Bird Photography

[hoary sigil]

Is that what the smurf birds are actually called?

[carmine fox]

What's the preferred metering mode for birds? Also, what is the consensus on auto iso? it seems to be best for very dynamic scenes cuz it was pushing mine to 2500 in some parts when 1-1500 was more than sufficient

[gilded yarrow]

I use full manual pretty much always, used Auto iso for a few weeks but didnt like it, exposure was never as good as with manual iso

Metering Mode -> my eyes

[carmine fox]

yeah that's what I figured, it seems like it would catch a shadow and over expose the whole frame

[pure belfry]

Contrary to the last point, I usually just have the 'full scene' equiv metering on at all times and use Auto-ISO. If the exposure is off it's easy enough to just flip through exposure comp quickly. Shooting full manual risks missing shots due to rapidly changing conditions or the bird moving around an unevenly lit scene.

The point where a modern camera massively fucks up exposure to the point you cannot recover is few.

And well, with an EVF, it's easy to see before you screw up that hard.

[carmine fox]

yeah I understand that, I only have 21mp to spare & 300mm eqiv so I want everything to be as optimal as I can, I've lost a few good shots over the past few days from auto iso and full scene metering, weighted centre and full manual seems to have gotten a few keepers, I try to use live view & test shots where they'll be flying to make extra sure tho

[pure belfry]

at the end of the day - horses for courses. Use what works best for you in the given situation.

[gilded yarrow]

Well I just leave aperture and exposure time the same and change iso unless I go from shooting flying to sitting birds then I change exposure time too

But yeah different people will do it differently, doesnt mean they cant all have good results

Just try what works best for you

[pure belfry]

I used to have a gif somewhere of one of the birds I shoot. It was a 3 second burst at 7FPS and the birds has like 15+ different poses in that sequence. If I have to stop to change settings I miss the shot usually, so it's gotta be as fast and fluid as possible.

[broken mantle]

Just ordered a popup camo tent to use as a portable hide

Hopefully it works

[green meadow]

Most of the times I shoot with matrix metering and auto ISO. As @pure belfry said then it is easy to adjust with exposure compensation. And I do adjustments to that really often almost constantly. I have noticed that only time that it doesn't work really well is if background changes rapidly from really dark to really bright. Like bird flying against trees and then background changes to sky. When I'm expecting something like that to happen then I change to manual ISO.

[carmine fox]

that would line up with what I was shooting today yeah, maybe that's why it was acting up, water+reflections into a pretty constant treeline which might've been throwing it for a loop, I'll have to try it in a more constant environment and see how well it works for me, at this point I'm so used to manual iso it's strange not paying attention to it

[wide flint]

I do pretty much the same as Raptor and Antti. Just auto iso and if the camera over or underexposes I just change the exposure compensation, works pretty well most of the time.

[carmine fox]

like I said I haven't played with it much, I'll try again tomorrow when I'm out at the pond, thanks lads

[wide flint]

But I can imagine that with a dslr its harder to judge than with a mirrorless camera, in the end it's best to just try it out and see what works for you

[rustic crane]

Hello bird photographers, can someone tell me for certain if this bird is an eagle?

[broken mantle]

Head and beak looks like a cormorant. I might be wrong

[rustic crane]

The bird itself was black and white and it was in North Queensland

Black faced cormorant. Thanks for your help

[broken mantle]

Whoa they look cute

Long necked penguins like birb

[paper anvil]

@green meadow Congrats!

[green meadow]

Thanks 😄

[green meadow]

Yeah, if changing ISO manually comes naturally to you, then it is kind of same as using auto ISO and exposure compensation. 👍

[broken mantle]

nvm they are out of stock, and 8 other sellers too.

might just buy a camo net lol

[gilded yarrow]

buy the buteo photo hide

[lusty kindle]

Thats a cormorant yes. If in europe, then thats Phalacrocorax carbo

[rustic crane]

I am in Australia so it must be a cormorant

[lusty kindle]

there are douzains of cormorants. Phalacrocorax carbo is a cormorant, it's its scientific name lol

cormorant is not a species

[drifting silo]

Evaluative metering (default) + auto iso and exposure comp dial for me

Unless im waiting on a particular spot with consistent ish lighting I think going full manual would be too much of hassle lol

I am all out of bird photos or any photos atm
Few times i did go out for birding i had no luck and for now i dont have the time

[carmine fox]

I usually sit on a rock watching the ducks & geese take off & land
mainly BIF practice honestly, but I only really need to adjust when the sun starts to set

auto iso is very temperamental in my conditions atm

[gilded yarrow]

GUYSGUYSGUYS

MOCKINGBIRDDDD

[paper anvil]

Is that the northern one that was mentioned the other week?

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah I think so, the only one and first one ever in germany

[paper anvil]

Congrats!

[gilded yarrow]

Thanks

[wispy mesa]

Congrats!

[spring vault]

very cool

[green meadow]

Amazing and congrats!

[gilded yarrow]

Thanks guys

[wide flint]

Holy you got so close

Congratulations my man

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah it was crazy, at first it was an accident but then I realized he's super chill and even kept singing even tho I was standing literally 2m or even closer to him

[wide flint]

There was also a dark sided flycatcher like right next to where I live last weekend, 1st for the Netherlands and 3rd for Europe, sadly I was away the whole weekend

[gilded yarrow]

Oh cool

1st quick edit, not sure if I like it

[wheat hare]

just don't forget the spots between the feets and between the birb and branch when you edit further 😄

[gilded yarrow]

Oh yeah true

[lusty kindle]

the crop is to change

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah that pic is pretty much uncropped

[lusty kindle]

cut some of the left

put the bird more on the left

[gilded yarrow]

Yep I see what you mean

Will do

[gilded yarrow]

Bit more color

In all the other pics he's behind leaves

Maybe I'll go back there tomorrow and try again lmao

[lusty kindle]

still a lot too centered imo

[gilded yarrow]

Would cut the tail off otherwise

Or theres no room on the top and the bottom

[lusty kindle]

as you prefer

would've let more space on the right during the shooting

[spring vault]

maybe

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah maybe I'll go back tomorrow for more pics lol

[gilded yarrow]

@spring vault What about this? Tried generative expand for the 1st time haha

[gilded yarrow]

I was so excited to see that bird that I didnt pay attention to composition etc lmao

[carmine fox]

many such cases

[primal aspen]

could anyone please identify this

I took it in southern England august 2022

just back tracking through photos to compile a list of species ive captured but cant figure this guy out

only thing i can see which looks similar ish is

Alder flycatcher

which i doubt it is

[carmine fox]

wagtail maybe

[primal aspen]

damn

thank you

yeah a juvenile one

well the image im looking at seems close enough

[carmine fox]

not the sharpest photo ever, but def my favorite I've ever taken
from today, no less

[spring vault]

nyoom

[carmine fox]

I wish I had my aperture slightly higher it would've been literally perfect
also Mr. Squirrel feeling left out

[spring vault]

I have a similar pic

blue jay stole his bug and flew away lol

[carmine fox]

haha
man just swiped that shit

[carmine fox]

really proud of this one, got a bunch like this from today, a small group of nuthatches was putting seeds from a nearby feeder into this post... and the chickadees would come steal them seconds later

[gilded yarrow]

Went back and got some more pretty cool pics

Will edit later lmao

[paper anvil]

Sweet!

