A Morning At The Marsh...Birds

[jprzybyla]

Another fine set Joe. It never ceases to amaze me how you can find so many different birds, let alone capture them so well !

Dave

Hello Dave, thank you for viewing and commenting. Florida is blessed with many birds and welands to attract them. I am blessed by having one of the best areas for bird photography less than a half hour drive from my house. Capturing them well is learning from 30,000 images shot this past year and learning from every one. Discovering what I can and cannot do with the equipment I have and then trying only to do what is possible.

[jprzybyla]

Joe, great captures of some great birds. Thanks for sharing.

Hello Jon, your comment is very much appreciated. Thank you.

[jprzybyla]

Absolutely lovely images...

Hello Richard, with your experience as a photographer I value you comment highly. Thank you for taking time to view and comment.

[jprzybyla]

Joe, I can understand why too. The Bittern is one of the UK's rarest birds. They are only resident all year round in a couple of small areas of England. The RSPB website states that in winter we only have around 600 that populate the south of England.

I live in the South and am a very keen fisherman so spend a lot of time in the habitats that they would like and have never seen one dispite being in areas that are said to hold them and looking hard. One day!

Thank you Andy for that information, I did not know that. Understandable why those form the Uk would value highly seeing a Bittern.

[jprzybyla]

Love the Limpkin! I especially love the depth of the tree he is perched on to compliment the bird.

Thank you Tom, your comment is very much appreciated.

[jprzybyla]

Phew a great set Joe i was thinking that the Bittern shot was lovely, I am in the south west of England and we dont get them here either. Then i saw your Limpkin photograph and for me its a standout. I actually think that all three components (bird , log and background )could stand as photographs in their own right but together its awesome. Great phot.Andrew

Thank you so much Andrew. The Bittern shot is one of my favorites also. I think the fog that moring shrouding the background enhanced the image.

[jprzybyla]

Very very nice set of images.....I think you took those with your Nikon 55-300mm AF-S VRII lens? I looked it up, it's not that pricey, but I must say I'm impressed with the images. Is this the lens you used? Tell me what you think of it, please.

Thank you Nat. Regarding your question... yes all were shot with the 55-300mm. That's my $259 refurbished by Nikon lens. I am not sure if I have a exceptional copy of that lens or if all are that sharp but I have a theory based on my experience. I am retired so I do not have a lot to spend on camera equipment. I bought my D7000 and that lens both as refurbished by Nikon from Ritz Camera at a discount. I believe when someone sends either a lens or camera back Nikon goes through it and restores it to 0 specifications. When a lens or camera is bought new from the factory it must meet specifications for quality control but those specifications are not 0, they can be say +3 to -3 both for cameras and lenses. If you get a +3 lens and a -3 camera that zeros out and all is fine, but get a +3 lens and a +3 camera and all images will be soft. The same is true for a camera and lens on the minus side. The point of all my rambling is that I swear by refurbished equipment as long as the refurbishing was done by the manufacturer.

You asked what I thought of the Nikon 55-300mm... with practice it works just fine. Focusing is slower compared to your 70-300 but I overcome that by anticipating what distance I may be shooting next and pre-focusing at approximately that distance. The optics are excellent as the images show, but good light is needed. It is not a fast lens and does not work as well in diminished light. I have a very simple system with that lens. Using Nikon's ISO Sensitivity I set the minimum ISO to 100. The maximun ISO I set to 3200. The minimum shutter speed I set to 400. I then shoot in Aperature Priority for stationary birds most times at f8 changing the aperature as the depth of field dictates. For flying birds I shoot Shutter Priority having the shutter speed set at 2000, infrequently slower or faster depenting on the type of bird (some fly slower or faster). Doing this it is easy to switch back and forth from Aperature to Shutter depending on what is needed. This works well for me, but I am certainly not an expert just a serious amateur who loves shooting nature.

[Nat]

Thank you, very helpful information, and it obviously works well for you!!

[jprzybyla]

Thank you, very helpful information, and it obviously works well for you!!

Thanks Nat.