Bird Photography

[green meadow]

you need a macro lens to focus that close. 😅

[green meadow]

I was quite sure that this goldeneye will hit me. But instead it attacked and likely killed another female's chick which was nearby me. 😰

[gilded gale]

did some1 say treeeeee swallow? sorry im late!

[scarlet tulip]

Catching one this close is really something, nice shot

[green meadow]

It was quite a moment indeed. And af tracked the bird amazingly well. Shutter speed should have been bit faster thou and then this would probably be sharper.

[hidden wyvern]

Enraged blackbird

Crow was close to some nests

[scarlet tulip]

Wonder why she was attacking chicks

Will goldeneyes eat their own young?

[green meadow]

It is a small bond so probably less competition and more food to own chicks. Situation was really fast and not clear what happened but definitely it didn't eat it but it looked like it was at least trying to drown it.

[broken mantle]

[spring vault]

yoink

[broken mantle]

Today is the second time i got kicked from a park due to using a loong lens 😂

[scarlet tulip]

You can get kicked out of a park for using a telephoto?

Lame

[broken mantle]

Yea

[mint warren]

Wtf is the logic there, people use telephoto lenses for wildlife photography all the time everywhere else

[broken mantle]

They say only phone photography

But saw there is another group pf photographers with wide(? Small) lenses, and the security did not approach them lol.

[scarlet tulip]

Is this some German hellhole?

[broken mantle]

Usually i go birding there with my 150-600. Today i was using the 600mm f4 😂.

[scarlet tulip]

Really nice glass

[broken mantle]

Nahh, im on a asean country. Usually security approaching you means you need to give them cash lol.

[scarlet tulip]

Maybe they think anyone with a big lens is rich enough to pay out lol

[broken mantle]

Yea

[green meadow]

Black-throated loon

[dusty fog]

fancy birb

[green meadow]

Yes it is. It is also bad at flying, bad on the ground, but exceptional in the water. 😅

[hidden wyvern]

i seen one of these but a different variation here, went under water and i didnt see it again lol

they stick out a bit on the water though, i have common loons here

[wispy mesa]

he's so smooth!

[green meadow]

True. Really special looking feathers and feather patterns.

[green meadow]

Yep, sound familiar. These can dive for really long time and far away.

[hidden wyvern]

this was it here, just going through photos now

can id it at least

[mint warren]

loons are so cool

[pure belfry]

u wot m8

[solar bay]

What birds do nuts eat?

[mint warren]

some initial edits from today

[scarlet tulip]

Depends, usually they serve chicken in hospitals so the psych floor would get that

Turkey on holidays

[dusty fog]

took me so long to get this

[solar bay]

Damn that's why you don't write late at night

[solar bay]

Good one though

[drifting silo]

Idt Germans mind that stuff, as long as you’re clearly not taking photos of people. Quite a lot of wildlife/birding enjoyers here too in fact

If its in asean countries, particularly somewhere like Indonesia then yeah it’s probably just the security asking for money like that stuff is likely not even written anywhere in the rules

[drifting silo]

This

[barren sigil]

How do they get the background like this? I see nothing. Is this editing?

[barren yoke]

I think they mask out the back

[wheat hare]

shoot wide open, get low and try to frame the subject so the background is as far away from it as possible.

[frozen belfry]

fucking beautiful

[green meadow]

thanks 😄

[frozen belfry]

id buy that on a huge metal poster to cover my whole wall

[wheat hare]

Went to get coffee and the wife counted 29 eagles on the beach. I'll miss this place.

[barren sigil]

Does everyone here use auto iso ?

[barren yoke]

No

I don't.

Maybe I should lmao

[barren sigil]

Thanks

[wheat hare]

I do most of the time

[spring vault]

same

[hidden wyvern]

i use both auto iso and manual, depends on condition though

shutter speed on control ring makes for easy adjustment

[wheat hare]

I tend to put exposure comp on control rings but that's just my personal pref

though I often disable them too

[hidden wyvern]

yeah i just have that on something else birding wise

got a few custom modes, macro, landscape, action, bird which in my case is the Fv mode on the canon

landscape would have control ring as an aperture ring instead

[barren sigil]

Yea on my 80D i put exposure compensation on the set button then control it wilh the dial

[scarlet tulip]

Shoot wide open and find backgrounds that are far from the bird

Works well enough that most trees mush out even at 5.6 or slower

[barren sigil]

Thanks

[gilded yarrow]

I dont

Have tried it

Manual works better for me

[scarlet tulip]

I do

No reason not to in most scenarios

[hardy fox]

this bird can give me tetanus

[mint warren]

Large Tail Nightjar ooooo

[hardy fox]

savanna nightjar actually

dudes will literally scram the moment they see u from like 10 metres

or 15

or 20 idk

this is a large tail which basically doesnt care

[wheat hare]

Everything can give you tetanus. It’s caused by spores.

[hardy fox]

well i think crawling on stones doesnt help

[wheat hare]

It can be on literally anything

[hardy fox]

oh come on

what do you get when you crawl on stones

scratches

and whats the easiest way to get tetanus

[wheat hare]

I didn’t refute anything about stones

[hardy fox]

idk i also didnt say it wasnt everywhere

[wheat hare]

I said it for general public knowledge you numpty

[spring vault]

the government not wanting me to crawl on stones just makes me want to crawl on stones more

[wheat hare]

You made it sound like that specific bird gives it to you. I was sharing that it’s not specific to that bird and it can be just about everywhere on everything potentially.

So get your dang tetanus shot/boosters children.

[scarlet tulip]

They’re easy and cheap

Do them once a decade or after you puncture yourself badly

[wheat hare]

All throw aways and not worth more than a quick crop and hitting auto but I'll share them here anyway because birds.

[dusty fog]

birbs*

[broken mantle]

Birds when they see me

[barren sigil]

You have a d7200 and r7 ? which one do you use for birds/widelife ?

[broken mantle]

Both

Sometimes i take both on the same trip 😂(d7200 for my sis)

Just got the r7 a few weeks ago, so im still figuring things out.

Keeping the d7200 for handheld, boating, rainy/wet shots.

[spring vault]

what are y'all pointing at there lol

[broken mantle]

A kingfishers hunting ground

[spring vault]

nice

[barren sigil]

So sweet, i love seeing all these photos. this whole discord server is a god send. i haven't touched my gear in about 2 weeks cause i wanted to go to nikon or sony to change things up. but i'm staying with i got. can't wait to get it back and go outside and shoot something

i've litterally learned so much on this discord just by watching and google

[broken mantle]

Its usually where we discuss life and stuff lol

The bird is kinda too far for closeups. Its just a good quiet place to hangout.

[barren sigil]

When i can sell prints and make money i know i made it

[broken mantle]

Thats a nice goal to have

Im just burning money birding

[barren sigil]

least your having fun

[broken mantle]

Yea. I find it calming, helps reduce stress from working.

[barren sigil]

i sent my gear to adorama on 6/3 i haven't seen it since im getting it back on tuesday 6/25 gonna be nice

[spring vault]

my fav woodpecker

[barren sigil]

Straight from the camera ?

