Best friends...of the birdie kind

[IzzieK]

Comments, critiques and edits of course are allowed on all my postings...

I saw these two flew near my house. By the time I got my camera, they were already near the next door's neighbour's property, so I have to make do with these shots. Apart from using the dodge tool on their eyes, I have only zoomed and cropped and save to jpg format.

1... let's go annoy that woman with the camera...



2. OK, you stay there and I will look for my food here...

[deetheturk]

Hi Izzie, its #2 for me did you use a tripod? there looks to be quite a bit of movement in #1? Give me bugs anyday

David

[Stagecoach]

Hi Izzie,

No 1 looks like Mr & Mrs going for an afternoon stroll

The whites are blown on the white birds back unfortunately, I see you used spot metering, what did you meter off? Did you remember to check the 'blinkies'?

You could spend hours in the garden, camera on tripod and wait for some to come along and they'l decide to go next door

Grahame

[Shadowman]

#2 seems workable. Nice effort.

[KimC]

OMG, these birds are so cute! What are they? I love #2. If it was my image, I would work with only the brown bird and crop out the white bird... I think just the brown bird would be super adorable!

[IzzieK]

There are about 15 varieties here, Kim...I just don't have the right lens so I will go to B&H later when I get home and buy the ones John had recommended. I know what they are but the names escapes me at the moment when I do not have my Audubon book. I was too lazy to have it with me I suppose...as I only think of my book twice now and wasn't prepared enough to shoot any reasonable BIF from first experience. I will upload some soon...I think I am getting it. I am missing Jack's response to my posts. He used to be involve in things like this and animals. I am just a newbie in birding so I am just learning. Sorry...my only purpose is to improve and I do not a profiled and calibrated laptop. I do not intend to so if my images and colours sucks, it is because I am not within reach of my desktop at home... I am sure you too can forgive my misgivings every now and then....

[Brownbear]

Hi Izzie,

Birds are challenging to photograph and it takes tons of practice. Indeed I miss a ton of shots, each and every time I head out to photograph birds, and that is usually at least twice a week, or more, for the past two years.

I think you did a good job on the 2nd image which is quite challenging because you have a light bird and a darker bird in the same frame (challenging for exposure and DOF). Far easier to photograph one bird at a time. (the darker bird looks sharper to me) And then of course you have to decide whether to expose for the white bird or the darker bird, always a compromise, hence one bird in the frame is easier.

I think these are Sandhill cranes but I'm not sure.

If you're really keen on learning to photograph birds take a look through the threads, especially for Joe's advice on photographing birds. And if you look through my threads no doubt you will learn a lot from everyone's advice to me and you will see a lot of blurry bird photos.

In looking at your exif data I see that you used a shutter speed of 250 at a 300 mm focal length... A SS of 250 is pretty slow for a stationary bird at that focal length. (indeed birds are are always moving even when stationary (head bobbing, grooming, etc) and then they take off for flight with astonishing speed which is pretty hard to capture with a slow shutter speed. Even though I've managed to grab sharp focus on birds at a SS of 250 I rarely use that slow a shutter speed unless it is my only option for more light (ie; Largest aperture and highest ISO my camera works well at)

I see that you have a Nikon camera which likely means you have auto ISO on your camera. (mine does) I use Auto ISO ideally set to a max of 800 (ideal for my camera), f4-f8 depending on the light and the size of the bird(s) and then I will start with a SS of 1600 for flying birds and a SS of 1000 for stationary birds, and adjust the shutter speed and aperture from there. And if need be, and it is often needed for birds in low light conditions I will use an ISO of 1600 and even 3200. I was really reluctant to use auto ISO but Joe encouraged me to give it a try and truly it works well if you don't underexpose the image. (I don't use a tripod for birds or flash)

To show you why a higher SS and auto ISO comes in handy even for stationary birds below for your reference is an image I'm working on combining... (still rough because I'm still working on learning on how to do this well, and not in order because I was in a hurry) It is a photograph of a stationary Red-Winged Black Bird.

Stationary Bird



The above is Just 4 of 7 shots photographed in sequence (continuous auto focus) f/8 SS 1250 ISO set to a max of 1600 and the ISO varied from a low of 720 to a high of 1250 for these shots, all taken split seconds apart. So auto ISO helps immensely with the changing light for birds.

[KimC]

Wow, what a helpful response for all of us Christina - thanks so much!

[Brownbear]

Thank you Kim. It is nice to know that you find it helpful. I'm taking a break from Cambridge because I'm working on developing my vision and post processing, but I saw Izzie's post with few replies so I thought I would try simply because I've learned so much from everyone here.

[IzzieK]

Thank you Kim. It is nice to know that you find it helpful. I'm taking a break from Cambridge because I'm working on developing my vision and post processing, but I saw Izzie's post with few replies so I thought I would try simply because I've learned so much from everyone here.

Christina In a little while, I am going to upload some BIF I took in another thread for you (and others) to look at. Thanks for the response.

[IzzieK]

Nope...no time to get the tripod. I have a little bean (with cloves in it) bag which I usually carry with me around...Tucker was my look-out boy. He's a big help in many things...

Hi Izzie,

No 1 looks like Mr & Mrs going for an afternoon stroll

The whites are blown on the white birds back unfortunately, I see you used spot metering, what did you meter off? Did you remember to check the 'blinkies'?

You could spend hours in the garden, camera on tripod and wait for some to come along and they'l decide to go next door

Grahame

[rudi]

Hi Izzie,

Nice shots. Maybe you can try some LCE to bring out a bit more detail ?

Just for your info, this are White Ibis (Eudocimus albus), an older white and a juvenile brown bird.

[IzzieK]

Thank you for your comments, Rudi...I am using my laptop here (on my vacation time...) so I can't do much editing if at all. When I get home I still have a lot to process. I will follow your suggestion later on ... sometimes I forget some process in a rush to show what I had achieve. I guess it is human nature to learn and keep track of one's progress via feedback...hence I love you all guys and gals who still talks to me...

Hi Izzie,

Nice shots. Maybe you can try some LCE to bring out a bit more detail ?

Just for your info, this are White Ibis (Eudocimus albus), an older white and a juvenile brown bird.

[Rita]

Izzie, I have struggled with BIF but they are great fun to try and do. Christina has given some good advice. All I can add is practice, practice, practice (and that goes for me too) and have fun.

[IzzieK]

Thanks Rie...I truly appreciate your commenting. Yes, no matter what sort of photography one aims for, practice is the only way to get it. There is one or two I missed commenting -- Jack (Flashjack) and our local bird expert here at CiC -- remember Brian (Saorsa) ? also from Florida? He is on the road I think...anyway, we are back on the road again since this morning..