Some birds for C&C please....

[IzzieK]

1. This bird was in the Wild Garden at the St. Louis zoo which we visited last Tuesday...It has its wing up for most of the time and everyone just looks at it and wondered if it is broken...I think it was trying to smell itself if s/he has BO...



2. because it jumped in the water and swam away afterwards...see? Fooled them tourists...nah..nah..nah..nah..nah..


3. Black Swan ... reminds me of Ballarat in Australia down the Lake where Dad used to have a Waterwheeled boat...the swans and babies were just thriving...



4. Canadian Goose???



5. Two ducks...



6. White Headed Buffalo Weaver...according to my husband this is the female one because she was the one building the nest and the husband was a little bit located up there "supervising"...Then suddenly this one in the nest indicated she is done...the male one came and sat on the nest. Ooopppsss!! wrong assumption...the male was the one building the nest for her lady mate...

[Wavelength]

You too Izzie......

hehe... just kidding...we are having more and more avian shooters now


Very lovely images.... yet i like those without any hint of zoo such as #2, #3 and #4

Keep up this spirit please....

[Shadowman]

Nicely done, all have a special little something about them.

[bnnrcn]

Nice images Isabel, my fav is #5 The green water with patterns add to the image and the birds with their reflections look very nice. Are their beaks so pink really or did you saturate them? I leave the technical comments about sharpness and focusing to bird shooters as I don't shoot birds

[Ziggy]

Enjoyable series Izzie.

Looks like you might have had some harsh light to shoot in, you did well.

[James G]

Nice sequence Izzie.
The Cormorant is a nice capture, it's slightly different in plumage from those we have in the UK. The white feathering behind the eyes makes it very dashing. As regards holding it's wings being held out, it's trying to get dry. Despite being fishers, and diving quite deep for prey, they do not have much oil in their feathers to keep them dry. If they get too wet, I understand they can get waterlogged and the bird will 'potentially' drown. So they spend quite a bit of time basking with their wings out and then preening.

And yes #4 is a Canada Goose, we have them here in the UK

The shots are a little soft though. I'm guessing you could probably have gone for a faster exposure, focussing on the heads of the birds given that the scene was quite bright. Water tends to reflect and confuse auto exposure. I quite often switch to spot focussing for bird shots. (A similar problem occurs when shooting into the sky if a bird is roosting or flying.)

[IzzieK]

Thank you for your comment, Nandakumar...I appreciate it very much...I just want to go out once a week to do photography...and keep up with them birdographers too...

You too Izzie......

hehe... just kidding...we are having more and more avian shooters now


Very lovely images.... yet i like those without any hint of zoo such as #2, #3 and #4

Keep up this spirit please....

[IzzieK]

Nice images Isabel, my fav is #5 The green water with patterns add to the image and the birds with their reflections look very nice. Are their beaks so pink really or did you saturate them? I leave the technical comments about sharpness and focusing to bird shooters as I don't shoot birds

No they really look like that...it was very attractive. I was lucky to catch them on their own although there must about 20 of them in the pond...thanks for the feedback, Binnur.

[IzzieK]

Enjoyable series Izzie.

Looks like you might have had some harsh light to shoot in, you did well.

I sure did...it was the only sunshiny day of the week so I planned to go to the zoo instead of the Wild Bird Sanctuary. There will be a Photographers' Day this Sunday there so I practiced on the zoo birdies first. Thank you very much for your kind comments..

[Saorsa]

Our cormorants are called 'Double-crested Cormorants' The crests appear at breeding time. In the second image (in the water) you can see the beginnings of the second crest just below the developed one.

Holding just one wing out would indicate preening below the wing. They usually hold both out when drying out.

[Rebel]

Nice images Izzie.

I'd go with what James said as well, it did look like a very bright day and would of used a faster shutter speed just to get the images a little bit sharper. I learned this when trying to shoot lambs that were leaping about everywhere!