[spring vault]

here's sooc

mostly just changed white balance

I think I wouldve liked a wider crop but I was too close

[barren sigil]

Beautiful

[wispy mesa]

angry bird

[green meadow]

Birds and such from last weekend. 😃

[scarlet tulip]

That bear clearly hasn’t started eating yet

Very svelte

[green meadow]

Yeah, it was really slim.

[scarlet tulip]

What’s the species? Looks similar to our black bears

Which are smaller and less aggressive than the grizzlies (also called brown bears)

[green meadow]

All bears that we have here are brown bears

There were pig carcass as a bait. Referring to how that bear handled it, I think that it will gain some weight before next winter. 😅

[green meadow]

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) seems to be subspecies to our brown bears (Ursus arctos) at least according to Wikipedia.

And it is bigger and more aggressive compared to its European cousin.

[wheat hare]

I want to go find some Kodiaks.

[green meadow]

Are those the biggest of them all?

[wheat hare]

Yeah besides the Polars

[scarlet tulip]

The subspecies here is known for being big and angry, yeah

Some of them even breed with polar bears

[wheat hare]

One of these days I’m going to do a contract in Alaska

[green meadow]

@scarlet tulip I think that it was a bit of an odd call to reject your photo from the weekly contest.

[scarlet tulip]

I get it, if the question is “is there enough rain here to count as a major element”

Fair enough, from that perspective

I remain miffed that photos are allowed which include no active rain

[spring vault]

what was your pic?

[green meadow]

Yeah I thought that it was a bit strange. But I also understand that it is not necessarily an easy job to decide where to draw the line either.

[spring vault]

I bet the contest helpers thought this would be an easy one to judge before they posted it lol

[scarlet tulip]

That’s usually how it goes, I don’t envy them the job as it’s quite hard

[gilded yarrow]

Kinda feel like this one shouldnt count either if yours doesnt

[scarlet tulip]

that one i can see the argument for, the rain is more obvious

[spring vault]

https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/OXmmFFhpoybzaW8o4pGp471tSuZe12UlTZIsmGSqD1A/https/live.staticflickr.com/65535/52539381551_73500529e8_k.jpg

this was one of the example pics in the announcement

that one's basically the same

[broken mantle]

All the blurry pics for this one

[pure belfry]

my dude, crank your ISO a little bit and give yourself a chance of using a decent shutter speed.

birds at 1/15s? You're asking for pain

[broken mantle]

Had some decent pics with higher iso. Even had some at 12k iso.

But after waiting from 5 am till 6 pm and this bird keeps appearing. So i tried something crazy lol

Cropped from this pic

Spent more than 5 trips to capture that bird species and failed. Got lucky yesterday and got everything from portraits to mating pictures 😂.

[mint warren]

I usually have to run 800-1600 ISO to get decent pics shooting freehand with a 600mm + canon crop

400 if lighting is quite intense

[broken mantle]

Might need a 5 years gym membership before i can easily handheld this beast

I missed a soaring eagle shot yesterday due to my arm and shoulder giving up. My friend got the shot(using a similar setup).

[spring vault]

I use 7.9mm f2.4 iso 50

[wispy mesa]

Which I by the way totally forgot by the way I shot the picture 😄 I remember now that i saw the example picture and thought "oh I like the concept" and then forgot about it totally. I only remembered it now in the course of the discussions

I liked your picture being in the contest.

[green meadow]

I was looking at my old photos and realized that everyone has to start the learning process from somewhere. I remember being somewhat satisfied or proud with this picture at the time. 🤣

And now this is not good or sharp enough. 😅

[hidden wyvern]

if snow counted i have like an album lol, i think i have a few rain ones though

for sure a more fun contest though, rain can be challenging with af in birds at least on my r6

will track a rain drop before a bird

this one needed manual focus lol

[broken mantle]

I really need to buy a rain cover for my lens

[hidden wyvern]

plant ones with no active rain could be a spray bottle

hard to say

[hidden wyvern]

even one of those bag ones tend to do the trick, theyre fairly cheap

not the most ergonomic option but for $5 vs like $80 its a good option

[broken mantle]

Planning on getting a vanguard alta rc xl

[spring vault]

😎

[hidden wyvern]

i got one like that and id say theyre worth it

mines a lens coat rain cover

[broken mantle]

Been using a $1 raincoat

[hidden wyvern]

the lens i have now doesnt really need a cover anymore though, but my sigma did

[broken mantle]

Using the arm hole for the lens

And the hoodie part for the camera body

[spring vault]

looks good

[hidden wyvern]

this is the one i got

similar idea but has two access points, for like twice the price (mine was on sale)

[broken mantle]

A friend used his nikkor 200-500 in the rain. Then for the next few weeks some water will come out of the lens when he zooms in and out

[hidden wyvern]

L series

rain/snow hasnt been a concern since i got the lens lol

suction barrels usually scare people but yeah, my experience is the sucked in water just comes out overtime, usually i just sit it so gravity will take the rain out after

doesnt tend to actually go in the lens, gaskets stop it

[wispy mesa]

I know this so well! I am not even remotely where you are but there is already such a difference of what I consider a successful photo. You guys here also helped a lot with this

[wispy mesa]

Love. It!

[scarlet tulip]

That or morning dew

[hidden wyvern]

mpb trying to get me to gas on a lens still

some day

prob better going ebay for that old of alens anyway though unless i need it mint

[wheat hare]

We posting moist gear

[dusty fog]

saw a few ospreys today

most I saw at one time was 3

[dusty fog]

it's cool how they just hover in once place while they look for fish

[hidden wyvern]

why out of frame wing

[hidden wyvern]

nothing worked in my favor for this shot, iso at like 6k for some reason (probably was set for something else), missed focus on eye

rip

clouds look like a distant explosion because of how bright it really was lol

i did get a good shot of a "miniduck", will find a crop for that and share later

[barren sigil]

That's with Auto iso ?

[hidden wyvern]

nah, auto iso is much more accurate than human iso

[green meadow]

I have found that auto iso isn't the best option for flying birds when the background changes often between ground and sky. In those situations I usually change to fully manual mode.

[green meadow]

That swan was there alone and I waited, I don't know how long (at least my back was sore and my legs were numb) for it to open its wings. And finally it did... of course right after another swan had come up behind it to ruin or at least mess up my photo. 😅

[dusty fog]

Epic

[green meadow]

It always surprises me how long those wings are.

[hidden wyvern]

this is the shot which came out nice, not quite a fully grown duck either, "miniduck" essentially

cant really tell on its own, but, here's a similar photo of the exact same duck fully grown some time ago

for both of these photos i found manual iso easier, probably because of the water

think i just set it too high for flight lol, cloudy/bright sun

been slowly watching these fuzzballs during May turn into ducks overtime

[vale lava]

damn thats close

[jaunty sundial]

what do you shoot with 🥺

i love your shots

[hidden wyvern]

thanks, my most used kit is probably the r6 with my rf 100-500, also got a 1.4x (have some others but just birding wise)

[jaunty sundial]

mmm i see, thanks. i was hoping to get some pics similar in quality to yours, hard to compare gear though

ive got a D810 + Sigma 150-600

[hidden wyvern]

can probably get similar shots with the sigma (not as sharp of course), not sure how the d810 is

[jaunty sundial]

Think the R6 is quite a bit better

[barren yoke]

Gear doesn't always matter! I got some great shots on my rebel t5+ sigma 150-600mm

[jaunty sundial]

36MP and reasonable

yeah to be fair i had a REALLY nice bird shot (imo) on my old £50 digicam lol

took it like 8 years ago

[hidden wyvern]

basically a weaker form of a 45mp sports camera vs the d810 (r6 being 20)

[jaunty sundial]

ah i see

[hidden wyvern]

so af is prob quicker too, although duck in the water isnt too hard in terms of af

[jaunty sundial]

do you AF your motion shots?

stuff like flying

never gone for bird shots on my better cam

[hidden wyvern]

yeah unless it focuses on a branch (also a problem for the r5)

bird eye af can miss sometimes

although regular af seems to hit each time

[jaunty sundial]

yeah id just do reg tbf

if given choice

you ever sell your shots?

