Show your Bird Portraits

[Dragon]

Here is a first test shot from the Vivitar 600 Solid Cat. MFD is 23 ft and this is with the R5 at ISO 10,000 (dark day), but it looks like the 600 is much sharper than the 800 and may be OK on the R7. Still not ideal for hummers due to MFD but may turn out to be useful after all. Interested to see what a sunny day reveals.

 

[Click]

Another beautiful series. I especially like the 3rd shot.

 

[Dragon]

Another beautiful series. I especially like the 3rd shot.

Thanks, catadioptric bokeh is not all donuts with the right background and can often be interesting.

 

[candyman]

This pose makes it seem like the robin is intently observing the world. But it's more likely that he's keeping a close eye on the birds of prey.

Canon EOS R5 Mark II
EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
Shot at 371mm with f/5.6, ISO 8000, 1/640
Manual
Distance: 6 meter
DxO PureRAW 5

 

[AlanF]

Thanks, catadioptric bokeh is not all donuts with the right background and can often be interesting.

Or catastrophic bokeh with the wrong background.

 

[Click]

This pose makes it seem like the robin is intently observing the world. But it's more likely that he's keeping a close eye on the birds of prey.

Lovely shot, candyman.

 

[RaPhoto]

Some backyard Red-tailed Hawk photos at ~50m in a cottonwood tree. R5mkii and RF200-800mm.

 

[Click]

Very nice series, RaPhoto.

 

[Dragon]

Had some sunshine today, so tried the Vivitar 600mm Solid Cat on the R7. Still pretty dark and much easier to focus on the R5 than the R7. 23ft MFD is not really practical for hummers and the lens tends to soften a bit below about 50 ft, but did get a few decent shots. Overall it is one of the sharper Cats if you hit focus. DOF is very thin. Will be best on the R5 or R8.










Visitor -stellar jay- (posed at good angle for DOF to work out)

 

[ISO64]

Learned something new today. Dropped the image in the Cornell Merlin app with my location and got Great Blue Heron, changed the location to Cambridge, England (just a guess) and got Grey Heron. The regions don't overlap, but the birds are similar. GBH is a larger bird, has a longer, S shaped neck when not extended, and rufous thigh/wrist colors ver when sus whiter on the GH. That can be hard to tell from an image.

Actually, that is a way how it is supposed to work. Find distinguishing features in an image, dérive list of possible birds, look at location, trim the list, look at time of year, trim further... Rearrange the list by "merit function" and display candidate(s). You do not need the year - try entering date in the future, as long as location and date match established probability of bird it will be considered. If you do not select the location list is longer, but still trimmed to about 4-5 suggestions. Sometimes it is scary how accurate it can be. But, it is also often entertaining in its misses.
My favorite is "Explore" functionality for new location, for my upcoming trips. Avoids expecting grey herons where great blue live

 

[ISv]

Lovely series, ISv.

Thanks Click!

 

[ISv]

Blackheaded Gull (R5ii/200-800mm).

View attachment 226669View attachment 226670

I like the second too.. But it's not in par with the great first one!

 

[ISv]

Some backyard Red-tailed Hawk photos at ~50m in a cottonwood tree. R5mkii and RF200-800mm.

View attachment 226707View attachment 226708View attachment 226709View attachment 226710

Great shots!

 

[Dragon]

Some backyard Red-tailed Hawk photos at ~50m in a cottonwood tree. R5mkii and RF200-800mm.

View attachment 226707View attachment 226708View attachment 226709View attachment 226710

Nice shots. Hawk doesn't seem too concerned about the crows harassing. We have hawks and ravens here and they seem to share a mutual respect.

 

[P-visie]

Ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) on the beach of the Dutch island Texel. Taken in september, I’m still busy culling and processing.




R5 Mk II + EF 600mm f4 II + 1.4 extender.

 

[Click]

Beautiful shots, Pieter. I especially like the first one.

 

[Noreaster]

Chickadee

 

[Dragon]

Hummingbird reflections continued---. This is a Canon new FD 500mm f/8 mirror lens on the M6 II as it has more aggressive focus peaking than the R7. This lens has a better t-stop than the Solid Cat and one of the easiest to focus. MFD is about 13 ft, so workable for my small birds. A dark and rainy day, so all shot at ISO 6400 and pushed at least a stop in post, so effectively 12,800. DXO PhotoLab did the best job of recovering detail and color followed by Topaz for sharpening. The birds were hungry in the cold weather, so lots of opportunity for shots. All handheld at 1/640, so right on the edge of motion blur from both the camera and the birds.

 

[Click]

Another very nice series, Dragon. Pretty cool with the raindrops.

 

[Dragon]

Another very nice series, Dragon. Pretty cool with the raindrops.

Rain donuts .