Was it hard to find?

[gilded yarrow]

Nope not at all haha

yesterday I found it instantly because he was singing, today it took like 5 minutes

He was way more active today, flying around and even drinking from a puddle at one point

Probably because I was there a lot earlier than yesterday

[wide flint]

Do you have a uv filter on your lens?

[gilded yarrow]

No why

[wide flint]

Ah I was wondering bc of these lines in the bokeh. I noticed them in some of my shots as well and was wondering if it was bc I was using a uv filter on those shots.

[gilded yarrow]

Ahh thought you were thinking it isnt sharp thats why I was confused lmao

Thats just jpeg artifacts/banding

Discord makes it worse

Isnt there in the original

[wide flint]

No wait it's not the banding im talking about

It's like straight lines in that direction

Or is that just me tripping

They're very faint but still noticeable as a pattern in the bokeh

[gilded yarrow]

Oh yeah I see them too but just barely

Like almost not there

lmao

Wait I'll see if theyre in the raw too or if thats because of the editing

Ohhh I know what it is

Theres a wire fence behind him, far enough away that its basically gone but just barely noticeable

I think thats where those lines come from

Not 100% sure tho

[spring vault]

nice bird

[dusty fog]

mockingbirds are the best they make the coolest sounds

[wide flint]

Hhhmm I dont think it's that, bc u can see it in the grass too

My theory is that it's like the intersections between bokeh balls which are in a very even pattern bc the background is pretty uniform and far away

Bc u can kinda see it on the right as well, but less clearly since there's more variation in the bokeh balls

[drifting silo]

Not bird photo related, but this older squirrel photo of mine recently got featured on my country‘s sony alpha instagram

Not the best of my work so idk why they decided to feature that, but a feature‘s a feature anyway

[wide flint]

Well go on, show us the picture

Don't have to edge us like that

[spring vault]

I believe this is the squirrel

[dark ermine]

this is awesome, plus the squirrel in the background, think this is the most interesting action birding shot I've seen honestly.

[lean epoch]

Opinions?

[wide flint]

The whole head is pretty soft

Seems like the focus is more on the body

[carmine fox]

I didn't even realize until I was reviewing them heh, lil guy was gone in an instant

thanks btw!

[lean epoch]

Yeah

I saw that...

[gilded yarrow]

What do you guys think

I think this one could be pretty nice too, havent edited it yet tho

[carmine fox]

very clean

[broken mantle]

Damn. The guy took 161(of 238 observed) unique bird species pics in 50 days.

Hopefully i can go into such trips/missions in the future. sadly my day job says no

[carmine fox]

3 per day isn't too bad, but you'd have to be out every, day which is the hard part, weather doesn't really cooperate

[broken mantle]

Yea

[tender rock]

Any one awake here ?

There are more than 20,000 people on this server...
I would say good morning/evening but with 20,000 it could also be midday 😋

[tender rock]

So what does a person has to do to start a conversation here ?
Hope I'm not being too forward 😆

If I'm am... do tell me so I can adjust... I'm here to have a nice conversation about birds in flight and photography in general not to offend any one 🙄

[wispy mesa]

i guess just be a bit patient for replies, a lot of different time zones here 🙂

[tender rock]

oh lol hello again. yea I'm really bored and eager to talk. You are right of course. see you in the other channel we are talking on 🤣

[inner abyss]

hello bird people

what are these birds. i dont bird often

identify my birbs for me

[wide flint]

1st one is some species of bee eater

last one seems to be some kind of finch

but I'm not familiar with these species tbh since they're not from Europe

[inner abyss]

Yeah I'm in Australia

[wide flint]

Nice, Australia has some really cools birds

The bee eater is a rainbow bee eater to be specific btw

And the finch is a Chestnut-breasted Mannikin

[inner abyss]

I think the other one is a golden-headed cisticola

[wide flint]

Yeah I'd agree on that

[tender rock]

What setting are best in your opinions for bird in flight photography ?

[wide flint]

High shutter speed, preferably 1/4000. Also if the light allows I'll stop down to f/8 to get a bit more sharpness and have a bigger chance of hitting focus. Iso I just leave on auto

[gilded yarrow]

Nah 1/4000 isnt needed

Small birds 1/3200th, bigger birds you can even go as low as 1/1000th-1/1600th

[wide flint]

Yeah nvm, I was capping

Too hungover to think straight

[bright vapor]

I'm wondering if my af will sufice for a bird in flight (d750)

[wispy mesa]

Big birds

angry birds 😄

[tender rock]

oh its the zoo from our other channel conversation. really beautiful. keep up the good work.

[wispy mesa]

Thanks!

[tender rock]

Thanks for the reply go sleep the hungover off. It help I think... never been drunk in my life 😅

[tender rock]

Copy pasting my comment from else where:

I use nikon D7200 and have no stabilizer on my 70-300 lens so I usually shoot at 1/800(something) shutter speed, ISO on 200-500 depends on the sun and lighting conditions, and my lens at 300mm is maxed on f5.6 so it is what it is...
auto ISO tends to get the the picture well balanced and the subject (mostly pigeons) to dark.

also I use manual mode and set all the parameters to be just right for 3 of the lighting option I have in the scene in front of me, then wait for a bird of any kind to pass by, and continues auto focus+6.0 picture per second the heck out of her 😋 while I pretend I'm a rock with a camera stuck in it 😅😋

[carmine fox]

I've had relative success with as low as 1/2000 for small birds, 1/1600 for perched is fine, too
all depends on your light, higher is usually better

got excited and forgot metering was a thing apparently

cool shot, hopefully recoverable

[wide flint]

Looks well exposed for the situation tbh, better to underexpose so you don't blow out the white feathers on it's head

[solar bay]

dang! you have time to set up a tripod that's crazy

[gilded yarrow]

Haha yeah the bird completely ignored me

[gilded yarrow]

Which ones cooler? I like the 2nd pose more but that 1st background is like 100x better

[gilded yarrow]

Lmao

[wide flint]

Ez fix

[dusty fog]

The power of technology

[dusty fog]

This is so cool

[hidden wyvern]

light autumn rain

suprised i got so close up

kinda felt like adding in more rain post processing but this is natural lol

[wide flint]