[hidden wyvern]

not usually although i have before, its a hobby to me mostly

[jaunty sundial]

feel like those two duck shots are really picturesque for like a magazine front cover

[jaunty sundial]

makes sense, reasonable $$?

[hidden wyvern]

well stock websites so like 80 cents lol

but it adds up per person

[jaunty sundial]

😅 makes sense

[hidden wyvern]

ive done things like this with that sigma lens

similar aperture really, just have to learn how to make it blur

[barren yoke]

All of my recent shots are with the sigma

But I did get cool photos with the kit lens

[hidden wyvern]

rf 100-500 blows the sigma out of the water imo but its like entry level version of the lens vs premium lens

similar type of lens, similar range, similar apertures (sigma is actually in favor there)

both should be able to do similar photos id say

with the sigma i actually used a rebel camera, much worse than the d850 lol

[broken mantle]

Eyy its libby

[hidden wyvern]

for the duck shots getting up close on a windy day helped, lots of dust in the water reflecting light and whatnot, plus sharpness always gets stronger closer up

[broken mantle]

Yeah gear doesnt always matter

They do make things easier

[barren yoke]

Hiiiii

[broken mantle]

But also had some good results with my old D3200

[barren yoke]

I also only used the sigma with the rebel for like 7 months, and then I bought a r6

[hidden wyvern]

i upgraded since i got into action stuff, BiF and things like that which is where ifound the sigma slow, likely moreso because it was a canon sl3 so i upgraded to r6, r6 has some bug with the sigma so i eventually upgraded to 100-500

[barren yoke]

That makes sense. Yeah I did some research and made it so the bug wasn't as bad.

[broken mantle]

Yeah jumping from a D7200 to a R7 really boosted my keeper rate

Especially having the birds eye in focus. And actions shots

[hidden wyvern]

ideally i was hoping to have an r6, 150-600 and a 600 f/4

someday ill get a prime but just a bit of a delay

[barren yoke]

This is still one of my favorite shots, and it was with the rebel+sigma

Lighting matters a ton

[broken mantle]

I dont have a zoom for canon

[hidden wyvern]

similar lighting to my shot pretty much^

[broken mantle]

Is the 400mm 5.6 good?

[hidden wyvern]

400 5.6 is good but 800 f/11 is 400 5.6 with a 2x and ibis + af

both about the same price lol

need a tripod probably for the 400 5.6

[broken mantle]

Currently using a 600mm. On an apsc. The 960mm crop is too much for some situations.

[hidden wyvern]

400mm might do fine on an r7 though, jsut wouldnt cut it full frame imo

[broken mantle]

But still not enough reach for most situations lol(since i usually focus on small birds)

Might invest in a ghillie suit

[hidden wyvern]

it doesnt really reign superior over say a ef 100-400 mk 2 but it holds up to stuff of that quality, which isnt too far behind rf 100-500

just lacks is

[broken mantle]

Yea. Hoping the r7’s ibis can help

[spring vault]

I use a 500 5.6 on apsc which gets me 750mm f8.4 which is basically as if I had a 200-800 on full frame

[barren yoke]

I love ibis

[hidden wyvern]

the 400 5.6 is like 30 years older

[broken mantle]

Do you keep your long lens in a dry cabinet?

[hidden wyvern]

i want that sigma lens on rf lol

[barren yoke]

Yesss

That would be awesome

[spring vault]

switch to Nikon and get the 500 pf

cheaper

[broken mantle]

Yeah. But the 400/5.6 costs like less than half the price of a secondhand 100-400ii here

[broken mantle]

Whats the rate there?

Not a single one on the secondhand market here

[spring vault]

$2130 on mpb

[broken mantle]

Need to smuggle one from singapore lol

[hidden wyvern]

mk 2 is much newer in fairness too though

can expect better af most likely

if you have a tripod the 400 5.6 will prob do pretty well regardless

it also wont get the full electronic fps burst being as old as it is, mk 2s afaik will

i kind of want this lens myself, as in the 800 f/11 since im full frame (probably too dark on crop as its getting there on ff lol)

[spring vault]

1280 f17.6

bridge camera simulation

[hidden wyvern]

it also accepts 2x tc

nikon p1000 challenger

[hidden wyvern]

i guess when it comes to the 800 f/11, not sure if i should spend $600 for a prime, or a bit more for a zoom which reaches 800

prime is fun in the sense its fixed though

[spring vault]

prime is fun

[broken mantle]

Yeah. After getting a tele prime i started to plan the trip, composition, and other stuff more

[spring vault]

encourages closeups

[broken mantle]

With a zoom i just go there without a plan lol

Sometimes using a prime makes me miss a moment lol

[spring vault]

I wish I had a better min focus distance tho

often I gotta back up for closeups

[hidden wyvern]

this was with my 800mm rental

[spring vault]

and sometimes the birds are too friendly and when I back up they follow me

[hidden wyvern]

has like 16 ft mfd though being at 800

[broken mantle]

Last time the birb started mating. Cant fit on my 960mm

[hidden wyvern]

but then its like, if i need to get close i do have a 100-500 which is one of the closest mfd for a zoom of that length

[broken mantle]

Shouldve brought my other camera/lens that day 😩 (unsent the video since its nsfw)

[hidden wyvern]

need to ask them to pose elsewhere lol

[broken mantle]

Yea lol. I was too close to the female(was taking portraits)

[broken mantle]

Have you tried using macro extension tubes?

Havent tried, but heard some photographers uses that.

