earlier this year I wanted to capture one of the many hummers that come to my feeders gathering nesting material.  Each year I provide kapok nesting material from a couple of locations.  This image was taken in my front yard with the afternoon sun not quite reaching into the area that is the background.  By keeping the exposure set on the bird, I was able to create the dark background I was after.  My camera, on tripod, was set up with some foliage for cover and I used a long lens to stay back, but feel up close.  This is a female Anna's Hummingbird.