Show your Bird Portraits

Hi Click.
Thank you. I like that one too, up there in my very few successful shots. The second one I was going for the head and shoulders traditional portrait to fit the subject title but I don't think it really works.

To all contributors to this thread, thank you for sharing your shots as inspiration to the rest of us, and for setting the bar so high. :) There are many truly excellent shots here, I'm almost afraid to share my lowly offerings, but heck you got them anyway. ;D

Cheers, Graham.

Click said:
Hello Graham, very nice shots. I especially like the first picture. Well done.
 
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Hi Folks.
Was having lunch at a local forestry commission site when this fellow came along, a got a few pics of him and was getting lots like the first one, just going to pack up and leave when he turned and gave me the different pose in the second shot, before I could reframe to include his feet he left! So I include the amputee shot for the pose not my ability! :-[
Both 7D Sigma 150-500 @500mm f6.3 1/640s ISO 800


IMG_7368_DxO by Valvebounce25, on Flickr

IMG_7369_DxO by Valvebounce25, on Flickr

Cheers, Graham.
 
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Hi PropeNonComposMintis.
Thanks for your feedback, I think the crow actually fancied my nice shiny lens, was just working out how to carry it off!

Cheers, Graham.

PropeNonComposMentis said:
Hi Graham.
btw, He is looking at what you are doing, may be He fancies Himself a Critique. :)
Your Ducks are fine also, (all in a row). They can be tricky to get right, they are Camouflaged after all.
 
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You photographers are creating some beautiful images. Here are a few from yesterdays shoot. I'm still on the fence between a 7d MK II or a 5D MK III not sure I will be happy with the high ISO noise in the 7d but would like the FPS of the 7D. The 1.6 crop factor is nice but not enough reach might not be as important to me as image quality.
 

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Hi Larry.
I don't know what you are currently using, but I'm not sure the camera matters much, these shots are fantastic. The ducks are exquisite. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers, Graham.

LarryC1973 said:
You photographers are creating some beautiful images. Here are a few from yesterdays shoot. I'm still on the fence between a 7d MK II or a 5D MK III not sure I will be happy with the high ISO noise in the 7d but would like the FPS of the 7D. The 1.6 crop factor is nice but not enough reach might not be as important to me as image quality.
 
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Valvebounce said:
Hi Larry.
I don't know what you are currently using, but I'm not sure the camera matters much

"I heard on the Internet" that a great shot is 5% camera, 15% lens, and 80% photographer. The specific ratios can be debated until the end of time but it's a good thing for me to remember when I get an acute case of Gear Acquisition Syndrome. :P
 
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Thank you all for the kind words. I have been a photo enthusiast since I received my first camera at the age of 8. An Argus C3 range finder. I'm currently using a 5D MKII and previous to shooting birds it was sufficient. Image quality is stunning with a stationary target, Macro work and portraits. The birds in flights and other birds that are swimming and moving about radically magnify the 5D MK II autofocus systems shortcomings. Like I said in an earlier post I used my son's 1dx and 5d MK III with the 300 2.8 IS II and the percentage of in focus shots was above 80 % on BIF. My 5D MK II is about 30%. So my quest is not for better image quality but more shots in focus under less than perfect situitions. If you look closely at the Wood Duck you will see I missed focus by a small amount. For web use it is not that critical, but I I wanted to print a gallery sized print of this image I couldn't. I will check the micro adjustment on my 300 4.0 My best work is not of birds, so I guess I need to open a thread under mammals and Macro. Thanks again for the positive replies.
 

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My mistake I uploaded a Pelican instead of the out of focus wood duck. AI servo continuous mode center autofocus and firing away at a blazing speed of 3 FPS LOL. The 5D MK II is not a sports or wildlife camera. I understand anyone can get lucky sometimes with a point and shoot but to base an entire trip on being able to repeatably get the shot of fast moving targets, I would not pack the 5D MK II
 

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