[hidden wyvern]

vistek does have the 200-800 up for rental so that might be something fun to try out someday

$55 per day

but then the 100-300 2.8 is $150

id lvoe to rent that but then id prob want one so best not to

not exactly a bird but DoF can get fun with the 100-500

line becomes thin

ive noticed that with my old sigma too at times

really noticiable here

[spring vault]

tubes are less effective on longer lenses. Theyre more effective on shorter focal lengths. I would need like two feet of tubes to get 1:1 lol

Teleconverters can get u closer but my lens doesnt support em

[spring vault]

burd

[jaunty sundial]

hop[efully

im way too broke for the higher end lenses

well

i just cant justify buying them

[hidden wyvern]

just need to work with what you have pretty much, too manynew things coming out 24/7 to keep up on everything anyway lol

[gilded yarrow]

Lenses are the most important thing thats enough to justify it

Pretty much same distance, 300€ lens vs 1.500€ lens

Okay well one is 300mm on apsc so 450mm ffeq and the other is 600 ffeq but still

Open in Browser for max detail

Oh youre talking about the 150-600 when talking about cheaper lenses? Yeah nah you'll be fine

[jaunty sundial]

Ah, i see thanks

Yeah to be fair, i call it cheap but

My body is £400 ~$550
Lense is £600 ~$800

So i guess its still a decent enough setup

[gilded yarrow]

Body is only important for iso performance and atleast 24mp imo

But the 150-600 is a nice lens, I've tried it before too

[jaunty sundial]

Mine does 36 and very reasonable iso so prayge itll look lush with the 150-600

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah you'll definitely be fine then

[jaunty sundial]

Ah i hope so

Probs going costa rica at some point so would be amazing to test there

[scarlet tulip]

It’s fun how even slow apertures get thin at 500

[spring vault]

when doing closeups I often stop down to like f10

background is still blown out but u get more of ur subject in focus

[scarlet tulip]

It’s a balance

[spring vault]

as long as there's enough light that stopping down wouldnt force a stupid iso

[scarlet tulip]

Personally I don’t care as long as the eye is sharp

[spring vault]

I can't get enough of that mf feather detail 😤

[spring vault]

this ones 500 f8

[scarlet tulip]

That Sigma is really something

[jaunty sundial]

where did you shoot?

really interesting species

[green meadow]

Eastern Finland right next to Russian border (Kuhmo region). There is a place where you can rent a photography hide to shoot from.

Actually there is few separate safari companies that provides that kind of services.

There is also a really good chance to see wolves and wolverines.

[paper anvil]

What lens(es) did you use?

[green meadow]

All of those in that post are taken with Nikkor 600mm f6.3 pf. Then I had 100-400mm with me. But this time there were not that much of a use to it.

[paper anvil]

Neat!

[jaunty sundial]

Sounds awesome, im hopefully going to romania and moldova to shoot the same sort of fauna but wolves and wolverines would be incredible

I love your shots btw

Seriously crisp, i love european plains

[green meadow]

Thank you so much and they are indeed incredible creatures. Shame that those (wolves specially) are among the most hated animals in Finland. 😞 Yeah, that kind of marsh areas are probably quite unique places. 🤔 😃

[jaunty sundial]

Wow

Those two are magical

Needa pop u a follow on insta

[jaunty sundial]

One day i will visit fi istg

[green meadow]

https://wildfinland.org/ this is good place to photograph that kind of animals.

[jaunty sundial]

Thanks

[hidden wyvern]

battle of the pond

victory throne

rock

[gilded gale]

Like mother, like daughters?

[steel wind]

As the ambassador of the Turkish Lounge

I would like to inform you guys that we've officially passed you in terms of message count

And that we have become the forum with the 3rd most messages

get rekt ggez

[barren yoke]

Ooo

Guys we gotta talk more

Toads

[spring vault]

burd

[broken mantle]

Anyone here uses a birb feeder on their backyard?

[barren yoke]

Yea I have like 5

[broken mantle]

Been sick for the past few days and cant even lift my camera setup

Might try setting up some feeders so i can still take bird pics

[broken mantle]

Do you have issues with rats crowding the area?

[barren yoke]

Dude I haven't done any bird photography in weeks lol

[barren yoke]

They are hanging from a tree, so hardly any squirrels can reach them

Only birds and flying squirrels (which I like flying squirrels)

[broken mantle]

Nice

[barren yoke]

Yesss it's my favorite

I saved a robin today

It was in a locked building, so I told an employee, used a broom to help chill the bird and then yoinked them

I was thinking about doing bird banding as a job, does anyone know anything about it?

[broken mantle]

Maybe someone in the birding server knows

[barren yoke]

Maybe

I'll probably wait a couple years

It kind of sucks how there's no fun birds after migratory season

I hardly saw anything, even though ebird said their were tons

[finite flower]

i forgot this guy has a 800 prime

[jaunty sundial]

Its quite the norm here probably 3 or 4, used to have 3 humming bird feeders in the states aswell, that was great

[broken mantle]

There is only eurasian tree sparrows here . But better than nothing lol

[jaunty sundial]

Might be some cool birds of prey in your area? But they wont eat from feeders haha

[broken mantle]

Kinda envy my friends who have wild kingfishers(multi types), ducks, etc visiting their backyards lol

[broken mantle]

Nahh. I need to travel >1 hour to go birding lol

About 20 minutes for herons lol

[jaunty sundial]

Where are you based?

Uk i assume?

[broken mantle]

Jakarta, Indonesia

[jaunty sundial]

Ah

There must be some tropical birds no?

[broken mantle]

Out of 1800 species here. Only ever saw 2 on my backyard

[jaunty sundial]

Ah, to be fair all of these rarer species are only found on certain island i see

I suppose a get away to islands would be expensive too?

[broken mantle]

Yeah its cheaper to fly to australia than domestically. But i can always use trains and by sea.

[jaunty sundial]

You guys have bee-eaters and rainbow bee eaters native lol

Super cute

[broken mantle]

My next big trip is for the hornbills

[jaunty sundial]

To be fair id love to go to one of your national parks

[broken mantle]

Yea

Those places are fun

[jaunty sundial]

Where are they to

They are some ugly fuckers

[broken mantle]

Sumatra island. Bukit tigapuluh national park.

Atleast thats where my friends went last time.

I will just steal reuse their itinerary lol

[broken mantle]

Or a javan eagle nest. If the eggs hatches

[jaunty sundial]

That would be pretty cool tbf

[jaunty sundial]

[broken mantle]

Pretty bad crop of the nest

Couldnt get too close, we might risk the pair abandoning the nest

Should be safe to get closer after it hatches

Tempted to get a teleconverter

[jaunty sundial]

Will be testing my lens tonight but

At most on some ducks

Its a good area atleast, sky is always atmospheric

[broken mantle]

Night duck pics

[jaunty sundial]

This was the sky the other day but just didnt have my cam with me

[broken mantle]

Eye level, then flapping their wings, on the water, moonlit

[jaunty sundial]

Would be crazy

Ill try go for sunset though

[broken mantle]

New lensss?

[jaunty sundial]

Yah sigma 150-600

Hopefully quite crispy

[broken mantle]

Dont forget the camo skin, they add sharpness and focal length||jk||

[jaunty sundial]

Lol

Didnt buy one tbf

[broken mantle]

Havent tried the sigma, used the tamron g2

[jaunty sundial]

O

Both about the same price

Would be interesting to see how they compare

[broken mantle]

iirc its pretty similar. Friends say the sigma might be sharper, and the tammy have better image stabilization.

Thats for nikon

[jaunty sundial]

Yh im on nikon

What body do you have

[broken mantle]

Nikon D7200. Also tried it(tamron) on my friends’s z6 and z8

[jaunty sundial]

Mmmm i see

[broken mantle]

The sigma works fine on my friends z6

[jaunty sundial]

My body is a little better than yours then i think

Ah yeah yours is 24mp

Still

I think wed be looking at simolar results

D810

36mp

[broken mantle]

Ooh

I know someone with a d810 and the tamron g2.