That is one beautiful cormorant

[hidden wyvern]

double crested cormorant, was on a little decorative boat earlier

they have these bright blue eyes which i got in the above photo, rain can be interesting to shoot in

[wide flint]

Yeah I love their little eye brow as well

Wish we had those in Europe

[gilded yarrow]

Dont our cormorants look basically the same

[wide flint]

Pretty much

Just without the eyebrow and blue eye

Love how the blue eye matches with the orange/yellow beak

[wide flint]

Just had a white tailed eagle fly by in Amsterdam

Didn't expect it in the city

Barely had time to get some pics, thought it was a buzzard at first 😬

[wide flint]

Why is it always the sticks that are in exactly the wrong place

[dark ermine]

I choose to believe they do it on purpose at this point

[carmine fox]

mockery

that's about it

they know what they're doing

[wide flint]

They're just out there to bully me, I feel it

Got some decent shots tho

lighting conditions were super tough, in the shade, this was at 5000 iso and I still had to crank on like 1,5 stops of exposure in post

Topaz is my best friend for these shot

Also have thise one where halfway through editing I realized it was out of focus.....

[carmine fox]

many such cases

[carmine fox]

overcast?
it's 50/50 lol either perf lighting or obscenely bad in some places

[wide flint]

Yeah partially cloudy, so one moment you actually had some spot of light where the birds sometimes sat in, but then most of the time the light was on the wrong part of the body

Tough conditions but some good lessons learned

[wide flint]

See @exotic cosmos, finding wildlife isn't too hard in the Netherlands, even in the big cities ;)

[exotic cosmos]

Hahah nicee bro!! 🔥🔥🔥

[hidden wyvern]

low mp tree ornament

[green meadow]

Almost naturally black&white hooded crow

[hidden wyvern]

winter is a fun time for birds like that^

always did that with chickadees

[green meadow]

And its not even winter yet...just overexposed grey sky. 😄 But snow is great for clean backgrounds. 👍

[carmine fox]

windy and very sunny today
my favorite combination, the lil songbirds tend to perch low

wish me luck

[wide flint]

Yeah thats great, they'll drop into foliage for cover from the wind

Great for spotting migrating birds

[broken mantle]

Anyone here also record bird sounds? Not sure what mic to get

[carmine fox]

I would imagine something highly directional

[green meadow]

Today's birdies

[gilded yarrow]

The last pic

I still need to find a spot where I can take in flight pics of small birds

[green meadow]

Bit different angle 🤭

[exotic cosmos]

Beautiful shots tho!!!

I'm a little confused is this like a new group? On discord?

Just asking🙈

[dark ermine]

i demand you be offered a specialist role for that last pic alone

[dusty fog]

[green meadow]

Thanks, I really like that treecreeper photo even thou it is not the sharpest one or otherwise special photo. But for me somehow it is just interesting little bird.

[green meadow]

No really new it has been here from 2022. 😅 I think this is kind of separate channel/forum, but not one of the official channels. But not sure how to describe it better I'm still kind of noob in discord. 😄

[green meadow]

Am I only one or does others see it too, that there's a dog on this ducks face. 😅

[exotic cosmos]

Ahhh okay, but not everyone can join?

[exotic cosmos]

Great photo man!!

[wide flint]

No everyone can join, it's one of the "forums" in the discord. If you go to #981874992880963594 you can see all the different kind of forums with different topics that don't have their own special channel

[exotic cosmos]

Ahhh okay thank you, also a disc newbie🤣

[wide flint]

Great shots as always Antti! Do you just walk around in the woods for these or do you have a hide setup?

[green meadow]

Thanks and both. Some are taken from the hide at my bird feeder. Others just encountered randomly or places where I think that I might find them.

Like those yesterday shots. Longtailed-tit and treecreeper are so-called lucky shots. Others are taken from the hide. Ok that woodpecker is quite random visitor so luck is also needed with the hide. 😅

[carmine fox]

slightly jealous of this reach
what lens?

[green meadow]

That one I took with a nikkor z 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 @400mm.

And it is cropped quite a bit

[carmine fox]

ah nice
I can't wait to get a good tele, hopefully come spring
z is out of my league unfortunately so f mount will have to do
I'm thinking of eventually upgrading to a fx, something like D850 that will do what I want but retain value over the years
plus crop potential because nothing in this hobby stays still when I damn need It to 🫠

[green meadow]

There are great f mount lenses. And there is a good amount of used ones available. I had a 200-500mm f5.6 and 500mm f5.6. The zoom version was good and the prime one was great. Crop sensor body is a great choice for wildlife but ff with high megapixels works really well also and is probably bit more versatile. 👌

[mint warren]

It's that time of year again

first one is admittedly a salvaging attempt

[wide flint]

Great shots!

[paper anvil]

An Atlantic Puffin was in my area today. Hoping it's still around tomorrow.

[hidden wyvern]

nice recovery and also shows the new lens can catch these guys in flight (had no doubts but still, tough to aim upwards with)

ignoring the weight on my arm the 500 f/4 felt easy for BiF, after handholding it upwards i feel like using my 100-500 today though. Benefits of having both lol

next time im just hoping i got the time to change settings prior lol, but it cleans the shadows up well enough

also a decent shot ive yet to edit (not a bird, but i can see one where this squirrel would be ) which with that darkness at 5.6, i cant imagine my zoom at f/10

[green meadow]

Not that bad image quality. Considering that it is taken with ISO 12800.

[paper anvil]

What shutter speed did you use?

[green meadow]

1/5000s

[paper anvil]

Impressive to get it that sharp at 12800!

[paper anvil]

Thanks! I was curious as I usually go to around 1/4000.

[green meadow]

That might have been enough for this jay. But I have noticed that for small birds taking off relatively close range even 1/5000s is bit too slow.

[green meadow]

Bigger birds further away that can be tracked smoothly 1/3200s or even slower might be enough.

[wheat hare]

Sick photo @green meadow

[lean epoch]

Took these with the Sx40 HS
The result was quite good for me

I'll edit it later

[green meadow]

Looks really good. 👌

[lean epoch]

I took this photo this afternoon

Really liked the result lmao

[solar bay]

i have no idea what i'm doing at this point

[inner abyss]

This afternoons outing not FUCKIN SUCCESSFUL

[carmine fox]

Going through my phone I found a bunch of my old bird pics, early 2022, this would've been the winter I got my tele I think
some of them are honestly not bad, would've been cool to scrounge up the raws and apply my new editing skills but they're long gone
I seemed to have a hard on for blue saturation and sticks obscuring my subject
just wanted to share :)

[wide flint]

Australia moment

[outer totem]

Thank you for making me laugh this morning, at the very least. Sorry about the birds though 😭 😂

[dark ermine]

I think most of these are great and seemingly only limited by their resolution

[inner abyss]

my bee eater photo from this week, not as cool as yours though @mint warren . couldn't seem to spot any couples - will be doing the little trail hike around this area soon i think... hopefully less fires and snakes and more birbs

[mint warren]

Could be passing through and hasn't paired up maybe

Once you find a nest area it'll all be pairs

[inner abyss]

yeah I think so, the three I saw were all along the road which isnt ideal for them but like you said, maybe there'll be a nest area on the trail somewhere

[mint warren]

If you check local boomer bird pages they'll have a spot they usually go too

[broken mantle]

Will be hiking tomorrow with the birding group(20 people). Hoping to get some pics of the raptor migration.

