Show your Bird Portraits

dcm

Enjoy the gear you have!
CR Pro
Apr 18, 2013
1,091
856
Colorado, USA
What a difference a day can make. The flicker house is around 50 feet from my second story office window, an easy target even though it is backlit. All I have to do is open the window.
  1. Shot the first handheld with a 1DXII, 100-400LII at 400, ISO 400, 1/125 at f5.6 with a MagBeam on a 600EXII-RT a but before sunset while it was still snowing yesterday.
  2. Shot the second on a tripod today (50F), adding the 1.4xIII, ISO 100, 1/60 at f8.0, with the same flash setup a bit after sunset. Waiting quite a while but the flicker didn't give me any other views.
Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time in my home office during the coming weeks so I'll have plenty of opportunities for practice. I'll definitely stick with the tripod. Might even give the M6II a try.

Ducks are due to return any day now, too.

dvmtthws-20200319-1848391.jpgdvmtthws-20200321-1923592.jpg
 
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Jack Douglas

CR for the Humour
Apr 10, 2013
6,980
2,602
Alberta, Canada
What a difference a day can make. The flicker house is around 50 feet from my second story office window, an easy target even though it is backlit. All I have to do is open the window.
  1. Shot the first handheld with a 1DXII, 100-400LII at 400, ISO 400, 1/125 at f5.6 with a MagBeam on a 600EXII-RT a but before sunset while it was still snowing yesterday.
  2. Shot the second on a tripod today (50F), adding the 1.4xIII, ISO 100, 1/60 at f8.0, with the same flash setup a bit after sunset. Waiting quite a while but the flicker didn't give me any other views.
Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time in my home office during the coming weeks so I'll have plenty of opportunities for practice. I'll definitely stick with the tripod. Might even give the M6II a try.

Ducks are due to return any day now, too.

View attachment 189317View attachment 189318
Very nice. Didn't realize the flickers were that willing to go in a box - must be fun!

Jack
 
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AaronT

CR Pro
Jan 5, 2013
273
609
It scares me to hear comments about ISO 640 I can scarcely remember shooting down that low. More often than not I'm 1250 - 3200 but I guess I must factor in your downsizing.

Jack
When shooting anything except landscapes on a tripod 800 was my go to ISO with my 5D MKII and 5DsR. Now for bird photos it's Auto ISO with a minimum shutter speed of 1/500.
 
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AaronT

CR Pro
Jan 5, 2013
273
609
Just going through some old photos like Jack. Here are 2 of my earliest, from 2002. From my Canon Pro90 IS, my first digital camera. :)

View attachment 189320View attachment 189321
BTW, I still have the camera, haven't used it in about 13 years though. Also, it was my first mirrorless camera and only one so far. It is a whopping 2.6MP! :)
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,445
22,882
Fortunately, although we live in a city, we do have a large garden and can walk along neighbouring stream. This afternoon, I saw a bluetit and a longtailed tit eating the new buds coming out on the trees. I had never seen this before, possibly because I had never bothered to photo them. You can just make out the green on the bluetit's beak in the second.DSC_6968-DxO_blue_tit_eatingSH.jpgDSC_6969-DxO_blue_tit_green_on_beakSH.jpgDSC_7075longtailed-tit_NN.jpg
 
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[...]
One of these is decidedly not a bird. Happy little squirrel munching away. Took my daughter for a walk. We were looking for things to take pictures of. I used the RP, she used the XS. These I could upload easily without having to put on the computer.
As squirrels can fly through the air over significant distances, you're forgiven ;) ...
W.
 
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One of the signs of spring here is the arrival of the redwing blackbirds. The ground is still snow covered and the ice out back is 4 feet thick.... and it just started snowing!
View attachment 189379

Hateful creatures. They make lovely pictures. They have a habit of attacking unsuspecting pedestrians during nesting season around here. I alter my running routes during the spring and have often contemplated carrying an umbrella to work full time.

Edited to add: True story. Almost purchased a parcel of land to build a house on. Walked the parcel on my own one day and got attacked by one of those monsters. That was the end of that. Walked away from it. We had met with the realtor a couple times. Started chatting with a builder.

I wasn’t about to deal with being unable to mow the grass every spring. Protected wetlands bird as well I think.

I still drive by it. There’s a house going up there now. I think they looked and bought in late summer / fall. Boy are they on for a surprise!
 
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