[jaunty sundial]

Hows their shots looking

[broken mantle]

Made me get the tamron lol.(jk it made me consider it, but someone offered me the g2 waay cheaper than the sigma C)

[jaunty sundial]

Fairr

[broken mantle]

Not sure if i can share, but its not my profile so its not self promotion. https://www.instagram.com/mike.frankenstein?igsh=MXdzeW9rMTdzbXUxag==

[jaunty sundial]

Yeah ofc

[broken mantle]

Should be similar with the sigma.

[jaunty sundial]

Sharing photographer info is chillax

[broken mantle]

Just stop down a bit for extra crispiness

[jaunty sundial]

Oh wow yeah

Really nice

[broken mantle]

Sadly my nikon friend who uses the sigma doesnt post his birding pics.

[jaunty sundial]

A

[green meadow]

Some feather detail 😅

Poor young magpie was hit by a car. It was stuck inside my neighbors cars front bumper. After getting it out from there it just stayed here at our yard. Now I've been trying to nurse it with some food. It walks well and is much more active now than few days back. But it still avoids flying. I caught it and checked its wings. There is some bruises but it seemed like that there were not any broken bones or such. It is quite vulnerable to predators at the moment, but hopefully it will survive and recover.

Now we are having some trust issues after that health inspection I made to it. 😅

[solar bay]

poor bird

[hidden wyvern]

little sparrow

[scarlet tulip]

Good of you to help, guy seems like he will be fine

[wispy mesa]

oh my, poor bird. very cute fellow! thanks for helping him out!

[green meadow]

A few newcomers 🤩

[scarlet tulip]

Good day for shouty birds

[scarlet tulip]

Coal tit?

[green meadow]

Nope...First is blue tit and other two are great tits....And young great spotted woodpecker

[green meadow]

indeed 😄

It looks like parents are bored at listening that shouting. 😅

[scarlet tulip]

“I will turn this branch around!”

[hidden wyvern]

finally found one in the wild, had to walk into this deep forest spot

no keeper shots but ovenbird

only other time ive really seen one was when i found a stunned one and watched over it until it flew away

youd almost never see them on the ground

easy bluejay shot too today and some other common birds

out of all the birds, vireos and ovenbirds seem to be the hardest for me to find naturally, will be a spot i check again lol, doesnt help they basically wear a lenscoat skin

[green meadow]

These red cardinals are so cool looking birds. How common are they?

[barren yoke]

At least where I am, I see and hear multiple everyday without even trying

[barren yoke]

They are really common

[green meadow]

Must be really nice to have that kind of every day birds. 👍

[mint warren]

Splendids are going back into spring colors

yey

[green meadow]

Before making the kids

And after making the kids

[wispy mesa]

taking a toll!

[green meadow]

Raising those chicks is hard work.

[hidden wyvern]

one of the other birds i seen on yesterdays walk

it was hunting bugs for what i assume is their very loud child in the background somewhere

[green meadow]

There is something same compared to our jay but then also nothing same. 😃

[hidden wyvern]

they are both jays, ones just called bluejay lol

i think theyre both similarly loud too

nice photo as well, ive always wanted to see a regular jay in person, we have a different jay here too

more like a songbird

[green meadow]

Yeah jay on my picture sounds really rough.

We have also different jays (bit like that canada jay) here.

This one has really nice voice and it is really curious bird and often comes near to people. But it is quite rare.

it is a siberian jay

[hidden wyvern]

kinda looks like a bird around here except has more colours

[green meadow]

But both looks really beautiful

[hidden wyvern]

this one here has a similar look when its younger, doesnt have the black feathers in at that point

called a junko, more of a sparrow though

[green meadow]

yeah I was just asking if this is dark-eyed junco

There were one this year here in Finland for the first time ever.

Bird enthusiast went bit nuts because of that

[hidden wyvern]

theyre a easy to run into bird, but, usually in bushy grass which makes it tough as theyre also primarily a dark colour (some countries they have brown)

also basically makes no sound compared to other loud songbirds

in person they almost sound like a faint grasshopper noise

[green meadow]

We also have some migrating birds that sound like grasshoppers, but they don't look anything like that one.

River warbler for example

[hidden wyvern]

we have warblers here too, pretty tough to find naturally as well, although ive found a few

this guy is practically invisible

that bird i was excited about earlier, the ovenbird, is even harder i find then these guys

but they make themselves known for sure

[green meadow]

I found one also this spring and got really poor photo. Our warblers are mostly dull looking.

[hidden wyvern]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNuDCkXitks very loud and anyone from the us/canada probably recognizes the noise

[hidden wyvern]

that one would be pretty tough with the colours, looks tree like

some birds its just more fun to see them lol

[green meadow]

It is really pain in the...to try to find and photograph small birds that stays deep in bushes, are fast moving and has best camo ever

[hidden wyvern]

i did get a decent shot of a vireo, although very noisy

another one of those tough birds

not really the same style id have for a "good photo" now but it was 2 years back when i had a canon 250d lol

iso 200 looks like 12000 now

can clearly tell what it is though

[green meadow]

Great job and looks good...I usually don't have enough patience with those ones that stays hidden.

[hidden wyvern]

i think the best part is, ive never actually even seen one again

i always hear them

[green meadow]

Maybe one day it will show it self to you again

[hidden wyvern]

same issue as finding the owls here i suppose

yeah, here's hoping, also looking for a snow owl or barred owl

[green meadow]

Owls are really difficult indeed

[barren yoke]

I love owls

[green meadow]

I thought that I found sure place for pygmy owls few years back, but newer seen them there after that. 😫

[barren yoke]

I feel so bad lol, I haven't done bird photography in weeks

[green meadow]

Well tomorrow is great day for that (in fact every day is). Wake up early and head out. 😄 👍

[hidden wyvern]

tomorrow i have a boat trip planned and if all things go correctly ill be finding one of the rarest birds for me (because of my area mostly)

might be raining though

https://tenor.com/view/тупик-gif-18485780

boat trip for these guys

[green meadow]

OK rain is not ideal but it is also change to get special looking photos.

Puffins are amazing

Is it long trip to see those?

[hidden wyvern]

the rain kind of comes off as just humidity related rain, probably will be very strong for like an hour then gone

2.5 hr boat trip pretty much, goes to an island not too far away

puffins are actually natural in my area, but, people hunt them so now they arent really

the island is protected though

[green meadow]

not bad...I drove 1500km (about 1000miles) for those. 😅

[hidden wyvern]

even in like tourist shops we have these puffin figures and such lol, theyre also near iceland from what i understand

[barren yoke]

I'll try lol, summer ruins my sleep

There's barred owls where I'm going

[green meadow]

Norway also

[barren yoke]

And I'm seeing if we still have stray migratory bords

[hidden wyvern]

now luckily i didnt buy an RF 800 f/11 to take on this boat trip like i had planned and instead upgraded my landscape lens this time around

will be going with a weather sealed 100-500

[barren yoke]

Ooooo

[hidden wyvern]

its yet to fight weather thats hurt it, but, ill be as safe as i can on a boat lol

this is just some rainfall mostly though, actually doing it a bit now

[barren yoke]

You could get a rain cover

[green meadow]

So do you get to go on the island or do you have to stay on the boat?