[mint warren]

Grebe time

[wide flint]

Grebes look so Goofy from the front

[broken mantle]

Nvm i failed to get any keeper pics

But damn they(the raptors) gets reallly high up in the air

[wide flint]

Chilling in a chair and put some bird feed up on that tree stump, hoping to get some birds

Maybe should get a camo net or a hide for this

[spring vault]

birds are unlikely to immediately find it it's better to keep putting food there for a couple days before setting up for pics

[wide flint]

Yeah I would, but it's my grandma's garden so I only have 2 days here

But with sound tapes they came out and showed themselves really well

Only not on the treestump, only got 1 Robin there when the light was already pretty much gone

But got some really nice shots of tits and a wren, so overall i'm happy

[wide flint]

The robin

[wide flint]

Honestly not horrible for 6400 iso, love topaz

[spring vault]

white balance lookin magenta I would check that

[wide flint]

You're right, should be better now

[dusty fog]

can I see the shot of the tits?

[lean epoch]

I found bird photography boring before

And now it's the thing i love the most 😅

I want to take really good pics only using my Sx40 HS

And one day buy a better camera

[wide flint]

Didn't edit them all yet

Went out this morning and got a wren perching up on the log, was showing itself really nice for a couple of minutes

[wide flint]

Also had a common firecrest visit very briefly, was already gone before I could get decent shots

[drifting silo]

Man those autumn colors r crazy beautiful

[wide flint]

Yeah the colors are amazing atm. Got some even better and cleaner shots today, can't wait to go edit those

[carmine fox]

Do you guys have any success with upscaling? asking here because I feel like birds are relatively more complex of a subject to upscale with ai and such

A relative wants a print of my eagle but I want to send them something bigger than 8x10 at 180dpi 😭

[spring vault]

topaz can upscale with mixed results

[carmine fox]

I was wondering if super resolution would work

[green meadow]

Can't decide which one is better. This

or this

[wide flint]

1st one imo

[green meadow]

Yeah I think that it might be the better one. But on the second one I like the snow on the foreground and feather patter on the birds back is visible more. 🤔

[exotic cosmos]

both are great bro XD

but first stands out a little more

[green meadow]

thanks and thank you for telling your opinion. 👍

[wide flint]

I do agree that the snow in the foreground looks good in the second one, but the overall scene of the first one is much more appealing. Feels like it has more of a story of the bird scouting where to fly to next going downstream.

Catch of today

[wide flint]

He came back today and actually showed himself nicely for about 1,5 seconds

[exotic cosmos]

this shot is really beautiful!!! is this in the hague?

[wide flint]

Thank you! Not in the Hague but in Zelhem, tho I think firecrests aren't impossible in the Hague, especially at the edge of the city

[exotic cosmos]

agree

[inner abyss]

I much prefer #1. I’m not a fan of the snowy foreground, to me it just looks like a gradient mask. But the pose looks way more majestic in the first too

[lean epoch]

Opinions?

I'll try to take a better pic of this birb tomorrow

It's 10:53PM rn

[inner abyss]

Pretty birb. Last photo looks like it’s cut out for a meme

[solar bay]

swans aren't very common here. sadly i only had a 20D on me

[exotic cosmos]

if this was eye level wauww, but still a great shot!!

[exotic cosmos]

are these raw files?

[carmine fox]

yeah its a frequent problem
the pond has a steep bank so I cant get much lower without being in the water

[exotic cosmos]

ahh that sucks, but still great shot man!

[carmine fox]

much appreciated! I've been trying for awhile to get a mallard doing the whole wing shake thing and yesterday those two did it almost simultaneously and I almost dropped my camera in excitement

[exotic cosmos]

yeahh it's a great feeling when you finnaly get the shot! 😍

[sinful flint]

Just wanted to make sure but these are both males right?

Eastern Bluebird

[wide flint]

Seems like 2 females to me, going of my limited research

The grey head and white eyering seems to be a pretty defining female feature

[sinful flint]

Oh whatt

I see

[exotic cosmos]

Maybe @green meadow knows?

[green meadow]

Not sure. I'm not familiar with that species.

[dark ermine]

EABLs are very common where I am. I am 98% sure those are both male with that vivid blue https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Bluebird/id

comparison with my own shots, female left.

was just popping in to say my last few days shooting have been uncertainty if a bird was actually in a tree, or if it was the wind, taking a bunch of shots anyway, then playing ispy for a bird that may not even be present

seems like yall are having better luck 😄

[wide flint]

The females can have very vivid blue in the wings as well. Left is male, right is female. But the males are also blue on the head which is lacking in that picture, and the very noticeable white eye-ring which is present in females, but much less so in males. I also think the colours are pushed pretty far in @sinful flint's shot which makes the grey and blue seem more vibrant and blue than it actually was.

[hidden wyvern]

Little chickadee landing on a tree

[dark ermine]

yeah could be just oversatuation making it appear male, the more I look at the bottom one the more it looks female

[wide flint]

Yeah, like 99% sure the bottom one is female. Not super sure about the top one, but I think it's also female, considering the still pretty clear gradient from blue on the body to gray on the wings

[lean epoch]

My camera can't shoot in RAW

but if you mean "Raw" in the sense of unedited, yes, i didn't edit

[sinful flint]

I see thanks everyone for the input

I've searched up why eastern bluebirds fight and they usually fight male vs male or female vs female so I'm curious if it's a male and female why they fought

im actually so confused im looking at the raws and i cant tell

[carmine fox]

I mean, they both have black heads

[wide flint]

lookin at the raws im only more convinced they're both female

[sinful flint]

Mmm okie

[dark ermine]

after careful review i am 98% sure these are both birds at least

[sinful flint]

i appreciate the input!!

[lean epoch]

Tomorrow i want to find a Kingfisher

Or a Wild Duck

[dark ermine]

tons of titmouse today

bonus carolina wren

[mint warren]

He blue

[dusty fog]

Blurb

[hoary sigil]

Burbl

[lean epoch]

Blirbo

[dark ermine]

couldn't get close enough but spotted a thrasher havin a bath 😄

[hoary sigil]

Same with me and this Hoopoe

[dark ermine]

how lovely! are these common where you are?