[IzzieK]

Thank you for this info, James...now I understand...I did not know that, as well as the "tourists" there with me and they were laughing at the antic of the bird. I did not say Boo! at all because I didn't know any better. This one is very used to people being near it...quite cute and smallist. I would have thought cormorants will be one of those bigger birds. I was looking for names and pictures of those that were there but there was none...

Nice sequence Izzie.
The Cormorant is a nice capture, it's slightly different in plumage from those we have in the UK. The white feathering behind the eyes makes it very dashing. As regards holding it's wings being held out, it's trying to get dry. Despite being fishers, and diving quite deep for prey, they do not have much oil in their feathers to keep them dry. If they get too wet, I understand they can get waterlogged and the bird will 'potentially' drown. So they spend quite a bit of time basking with their wings out and then preening.

And yes #4 is a Canada Goose, we have them here in the UK

The shots are a little soft though. I'm guessing you could probably have gone for a faster exposure, focussing on the heads of the birds given that the scene was quite bright. Water tends to reflect and confuse auto exposure. I quite often switch to spot focussing for bird shots. (A similar problem occurs when shooting into the sky if a bird is roosting or flying.)

I most shoot in manual and just cannot help myself doing so despite that before I left home I had planned to shoot Aperture Priority...I guess I do not know much about it ... yet. I used Shutter Priority on airshows but I haven't had the chance to use Aperture priority yet. I was thinking of Barbara when I had wanted to do birdies...I'd like to reach her level but it will take time...

These shots were the first in the batch...the next ones will be better I hope. I just threw these ones first to test my waters... as I am not used to shooting birds really...these are mostly the static ones (well...almost...) I will upload my best ones in the third and fourth batches after I pp them...

Thank you for commenting and the feedback...I do appreciate it very much...

[IzzieK]

I lost my Like button, sorry...I will catch up later on those...

Thank you for the info Brian...this one was the laugh of the town in that place that day because it only held one wing so many thought it must have been damaged or hurt...I must learn how to understand birdies more. I have an Audubon book I should take to bed with me...they are very interesting creatures and beautiful too...

Thank you for looking and helping me with info...I truly appreciate it very much...

Our cormorants are called 'Double-crested Cormorants' The crests appear at breeding time. In the second image (in the water) you can see the beginnings of the second crest just below the developed one.

Holding just one wing out would indicate preening below the wing. They usually hold both out when drying out.

[IzzieK]

Oh...OK...I will remember that...I cannot chose the time of day I will go out because the zoo opens at 9am and we have to wait for the traffic to peter down a little bit before we go out so it is easier to reach places down the roads better...

Thank you so much for your comments and feedback. I appreciate it very much...

Nice images Izzie.

I'd go with what James said as well, it did look like a very bright day and would of used a faster shutter speed just to get the images a little bit sharper. I learned this when trying to shoot lambs that were leaping about everywhere!

[IzzieK]

Nicely done, all have a special little something about them.

Thank you John for your kind comments and feedback...

[ied]

Nice images Izzie. I did recognize the Canada goose , all the others are new to me.
I too find it challenging to shoot in harsh light and water.

Irene

[Barbara Ponder]

Izzie, good efforts! Sunny days are tricky but sometimes you just have to go with it. When I do that I make sure that my shadow is directly in front of me this or not more than 15 degrees to either side of me (black swan). This will help keep shadows to a minimal on the bird. Looks like if you had a little higher shutter speed these would have benefited but it's all part of the learning curve. The last one has wonderful feather detail.

What was your shutter speed? Most of these are not moving much so it didn't need to be very fast so I am curious.

[IzzieK]

First and foremost Irene, I am an amateur at bird photography. A whole last two weeks of holiday with hubby and my dog in Florida for my first bird shot yielded nothing but a good shot of a dove from a window which I could have easily done here at home. I didn't have the right gear then. This is only my second attempt to shoot birds, excluding the small backyard birds...look at my third ones here...so I am still learning...

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...0-new-post.htm

Thank you for looking and commenting. I learned something reading replies to my post here -- use high speed on sunny days...'appreciate your comment...