[hidden wyvern]

i think its a boat around the island if that makes sense

but specifically for photos and stuff, so theyll guide us to spots which look nice

[barren yoke]

Something like this

[hidden wyvern]

i got a rain cover actualyl already but will see if i need it or not, dont want to bring too much either

probably will bring my tripod for landscape too

[green meadow]

Sounds good and i think there will be good change to photograph them while flying

[barren yoke]

Alright

[hidden wyvern]

worst weather ive shot in was at disneyworld actually, was a random thunderstorm that came out of nowhere

lens i may as well have thrown in the lake for a minute lol

mightve been drier

no issue with the camera aside from some mist on the front element but i bring things just incase anyway for that, shouldve seen the camera guys taking group portraits though

8 flashes with like 5 grand in equipment in a thunderstorm with strong winds which knocked one over

[green meadow]

I forgot once lens out in thunderstorm. I kept it in bag of rice for a week after that and surprisingly it worked just fine after that.

[hidden wyvern]

im sure none weatherproof either

photo was kinda cool though lol

[green meadow]

Bad weather always makes me worry about my gear, but they are quite tough after all.

[hidden wyvern]

this lens ive done in bad weather before but i was still worried myself, also had a 35 1.8 prime in my bag which wasnt sealed at all

Kinda made for some cool effects so it wasn’t all bad

[green meadow]

Not bad at all

[hidden wyvern]

having rain in 115f (46c) on an otherwise sunny day is refreshing too

[green meadow]

🥵

[hidden wyvern]

someday maybe ill go again, although very pricey, first macaw ive seen in person too there

[green meadow]

My personal nightmare is to be in crowded place in that kind of heat. 😅

But surely great place with lots of everything

[hidden wyvern]

vultures everywhere practically too

bit of heat distortion but honestly the only ugly part is the bird lol

interesting to see though

[green meadow]

surely

were these and those macaws inside that disneyworld area or just on the same trip

[hidden wyvern]

there were actually macaws in gatorland too but i first seen them in disneyworld

[green meadow]

and those were wild birds

[hidden wyvern]

vultures and some were wild, though the macaws ere not, thats not to say there arent wild macaws in florida since there actually is

theyre from australia but some people lost their pets and they kinda made life work in some forest somewhere, similar enough weather for their survival

[green meadow]

Aa...I see...Cool but not cool same time

Do you know are those bad for local nature?

[hidden wyvern]

the ones in disney were free flying, no cages or anything so im not so sure that they were "pets" but, they had a tracker on their foot and flew to a specific spot

[hidden wyvern]

im not sure if they are bad or not, but they arent labeled "invasive"

since they're mainly a fruit eating bird i cant see much harm unless you have a sunflower garden

[green meadow]

I've heard that there is some sort of problem in Florida with some snakes that were originally pets but got loose.

[hidden wyvern]

some snakes in florida are toxic so i kinda understand that

macaws are mostly just a big version of a waxwing

i know cockatoos can be annoying though, since theyll basically behead sunflowers for seeds

[green meadow]

But often species that doesn't belong to that habitat also causes some sort of problems. Some more severe than other.

[hidden wyvern]

florida just is an odd spot which isnt entirely different from australia, havent heard of any problems yet although its a minor amount of macaws

like, not so much macaws, but there are actual wild parrots in florida

[green meadow]

Raccoon dogs and american minks are bit of a problem here. They got loose from Fur farms and now they cause losses for nesting birds.

[hidden wyvern]

yeah i heard about those, luckily i dont think macaws are like bully birds which attack nests

starlings on the otherhand would attack other bird nests and kill competition

starlings pretty much starting the same way, but theyre considered invasive

[green meadow]

Yeah there is differences how bad those foreign species are for local ecosystem. But often when human interferes way or another to natures balance results are not that good.

But now I have to go...have a nice trip to puffin island

[hidden wyvern]

thanks, cya later, here's hoping the rain wont stop me lol

[green meadow]

European honey buzzard

[wise trench]

The bokeh is so relaxing on these

[green meadow]

Thanks. It is possible even with f6.3 lens when distance is long enough to bc. 👍

[hidden wyvern]

the puffin trip was fun but i am practically asleep at this point

so many photos to look through too

[barren yoke]

I usually use 8 f-stop because I prefer sharpness over bokeh

[gilded yarrow]

My grandma just sent me this

Fell out of his nest apparently

[hidden wyvern]

one of the first edits i got is a puffin, quite happy with it too, but, completely different editing than what i usually do

makes it interesting

[green meadow]

Advantage of prime lens is that it is sharp enough even without stopping down (this is about 100% crop). 👍 And even with zoom lens @600mm and f8 it is possible to get smooth background when there is long enough distance between subject and background. Also subject has to be relatively close.

[hidden wyvern]

also just look at this sponge

quite a few seagull nests

[green meadow]

It seems to be some kind of swift and needs help. If they know where the nest is and if it is possible it might be good idea to return it there. 🤔

[green meadow]

Picture is 🤏 but looks adorable. 🤩

[hidden wyvern]

yeah, this guy was just in the back lol

some photos actually seemed better to go wide than zoomed in

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah she already called animal rescue and they said she should bring it to them

[hidden wyvern]

some are just tough shots

boat and mist

[green meadow]

Our local swifts when they leave the nest they don't land until after three years to nest for the first time. Nature is really amazing.

[green meadow]

They are hiding 😄 and tough conditions ☹️

[jaunty sundial]

duckies

Bristol harbour is grim tho 90% of my shots are ruined by pigeons or trash in the water

[hidden wyvern]

This one came out pretty nice

[spring vault]

I wanna see puffins

I went to maine last year but it was the wrong month 😩

[hidden wyvern]

These guys were on a protected island so tough to get close up like my normal shots

Lots of opportunity for in flight though

Pretty fun trip

[spring vault]

in maine u can pay to be boated to a photo blind on a puffin island and theyll pick u up a couple hours later

[hidden wyvern]

i think the thing is here people hunt them, like they naturally are around in some spots, but, going by boat its a protectd island safe from hunters

[spring vault]

thats surprising I thought they were endangered

[hidden wyvern]

that being said, i shot at 500mm and sometimes zoomed out

yeah, i think they are considered vulnerable

also, being protected, lots of other birds flying around

seagulls which sound lame were actually cool, its not like a seagull id see at a beach or anything, different type of seagull, razorbills, even seals around

[scarlet tulip]

I continue to be amazed at how well the PF glass renders tbh

[mint warren]

Did you atleast get Loons?

[analog kindle]

Well its been a busy start to the summer for me but here are some recent shots

[spring vault]

I saw a handful nothing up close tho

[mint warren]

dang

I live on the opposite side of the world but Loons are just so cool

Luv em

[analog kindle]

Pacific Loons are my favorite

I'd love to see one someday

[scarlet tulip]

That swallow and the thrasher are really well done

Same with all of these really

[gusty zephyr]

Sorry about first pic idk why it cropped like that, but for the second picture I'm not sure the best way to crop it
Any suggestions?

[spring vault]

is that the full res

uncropped

there's not much u can do tho maybe next time try to get eye level

bord

[green meadow]

Actually me too. And it is really great how much room for cropping high mp body and sharp lens gives. 👌

[wispy mesa]

I am currently not very lucky with my birds, and do not have the time and opportunity to shoot in better conditions. It's always too dark or too much light. Meanwhile I enjoy your photos a lot!