[hoary sigil]

Apparently! I'm currently in Tenerife and I've seen a few of them.

[wide flint]

Yeah hoopoes are quite common there

Lovely birds, saw a lot of them in Romania this summer, sadly didn't have my 100-400 lens yet back then :(

[hoary sigil]

I was using my 10x zoom on my phone

Which is why it's not great quality

[wide flint]

That quality is honestly not bad for 10x zoom on a phone

Phone camera's really keep surprising me

[hoary sigil]

I also just realised I was using the 16:9 crop instead of the 4:3 full image resolution

[carmine fox]

new wallpaper drop
fucking leaf ruined my otherwise perfect shot

[dark ermine]

i've got photoshop's gen ai if you want me to get rid of it for you

[carmine fox]

I was going to try smart removal or wtv in lrc but I wasn't sure how it would handle something nuanced like that, also my gf kept asking about her new phone background so I didn't want to mess with it too much lmao!
not at my PC atm but here's a (hopefully) full res upload if you want to mess around with it, I'd be curious of the results
https://postimg.cc/k2zC7C4W

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah smart removal should work just fine

Wouldve been an even better pic when you were lower down

[wide flint]

Alex, how is your hunt for the Kingfisher going?

[gilded yarrow]

Havent been out in a while actually, maybe I'll go back next week

Didnt have the motivation anymore after not getting anything after 20 hours lol, but since I'm about to start a new job I'll need to go out again a few times before I have much less free time

[carmine fox]

every single time people say this I have to tell them again that where I shoot there's a 70° bank lol, mostly I don't have the time to kneel over it and put my camera over the water in live view mode 😃

[wide flint]

Yeah I get that, it's not super motivating to put so much time into it and then walk away with nothing

Hopefully you'll have better luck soon

[gilded yarrow]

Thanks🙂 I hope so too haha

[dark ermine]

https://postimg.cc/G8mhy6Mn - grabbed video of workflow example too. not perfect but then can follow up with other adjustments like shadow / noise, or just regen smaller selections

one thing I found it struggles with the most is dark noisy areas, doesn't easily mimic noise / contrast patterns

[dark ermine]

first ever kingfisher today!! unfortunately too far away, but hopefully frequency illusion kicks in now that i've seen at least one 😄

[plucky condor]

He snack he jump

[dark ermine]

great timing. last one looks like it's tossing it up in the air like a snack food 😄

[mint warren]

That was later with a bee

The other 3 are him regurgitating a pellet

[gilded yarrow]

I'm back at my potential new kingfisher spot to check if they are still here, dumbest idea ever because I'm still a bit sick and I went here by bike so I have no clue how to get back home without dying lmao

Can only stay here for 1 hour max before it gets dark so that makes this even dumber

[gilded yarrow]

bruh he's still trolling me

Just packed my stuff and went back towards the street when he flew past me

[gilded yarrow]

Atleast now I know theres atleast 1 still there

[wide flint]

Damn, you're really one of the least lucky people I've ever seen

[gilded yarrow]

Lmao yeah but I was only there for half an hour anyways today

[wide flint]

Yeah but you already put in like 20+ hours no?

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah at a different lake, I think there was too many other spots where they couldve landed so that didnt work

Today I was at a small creek where at least one lives, I think I just wasnt there long enough

[wide flint]

Yeah that sounds like a smart strategy, less possible perches so more likely it will land on your perch

[vale lava]

hi guys im back

frogmouth 1!!1!1!1

[gilded yarrow]

Ohhh so cool!

Great pic, looks like its in captivitiy tho? Background doesnt look very nature like for some reason lmao

[vale lava]

thanks, and yea it is in singapore's bird paradise, i go there very very frequently

[hidden wyvern]

Bird watching

[vale lava]

dump with the same preset, anyone have feedback in terms of colour?

[gilded yarrow]

Iso 20k, I love lr denoise lmao

[wide flint]

You could still mask and denoise the background a little more probably

But yeah, denoise has gotten so good these days. Im pretty comfortable shooting up to 12.8k iso on my a6400 and then just run it through Topaz

[inner abyss]

Some gorgeous framing and layer depth in this one blimey

[gilded yarrow]

Thank you! Yeah I'm really happy with it, I usually like clean backgrounds a lot more but it worked amazingly well for that pic

[inner abyss]

I know what you mean, but unless the bird's doing something interesting a clean background can make it a boring photo to me. Birdy has some nice contrast with the foliage

[gilded yarrow]

Thats true yeah

[inner abyss]

and all that I've state above, explains why I'm a trash birb photographer

because i fail to do it hahah

[gilded yarrow]

I was amazed by how well the colors pop for some reason, thats without any additional saturation

[gilded yarrow]

Me too tbh, in most of my pics the birds are just perched because I never find good spots for in flight pics etc

I think I found one today tho, if I go there with my tent I think I can get some nice pics

A looot of foliage but if I do it right it could work

Tons of small birds there

[inner abyss]

yup same, I struggle to find time to hide from birds for longer periods of time. I do enjoy doing walks to spot and shoot though

[gilded yarrow]

Hoping the crested Tit lives there too or atleast visits often, ive seen it there once a while ago but theyre pretty rare here

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah I dont really like walking around tbh, have had way more success with waiting

Apart from the kingfisher 💀

That mf

I'll get him one day

[inner abyss]

Yep, it won't take me long to get that way, especially when I have the 200-600 around my neck

[gilded yarrow]

I've kinda gotten used to it by now

PD Slide 🔛🔝

[wide flint]

Yeah waiting just gets you way closer to the birds with nicer perches in general

[wide flint]

Crested tits are beautiful, hope you have some luck today!

[carmine fox]

cant decide

[gilded yarrow]

Ah I wont go there today bqcsuse the weather is pretty bad, super cloudy and dark again, maybe tomorrow morning tho

[wide flint]

Yeah the weather has been pretty shit lately, very cloudy and a lot of fog

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah super annoying

[green meadow]

Maybe second one. But I would probably crop it differently. 🤔

Something like this?

[carmine fox]

I agree, thanks for the suggestion! much better without the leaves

[dark ermine]

in the process of culling a backlog of photos

found this terrifying error

[carmine fox]

artistic blur

[gilded yarrow]

Rather unusual Spot, tons of different tits so hoping to get something nice even tho the spot is lowkey terrible

[wide flint]

You can try playing some sound tapes to get them closer. Works pretty well with tits from my experience

[gilded yarrow]

Kinda unethical tho

Not supposed to do that

[wide flint]

In what way is it unethical?