Izzie, good efforts! Sunny days are tricky but sometimes you just have to go with it. When I do that I make sure that my shadow is directly in front of me this or not more than 15 degrees to either side of me (black swan). This will help keep shadows to a minimal on the bird. Looks like if you had a little higher shutter speed these would have benefited but it's all part of the learning curve. The last one has wonderful feather detail.

What was your shutter speed? Most of these are not moving much so it didn't need to be very fast so I am curious.

Barbara I was probably about 6 or 7 meters away from the bird while up on near the restaurant area...SS varies a lot from one shoot to the other depending on how far I was from my "victim"...some where shot inside but on the wild side, some were under covers and some were just out in the sun...Black Swan was ISO 400 at F5.6 and 1/400 SS...I did not look much at my histogram. I was more worried about losing my equipment if my husband falls asleep in my motorized wheelchair I rented on so I do not have to walk for one and also another reason is that I want a place to put my equipment safely if my mule falls asleep at the wheel. Beside, when I ride the wheelchair everyone gets out of my way...I will remember that advice about the higher shutter speed and water combination with sunny day from now on...I have been thinking of you when I planned my outing this week at the bird areas of the zoo...

Thank you for looking and commenting. I would like you to comment on my second batch too, if you please...I will appreciate that too very much...link is at the top of this response to Irene...

[Barbara Ponder]

First and foremost Irene, I am an amateur at bird photography. A whole last two weeks of holiday with hubby and my dog in Florida for my first bird shot yielded nothing but a good shot of a dove from a window which I could have easily done here at home. I didn't have the right gear then. This is only my second attempt to shoot birds, excluding the small backyard birds...look at my third ones here...so I am still learning...

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...0-new-post.htm

Thank you for looking and commenting. I learned something reading replies to my post here -- use high speed on sunny days...'appreciate your comment...



Barbara I was probably about 6 or 7 meters away from the bird while up on near the restaurant area...SS varies a lot from one shoot to the other depending on how far I was from my "victim"...some where shot inside but on the wild side, some were under covers and some were just out in the sun...Black Swan was ISO 400 at F5.6 and 1/400 SS...I did not look much at my histogram. I was more worried about losing my equipment if my husband falls asleep in my motorized wheelchair I rented on so I do not have to walk for one and also another reason is that I want a place to put my equipment safely if my mule falls asleep at the wheel. Beside, when I ride the wheelchair everyone gets out of my way...I will remember that advice about the higher shutter speed and water combination with sunny day from now on...I have been thinking of you when I planned my outing this week at the bird areas of the zoo...

Thank you for looking and commenting. I would like you to comment on my second batch too, if you please...I will appreciate that too very much...link is at the top of this response to Irene...

I will comment on the others. FYI I have stopped taking a bag of equipment with me because I would obsess about it which lead to missed opportunities to shoot. I carry my camera on a black rapid sports strap and then put extra batteries and sd cards in my pockets. That is it, then I don't have to worry about it getting lost or stolen.

[IzzieK]

I will comment on the others. FYI I have stopped taking a bag of equipment with me because I would obsess about it which lead to missed opportunities to shoot. I carry my camera on a black rapid sports strap and then put extra batteries and sd cards in my pockets. That is it, then I don't have to worry about it getting lost or stolen.

Like Christina, I have hubby problem at the moment with the "wanting to look after me" syndrome but she is braver than me just up and going...Even if I have the single and the double Sport Black Rapid harness, I ended up not using it...besides I promised I was going to bring my tripod too. Renting that motorized wheelchair to carry my gear was really a blessing. This is the first time I have ever done this. I wish I have a golf cart instead but there was none for rent over there...it is blessing to Bill because he feels he is making himself useful for the day...I offered to let him have the use of my little camera but he refused...his loss...Sometimes I do not know when my hands are going to suffer the shakes so I brought my tripod and besides as Geoff said the other day, it helps with the thinking about the composition. I agree. I am very bad when it comes to composition...the tripod give me a reason to think...do my brain exercises every now and then.