[wispy mesa]

Nevertheless, I got a young European Robin

[drifting silo]

Just made the switch to LrC

Took way too long to edit this one photo lol, still getting used to the new layout

Im so annoyed with how the colors and brightness vary so much between my laptop and phone's screen

Maybe I need to get my laptop screen calibrated

[dusty fog]

These are so good, I love how much of the environment is visible in them

[analog kindle]

Thanks!

i just wanted to show how extremely good I am at getting close to birds lol

[pure belfry]

fake lens blur? the feet are out of focus for some reason

[wheat hare]

This you? jk https://petapixel.com/2024/07/05/photographer-found-guilty-of-disturbing-extremely-rare-bird-of-prey/

[green meadow]

😅 Luckily not. That would be really awful if my actions as a photographer would cause something like that. I try to take responsibility seriously. The wellbeing of animals and birds comes first. 👍

[green meadow]

Imo Lightroom classic is much better and versatile when you get used to it. 👌

[green meadow]

And editing photos feels so meaningful when you remember that photos will look different on everyone's screen. 😅 Anyway looks great on my screen. 👌

[spring vault]

Whole pic was blurry cos I was resting the lens hood on the railing and even tho I was 1/800 it somehow messed up the optical stab and the entire burst had tons of motion blur. I used topaz to sharpen it back up.

never had that happen before

https://i.imgur.com/eDLNCW5.mp4

topaz sharpening aint bad sometimes

It could also have been heat haze instead of motion blur but I was pretty close so idk

[green meadow]

What do you think? Is one of these good enough for the weekly contest? There is some kind of color cast and I don't know how to fix it. Also peanut behind the rock bothers me.

Also taken today so it would be as they wish at the announcement.

[scarlet tulip]

second one is better than the first IMO

would have to fix the color cast

[green meadow]

I like the first one because of the more unique pose, but the color cast is worse and the peanut more visible.

[scarlet tulip]

First one also has the better reflection

That does matter

[drifting silo]

I agree, composition looks cleaner to me

AI denoise has been an absolute godsend so far, a lot of photos have become usable thanks to it

[scarlet tulip]

it's super helpful, innit

18k ISO

[wispy mesa]

❤️

[green meadow]

Is this some kind of wren?

[scarlet tulip]

Yeah, I think a Carolina wren

They’re common here

[green meadow]

We have only one wren specie here.

Eurasian wren

At least our local ones are fast and small birds that likes to be deep in the forest. So it means that high iso is always needed when trying to photograph these. 😅

David and Goliath having a duel.

Also upside down

[scarlet tulip]

White-tailed eagle?

[green meadow]

it is black kite again.

[scarlet tulip]

That must be a small falcon, wow

[gilded gale]

Splash!

[mint warren]

Real osprey hours

[scarlet tulip]

Bath time

[drifting silo]

Backlit feathers are pretty

[drifting silo]

Got several lifers this week, be sharing them soon

[mint warren]

ooooh

species name pls

[drifting silo]

European stonechat

Apparently I managed to get shots of both the male and female

[mint warren]

good

[dusty fog]

look at da babies

[dusty fog]

lifer

[drifting silo]

Here’s the female Stonechat

Took unbelievably long to edit cuz I suck at photoshop (I was only trying to remove some distracting branches)

[green meadow]

Absolutely amazing photos. It might be female but believe that this is young bird because of really spotted head and chest. 👍

[wispy mesa]

Love it!

[scarlet tulip]

Red-headed?

[spring vault]

yea

[scarlet tulip]

i've never actually seen one, nice shot

[spring vault]

burd

[frozen belfry]

shitty pics of pretty birds

so pissed about this lol. it was very low, but i was hanging out the washing. by the time i had run inside and put the lens on it was really high already:(\

[dusty fog]

Ospreys are kind ugly tbh

[hidden wyvern]

rock pige-uffin

[spring vault]

that rock is black af

[hidden wyvern]

yeah, hard to contrast the bird but i tried to sperate it with editing

this one just didnt quite work lol

practiclly makes them invisible

while the slate is dark at least its natural too, nothing really out of place looking imo, protected island for birds

[wheat hare]

The noise is a shame but it’s still cool

[hidden wyvern]

honestly nothing really could be done in this case for that, best to leave most of the noise with 7.1 anyway, 12800 gets ugly in dark spots like this with denoisers, sunny days i could clean it up potentially lol

even the guy with the 400 2.8 near me had some issues with noise, his quite cleaner i suppose but not perfect

one of the more challenging situations ive shot in, boats arent stable, birds arent close, dark overcast and a tripod would only make the shake worse so you gotta shoot fast. Was nice to see puffins, gannets, cormorants, razorbills and all these other types of seagulls i never seen

[wheat hare]

Oh I shoot off boats often I know how that goes

I occasionally will resort to a monopod with a monogimbal. It can sometimes help with the rocking and also my noodle arms.

[hidden wyvern]

monopod would probably work well, not sure how that guy handheld something the size of a z9 with a 400 2.8, my arms got a bit sore from the 100-500 after 2.5hr

next time ill consider that lol, brought a tripod for a seperate purpose, but never even used it for that reason anyway, went for a handheld approach

was editing another photo and noticed something interesting

seems like the beak had some ghosting

[wheat hare]

I take the Z9, 800 and I sling the 180-600. I’ll take a small backpack with an extra battery, memory card and rain cover. Plus the monopod. If I’m helping with whale ID we will be out for 10ish hours. Sometimes I just do the whale tours though and those are only 3-5hrs. It’s relaxing.

The ID days are on a small boat so I may skip the 800 because we can get closer. I’ll take the 180-600 and leave the monopod in the car.

[hidden wyvern]

this guy went handheld and half the time almost fell over lol, maybe he wasnt as relaxed

for me i did fine for the most part

i did see seals which was exciting, kinda just looked like a dog swimming in the water

[spring vault]

blooj

[green meadow]

Eurasian curlew has a rather handsome beak.

[green meadow]

Harsh looking female chaffinch

It should look like this

[wispy mesa]

Poor girl

[green meadow]

Yeah, I don't have any idea what could have caused that. Some parasite???

[wispy mesa]

Possibly. Can also be due to mental issues or a shot ton of other illnesses, I think

[hidden wyvern]

heres one of the gannet i got, an immature one from the looks of it but it can fly

[frozen belfry]

i hope thats a general statement and not calling mine an osprey lol

[dusty fog]

yes haha

was looking at this

[spring vault]

how can u call them ugly they're so cute

not my pic

they got big eyes

[frozen belfry]

good 😂

[dusty fog]

kestrels are cuter

[frozen belfry]

yesssss

so cute

and hobby

[hidden wyvern]

found a junko out in the woods, crazy how fast they can be when they dont expect you around them

[spring vault]

[spring vault]

wish I couldve gotten lower

cool bird tho new to me!!

[mint warren]

tfw i keep sleeping in because of night shifts and cant get up early for bird photography

feels bad man

[frozen belfry]

😭 i feel you

i set my alarm for 0630 and laid in bed until 8

[drifting silo]

Me everyday

[frozen belfry]

😭

[wispy mesa]

https://tenor.com/view/pat-pat-gif-27403481

[frozen belfry]

Tar!