In some cases it is yes

But the majority of birders use it on a very regular basis

[dark ermine]

the use of bird calls is controversial, really just up to however the birder feels about them.
personally, I don't use them because it feels like i'd be disrupting their behavior having them come look for something that's not there, etc.

then again, I have feeders in my yard which some also consider unethical just depends how you feel about it

[wide flint]

Yeah there's definitely cases where it's unethical. But imo just using it to get birds closer when they're already there is a fair use case. As long as you don't sit there blasting sounds the whole day.

[carmine fox]

mating calls are certainly unethical but I feel the impact of those mixed call recordings where they're just kinda yelling at eachother is negligible
personally the people at the park spread bird seed about anyway so I'll just toss some in the area I am in and hope they land on branches nearby
it gives them something actual so I don't feel that strange about it
mostly the same 3 types of birds anyway

pro tip most lil songbirds go nuts for sunflower seeds

[wide flint]

Yeah the type of calls does also matter. I only using the allerting calls since it just makes them curious and they come check it out. Pygmy owl calls also work well sometimes to get them to come check since it's not a predator to them.

[wide flint]

Yeah sunflower seeds and insects work really well

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah thats why I dont do it either

[hidden wyvern]

autumn duck

[wide flint]

Out looking for bearded reedlings. Have some decent pictures already but god damn these buggers are hard to photograph

They just stay in the foliage the whole time and move very fast

[gilded gale]

So much going on at the lake today lol

[lean epoch]

Attempt to photograph a Kingfisher 💩

This was the only photo i took

Lmao

[dark ermine]

I feel this. Everyone posting Kingfishers in creatures and I'm still over here with my one blurry bigfoot like photo

[lean epoch]

Lmao

Lemme see one of your photos

[dark ermine]

first ever sighting a week ago

i mean if you combine our photos we almost have 1 quality photo lol

[lean epoch]

Yeah lmao 😂

[lean epoch]

Did you use AI to blur the background?

[dark ermine]

yeah i tried everything lmao

vs original, no saving it really

[lean epoch]

The best quality image i've ever seen

[dark ermine]

right, we on it, move over national geographic

[gilded gale]

I'm also still praying one day a kingfisher gets curious about me when I'm out T.T

[lean epoch]

Lol

[analog kindle]

Alright Im back again, I think I come on here like once a month haha

Here are some recent shots from me

I also just got a 500 F4, which I have been loving!

[lean epoch]

A dream...

[carmine fox]

the dream is a d500 under $1.5k 😔

[wide flint]

The real dream is a Z8 under 3.5k 😔

[carmine fox]

wait a decade or two until we inevitably loop back to "hur mirrors kewl"
or, wait until midwinter and scoop up those ehrm
"birders of age" estate sales selling $8k of gear for $1200
pro strat right there

[wide flint]

Yeah I still need to wait on my tax returns anyways till I have the funds for a Z8 + 180-600

But I'll just be scouting for good deals, sadly they're really hard to find in the Netherlands, even the second hand market is super overpriced

[broken mantle]

Yeah. Gotta wait for the old guys to sell their kgs of gear for cheap, and migrating to an om-1mk2 or something light.

[gilded yarrow]

I think I'll try to photograph birds again tomorrow

[hidden wyvern]

I’ve been happy with mine, heavy but very handholdable once used to it

Fl seems perfect

[hidden wyvern]

first thrush thats not a robin

...acted exactly like a robin

[dark ermine]

grabbed a Tennessee warbler passing through.. they hover like hummingbirds!

[analog kindle]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/626441759
Lifer Eared Grebe today, super happy with this shot!

[wide flint]

Gonna pick up a Z8 body later this week. Can't wait to have bird eye autofocus

Gonna wait a bit with getting the 180-600, untill black friday has been and I have my old gear sold

[hoary sigil]

I thought the A6400 had good autofocus

[wide flint]

Yeah the autofocus is nice and fast and pretty damn accurate. It just doesn't have a bird eye autofocus mode. So im having to work with spot and zone autofocus which is less than ideal in quite some situations

[hoary sigil]

Oh ok

[wide flint]

And also in general I wanted to make the step to full frame and a higher burst rate camera

[spring vault]

z8 is a big jump have fun

[dark ermine]

that's awesome. i'm now over here comparing the a6400 to the d7500 trying to justify my own jump to a z8

[wide flint]

Yeah it took some time to justify my jump as well. Until I got 3.5k in taxes that I payed too much for back, pretty easy call at that point

[dark ermine]

hey yeah that makes sense, money already assumed gone, might as well! I'm excited for you

finally got a decent shot of a red-bellied woodpecker today, sad I lost the tail but still, new best

[carmine fox]

the trick is to cope about mirrorless "not being all that" until you can pick one up and then memoryhole your previous statements

[hidden wyvern]

Birb

[wide flint]

Can confirm, birb

[dark ermine]

I like how oversaturated birds like this exist and then there are mourning doves who are just a blob of beige

[mint warren]

You should see white winged fairywrens

Of course we have our share of greyish, brownish, greenish indistinct birds might be a thornbill or something idk types

[waxen coyote]

How tf did you manage to get so much details?!

[mint warren]

They come pretty close

I had to actually back up a few times when they were too close and it wouldn't focus

[waxen coyote]

Ohhh

[waxen coyote]

What lenses did you use?

[mint warren]

Sigma 150-600 c

[waxen coyote]

And what camera?

[mint warren]

Eos r7

[waxen coyote]

Never heard of it…

Is a good one or a standard one?

[mint warren]

It's a Canon.
I'd probably say in lands in the area of "budget enthusiast"

Probably one of their more popular bodies atm

[waxen coyote]

Like sigma 150-600?

[mint warren]

Yes actually

[waxen coyote]

Oh ok, sorry but I use Nikon and I don’t know much of other brands

[dark ermine]

sigma 150-600c here too!

I love it, but I also upgraded from a tamron 70-300 soo doesn't say much lol

[mint warren]

will edit more later

[waxen coyote]

I don’t get how the quality isn’t as good as yours even if the distance from this robin was really short

[waxen coyote]

Same for this one. Can someone help me?

[dark ermine]

which nikon body is that, and what lens were you using?

[waxen coyote]

Im using a sigma 150-600mm f/5.6-6.4 and I’m using a Nikon D3500 for the camera. I can also give you the information of the shot:

• ISO: 800
• aperture: f/8-9
• exposure: 1/3200 of a second

And I was around 4-6 meters from the bird

[wide flint]

Some kinda duck it seems like

Is this in NA?

[dark ermine]

to me the quality between yours and bungins looks pretty close. zoomed in makes it look like yours is crushed by compression though. you shoot raw?

