The best advice

Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
8,246
1,939
Canada
What is the best advice that you have been given about photography?

For me, it was about bird photography. It was about getting a bird blind and setting up a natural looking perch for the birds to land on. So, I got a hunting blind, put a comfortable chair inside, ran a power cord for electricity (a heater in the winter is LUXURY!). I then placed a branch between two feeders and drilled some holes that I fill with nuts or suet.

Today, I watched a steady stream of birds come and go, all oblivious to my presence..... sure beats sitting in the cold with a long lens. (BTW, the woodpecker picture is the full image.... you sure can get close!)

Thanks for the tip Jon!
 

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Not that I have any experience with this sort of set up, but from my first glance at your set up and seeing others do the same, I think a thinner branch would be more appealing. Also, possibly one with smaller twigs and branches etc. sticking off for more variety in where a bird could land (different looking images). For now, this looks like a great set up, and one I wish I could have.

Good luck with the set up, I look forward to seeing how the setup may evolve, and the images attained from it.
 
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DominoDude

Certified photon catcher
Feb 7, 2013
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2
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Don Haines said:
What is the best advice that you have been given about photography?
...
Good topic, Don!

The best I've been given was to use BBF. It makes shooting a whole lot easier - primarily for birds and wildlife, but as soon as you get the hang of it it works for just about anything you intend to shoot.
The 2nd best have to be to study some of the books by Brutus Östling, or attend one of his workshops. (He also mentions blinds and setting up dead branches pre-loaded with seeds, nuts, or pieces of suet or to put a knob of butter on the back of the branch so it isn't visible in the photos.)

If I were to give any advice for birders and wildlife photographers it would be: Turn off the sound on your phone, and try to minimize your typical human features - don't reek of perfume for example.
 
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Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
8,246
1,939
Canada
Ryananthony said:
Not that I have any experience with this sort of set up, but from my first glance at your set up and seeing others do the same, I think a thinner branch would be more appealing. Also, possibly one with smaller twigs and branches etc. sticking off for more variety in where a bird could land (different looking images). For now, this looks like a great set up, and one I wish I could have.

Good luck with the set up, I look forward to seeing how the setup may evolve, and the images attained from it.
I was planning on adding in a few thinner branches to perch on..... just take a power drill, make the hole, and insert the branches.

If you have a distracting background, you can hang a camo tarp behind your target and get rid of distractions.....
 
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Best advice?

The mount is the most important piece of kit, more important than all the rest of the kit put together (astrophotography)
Off camera flash is amazing, affordable and nothing like as hard to do as you'd think.
A great photo taken on cheap kit is better than a ho-hum photo taken with the best kit in the world.
 
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