[hidden wyvern]

razorbills

[wispy mesa]

i need to get a good bird photo again 😦

[frozen belfry]

same

[mint warren]

It's winter so I can get away with 7 or maybe even 8, but the night shifts are just so exhausting

[frozen belfry]

🫂 havent done nights in a long time but i feel ya

[mint warren]

Hell the most interesting bird I've been able to see in the last few weeks was a Tawny frogmouth while I was working

[green meadow]

You might think that rain wouldn't bother water birds, but the look on the goldeneye's face says otherwise.

[wispy mesa]

"i told her it starts raining in the next ten minutes but NO the lady needs her coffee NOW."

[green meadow]

The chaffinch is in the spin cycle of its wash program.

[green meadow]

I love Instagram algorithms. Here is two screenshots from IG. Second picture is mine and first is some random person. Guess How many likes these pictures got?

[scarlet tulip]

I’m guessing the first one got more because of the high key edit

For some reason IG loves those

[green meadow]

Yeah and I'm not saying that mine is any means better. It is just somewhat unfair how you get visibility there. After all these are quite similar photos and first one got 14633 likes and mine got 145. 🫠

[scarlet tulip]

14k?

[green meadow]

yep

[scarlet tulip]

How?

[green meadow]

I have no idea.

https://www.instagram.com/tarja_naturephotos/

OK, she has 14k followers, but I have no idea how she has gained those.

Nice photos but nothing that special imo.

[scarlet tulip]

The algorithm is a completely foreign thing to me, she must be doing something right

[green meadow]

Yeah definitely. I think that you have to be really active there. Such as like and comment others photos a lot.

[scarlet tulip]

That is what I’ve heard

[green meadow]

Of course I'm not taking photos for likes, but bit more visibility or wider audience would not hurt.

[scarlet tulip]

Platform basically requires constant engagement

[green meadow]

Yeah that is bit messed up...like we all are not already enough addicted to our mobile devices.

[scarlet tulip]

Yep, that’s one reason I’m not on there

The engagement would be nice but I don’t want to put the time in

[green meadow]

Good choice. I'm not the worst but I think that my screen time is bit too high.

[scarlet tulip]

Anyone whose conscious of it and tries to limit it is already winning

Some people just stare into the phone all day

[green meadow]

That is so sad because we have all kinds of cool things around us...like birds. 😄

[drifting silo]

I get 30

Me and my 30 bird photo enjoyers

[green meadow]

Yeah and every time I post something I lose one follower....That really inspires posting new photos to that platform. 🥳

[drifting silo]

Haha yeah, the only time i could get 3-digit likes was on a reel

But I dislike reels for photography

Its just a terrible format

[green meadow]

True true.

Also it is bit sad that I put my time and effort to photos and then it is watched about 1 second or less.

[drifting silo]

And u know how those trendy photography reels use upbeat music and showcase every photo for 0.2 seconds 😂 cant even see shit and it gets thousands of likes

What even is the point of photography at that point

[green meadow]

😂 totally useless.

[drifting silo]

I stare at your photos for much longer if that makes you feel any better, I believe we all do in this server

[green meadow]

Thank you. I really appreciate it and yeah, that makes me feel better. And same here. I give much more time to your photos here.

[wispy mesa]

the algorithm is wild. somehow when i scroll through the recommend section, i get weird videos from people with barely any followers, but thousands of comments making fun of them. it seems that somehow the algorithm sometimes randomly chooses stuff and shows exactly those to millions of people. so if the photo appeared on your recommend section (or however it is called) it is very likele that it is shown to A LOT of people.

[wispy mesa]

i agree!

[green meadow]

Yeah, it is wild and also probably quite simple. Meta wants people to spend time on their platform, so engaging content gets more visibility. What is engaging? Well, the number of comments is clearly one of the key metrics. If ever, at least now, IG has so little to do with photography and good photos. Yes, there are lots and lots of amazing photos that get visibility and likes, but on the other hand, there are also thousands of great accounts with incredible photos that barely get any views. It would be okay if only those phenomenal photos got what they deserve, but that's not always the case. My frustration might be quite clear to all now, so that's probably enough about that topic. 😅

[green meadow]

And that's why it feels (at least for me) much more meaningful to share my photos here with you guys.

[wispy mesa]

and i love that you share it with us!

[paper anvil]

Adding to the chorus. I have no interest in instagram photos but love looking at yours in here. I don’t know how often I thought that’s how I want my bird photos to look like one day.

Heck, I was considering asking to buy one from you to put on my wall a month or two ago.

One day I’ll have a closer look on your website as well. I just have to learn Finnish first!
(Or use google translate…)

[spring vault]

insta is cringe I don't use it

[paper anvil]

Congrats on the contest victory! Outstanding photo.

[spring vault]

ty

[green meadow]

Good choice, saves time and nerves. 😅 👍 And congrats. 🥳

It is really amazing photo! 👌

It could do well also in "real" contests. It reminds me of this one.

This one is taken by Tuomas Heinonen and it came second in birds category of Finnish nature photo of the year contest last year.

[spring vault]

It's from last yr so can't be submitted in most contests. I wanted to post it to the Sony contest last yr but accidentally ran out of submission slots lol. Wonder if it would've gotten anywhere.

I won a photo contest that a local camera store held

$25 gift card

[green meadow]

Shame...but just go and take similar one and take part with it to next upcoming contest. You know now how to capture it. 😅

[green meadow]

Was it with that same picture?

[spring vault]

yea

unfortunately I took that pic a six hour drive away in Canada and it also required waking up really early

and I don't travel often and definitely dont like waking up early lol

[green meadow]

😄 dammit...but no worries. You have so many great photos, so there is no need to replicate that one to participate contests. 👍

Early wakes are probably the most difficult part of the bird photography. 😴 😄

Also congratulations on the shared third place to @gilded yarrow and @drifting silo! 🥳

[gilded yarrow]

Thank you!

[wispy mesa]

oh i did not check yet!

well deserved wins!

[drifting silo]

Thanks

Ooh perfect

I finally got the whole set of medals

[drifting silo]

I agree, it’s an amazing photo even for “real” competition standards

Talking about competitions, do u guys have any recommendations on wildlife contests for amateurs? The only ones I know of like IPA are way too intimidating to try for now

[green meadow]

I have submitted photos to some really small local contest without any real success. One third place and twice got published on magazine. 😄 So bigger competitions are still too much for me too. 😅

[wispy mesa]

[wispy mesa]

cuties!

[wispy mesa]

aaaw

nice lighting, too!

[gilded gale]

They're so sweet!

[daring imp]

Damn. Was driving for quite a while looking for hawks. Then i saw a hawk just perching but when i went out of the car it flew away. My luck has been pretty bad lately. Anyone else being unlucky with birds?

[spring vault]

I haven't been birding so much lately cos it's hot outside

[gilded gale]

I'm out every day birding and have had decent luck, it's hot here too but not as bad as a lot of places get. (90-105 F daily)

Chased around a red-shouldered hawk this morning.

We've also got lots of osprey fishing in the evenings.

[frozen belfry]

Shutter was too slow from last nught 😭

its ok. Its a common bird

[pure belfry]

That's lovely aside from the head being in the shadow. The white to grey background with the wing across it is very tasteful

[scarlet tulip]

that's a new spot i found for eagles, the terns will come and fish maybe fifty yards offshore