[carmine fox]

shoot raw if you aren't already, take advantage of LR denoise, and practice sharpening
also getting closer is usually best, optically or physically, I shoot basically 200mm all the time, I crop a lot less than I used to
embrace your inner snow white

[waxen coyote]

Yeah

[wide flint]

Some species can stay really long, as long as there is some kind of open water it's fine for them

[mint warren]

@waxen coyote are you editing in lightroom?

[waxen coyote]

Luminar Neo

[waxen coyote]

Crazy pics

[mint warren]

That have any sort of AI noise reduction?

[waxen coyote]

What?

[mint warren]

Does Luminar Neo have AI noise reduction

[waxen coyote]

Wdym with “embrace your inner Snow White”?

[waxen coyote]

Yea

Good one too imo

[mint warren]

Spot sharpening with masks also is handy to do

[waxen coyote]

I use it all the time. But the quality is still less than your pics or other’s pics….

Maybe I have a basic camera? I know the 80% of the quality of the pic comes from the lenses, but a part of the job is still thanks to the camera

[mint warren]

Maybe, D3500 is Nikons entry level model right?

[carmine fox]

stand still and talk to the birds lmao
a lot of the time I'll be sitting on a log and they'll come within my focus distance,
or come play around me, etc etc

[waxen coyote]

Yes

[waxen coyote]

That’s cool ngl. But, since I don’t have much time cuz of the school, I prefer doing “hunting photography” (I go around and photograph what I can find, without waiting behind a bush, ecc.).

[carmine fox]

that's what I do too
however you are unlikely to get close, most of my shots go as follows
see bird -> approach-> snag a few pictures -> spook 'em-> position myself good to get a clean, frame filling shot of the area they were just at -> wait 2, 3, 5min depending on bird -> they come back, shoot away
it works very well

[waxen coyote]

Thanks for the help. I’ll try it as soon as I can

[wide flint]

Seconding this. Just walking around all the time and always chasing after the birds is not gonna give you the best results.

[carmine fox]

I did the whole chase the birds like they owe you money thing for a bit and then started getting like, double the hits just waiting around specific areas
kinda like you're supposed to lol
take notes and observe where you tend to see them, and start going there instead of wasting time walking around 60-70% empty brush, especially if you're short on time

[wide flint]

Yeah, staying still for just a few minutes will get you much better results. Was really amazed when I tried that for the first time and it worked wonders

[carmine fox]

d3500 is fine tho imo, you lack some of the "newer" af modes I think like group af? the 4 points that you hold over your subject & it focuses between them, and can potentially be limited by the 5fps burst but that shouldn't stop you, depending on your lens you could be pushing it past the "sweet spot" for sharpness, my 70-300 is sharpest around 200 so that's where I stay, my shots are noticeably less sharp past 250 even, which could be why you perceive a "lack" of image quality

[dark ermine]

if you want too, post a full resolution image of the first one or another one you feel the settings and focus were correct on, will be easier to see anything obvious that could help

[waxen coyote]

When i edit with luninar neo, the photo goes from raw to jpeg, so all the pics i edited with luminar arent in raw. I can still send you a pic that wasnt edited with luminar

wait

now that i noticed

i cant even send a raw image here cuz it is too heavy. I thought this one was raw but actually no

[wide flint]

Yeah no thats normal, you need to convert them to jpeg or png before sending

[broken mantle]

Yeah. Nowadays i set my goals before every trip. Will i be sitting and chatting with other birders and wait for a good shot of 1-3 species(usually a nest, a hunting ground, or something similar). Or just go walk around and take pics of more birds.

I usually get better pictures when waiting on a known area. But going around helps identify potential areas to revisit.

Also changes my bag contents lol. I will bring a folding chair and other stuff when waiting.

But leave most stuff behind when exploring.

[waxen coyote]

will the quality be the same tho? I mean the visual quality. Ive never understand it: even with luminar neo, a pic that must have weight around 20MB, after editing on luminar neo, it goes down to a single MB. I hope that doesnt influence the sharpeness or the details

[carmine fox]

idk specifics about neo but that's definitely compressing something
my raws are about 20-25mb depending on image and usually go down to 10-15mb

check your export settings

I would look for banding and other such artifacts that's a surefire way to tell

[waxen coyote]

so does the quality get shrinked?

[waxen coyote]

how?

[carmine fox]

you should be able to do it directly on export
or check preferences
you'll have to see I'm not familiar with it myself

[carmine fox]

yeah, essentially the algorithm gets rid of data in the image it deems useless

[dark ermine]

I like Lightroom classic for its exporting in particular, grants you a good bit of control in naming and export settings

[carmine fox]

How do I achieve this gritty "real life"/wild look, idk how to describe it, all my bird pictures seem to be kinda like fairytale esque, kinda soft, but not detail soft if that makes sense

-# thanks Hans Roemer

like that

seems like some clarity stuff

[waxen coyote]

I don’t get the point sorry

[green meadow]

Me neither. Can you give us some example what you are trying to achieve?

[carmine fox]

this image is the one I saw that sparked interest
let me try and find an equivalent one of mine on my phone one sec

let's go with this one
not sure how to explain it but it's a bit more of a "soft" look
less harsh? idk

[green meadow]

If you mean that the bird in your photo is bit softer. Then there is lots of possible reasons. Like motion blur, missed focus, softer lens or something related to editing the picture. 🤔 On this specific picture there is some softness around birds eye. I think that it is because you/camera has focused little bit behind it.

or in front of it...not sure

[carmine fox]

I mean the color in general, not really optical softness, even in my sharper images it's the same
I more meant the harshness of the feathers and overall feel of the image

[carmine fox]

like if you look at this one the underlying blacks are much more pronounced especially on the breast etc

[green meadow]

Then it is probably editing style and contrast related things. Try adding some texture, dehaze, clarity and maybe sharpness. Or then it is lighting difference. I think that your picture is taken at overcast day and that one above on a rather sunny day. But I'm not totally sure if we are talking about same thing. 😅 Also if your photo was under exposed, then blacks might be too dark and lack details because of that.

[carmine fox]

I was just about to say it's probably a combination of lighting and editing, exaggerating clarity & sharpness was definitely going in the right direction, finally snowing here so next time I'm out I'll get some shots with that in mind, the snow works wonders for scattering light so that should help brighten things up

[green meadow]

I'm totally having motivation issues. Because days are short and it constantly cloudy and not enough light to photograph. It also feels like there is nothing to photograph either. 🥹

[bright vapor]

I can relate. Also school stuff is keeping me bussy when there is still light outside :c

Hope you'll find motivation tho cuz I love your pics

[dark ermine]

not the greatest example but lightroom has these three settings which give some "crunch"

[hidden wyvern]

crow or something x 2

DoF gets crazy on big birds

[waxen coyote]

I know here we can only talk about bird photography, but I have a question and most of the times they don’t respond me on the question chat. Can I ask you if this editing is too much?

[wide flint]

Editing looks fine to me, colours are natural

Would maybe get rid of the bright spot on the top left, doesn't really add anything imo

[waxen coyote]

The “bright shade” you mean?

[waxen coyote]

Is this better?

[bright vapor]

Ngl I'd try getting something out of those shadows and see how it looks

[wide flint]

Yeah a little bit more detail in the shadows on the deer itself would be nice

[waxen coyote]

I made the pic like that cuz it was half covered by a branch

So if I make more details in the shadows you’ll see the branch

[carmine fox]

its moody, I like it.
Depends on what you want to do with it but I think it looks good as it is

[wide flint]

You can mask just the head of the deer and play with the shadows there

[waxen coyote]

And what do you think about this one?

[carmine fox]

birding time

wish me luck

[wide flint]

Shit

Im already complaining about the 5 degrees we're getting here

I miss the winters with some good snow tho, haven't had that in years

Fking climate change

[hidden wyvern]

nothing too crazy just a duck but i like it

aperture really blows out the background, need to use it like this more

[carmine fox]

cute mallard
11/10

[carmine fox]

we already got 3 inches
started snowing a week ago

want some snow?

[wide flint]

Yes please

We had a bit last week, but it was gone within a few hours

[carmine fox]

this is probably the best place to ask

you lads have any glove recommendations?

my ski gloves barely keep me warm and I also have to fumble with controls like it's my first time

also... maybe a balaclava too

[wheat hare]

I love ducks

[carmine fox]

one of the cooler flicks from the day
cold as hoth but all in all I enjoyed the first outing of the winter season

this one I really like too
it reminds me of an OG pic of mine that I took when I first got started and still love

[bright vapor]

I have been using Viking gloves for the last 2 years for skiing/snowboarding and I have no complains

But viking is generally good for gloves so you can chceck them out

[broken mantle]

Todays trip.

Failed to get both the middle 2 in focus lol.

[carmine fox]

someone doesn't get winter

[broken mantle]

Only summer, rainy, and mosquito season here

[bright vapor]

Send us snow

[wide flint]

Might just move to Australia just for the birding photography honestly

[mint warren]

I'd honestly recommend not too

stuff is getting weird over here

[wide flint]

Wdym by that lol

[spring vault]

the birds got their own cameras

[wide flint]

In Australia it's birds photographing you, not the other way around

[mint warren]

Forget it, it's political stuff

[wide flint]

U mean the social media ban?

Or the housing market being other shit?

[dark ermine]

a family member asked me to do portraits yesterday at 10C, I almost cancelled the morning of b/c it was too cold til I saw your post about birding at -15 😄

[carmine fox]

I'm glad I can be the "Well if he's doing it I can" metric for somebody

[hidden wyvern]

you just got murdered

common bird but interesting to photograph i find

[wheat hare]

yeah they are very amusing to me

ignore like 90% of that photo besides the bird. It was taken as a joke Car photo

[hidden wyvern]

one of the ones above i recall followed me because i pointed a camera at it lol, smart birds too, prob figured i had food or something

[wheat hare]

I've noticed a lot of them in Yellowstone like that one I posted have tracking units on them

It's pretty interesting

[hidden wyvern]

interesting to see theyre a bit different looking in your area too, feel like everywhere has their own version, where im from we had ravens instead of the crows

chickadees are similar

one im seeing around me in the city is prob an american crow

some day i want to see a magpie but i hear they attack lol

[wheat hare]

its little backpack antenna lol

[hidden wyvern]

i havent seen anything like that before, although theres been reports of marked birds in the area like song sparrows, usually just on their leg

lots of spots taking care of birds and wildlife in general here, theres a spot i could drive to to see rehabitilated owls and things like that, which just somehow get into trouble be it a window or worse, different from a wildlife sanctuary as its free and all

they just take care of the birds and release them when they can (doesnt matter if its a pigeon, or a golden eagle)

[wide flint]

Most likely for research, pretty cool

I see enough birds with rings around there legs, but never seen one with an actual tracking device

[carmine fox]

nah

it's irrefutable proof that birds do not exist

well, as we know it

they are cute lil featherdrones made by the feds

those calls you hear?
modulated data transmissions. Literally just a giant LORA network

[wheat hare]

so funny

[mint warren]

It's a lot of different stuff including that, again don't wanna derail

[broken mantle]

Finally starting to cull images from a few months ago lol.

[daring imp]

My second owl

Hawk owl

[wide flint]

Nice one, Hawk Owls are so cool

I almost ran over a Barn Owl that was hunting at night the other day

[daring imp]

Glad u didnt haha

[daring imp]

Yup. Took me only 1 hour to find. I knew one location

[lean epoch]

I wish i had a better cam

[wide flint]

Don't we all wish we had better gear?

[daring imp]

How is this shot? Handheld 5.3kg lens 🤣😭 Idk if i like it or not

[spring vault]

would be nicer if you were closer

cool bird tho

[daring imp]

Yea it was only on the highest trees 😭

[daring imp]

Its a hawk owl

[dark ermine]

went to a wildlife reserve today, don't think I got any usable closeups but the hoards of birds were a sight

[inner abyss]

This is how I feel about our wetlands reserve. It's just hoards and hoards of the same fucking duck

[dark ermine]

what's funny is i was actually looking for ducks but got this ominous cloud instead

[spring vault]

so that's where all the birds went

[wide flint]

Leave some birds for the rest of us next time please

[broken mantle]

Dayum

Thats a lot of birds

[primal aspen]

could i get some suggestions on how to crop this image or if i should crop

[dusty fog]

Considering the bird only takes up a small amount of the frame something like this is what I would do

Keep the nice purple foliage

[wide flint]

Yeah I second that

You could also keep it a little bit wider than Flo's suggestion to make it a bit more of an environmental shot

[primal aspen]

the finals i ended with

[dusty fog]

i like last one the best for some reason, though the framing doesnt follow any rules

[primal aspen]

I don't actually know any of the rules so 😭

[trim geyser]

I would go with a very wide crop. Keep the bird on the right side and sth like a 16:9.
One downside is the green foliage on the left side drawing a bit of attention away

[trim geyser]

I also quit like this version. Maybe just a tiny bit more space for the bird on the right side. But otherwise quite nice

[primal aspen]

yeah i can feel my eyes keep dragging to the bottom right

[trim geyser]

I would go with this crop. Looks the best to me

[primal aspen]

the versions i have

[trim geyser]

I like the first on more, because the foliage on the left and bottom create some layers and draw the eye more to the bird. It feels more natural and intimate, because you show more of its environment.

[daring imp]

Tried shooting a bird in 1/4 today i hope the results are good. Its a bird that stands still alot near water

Tried to make the water moving in the pic

White throated dipper

[languid ember]

Nice

[wide flint]

Dippers are such cool birds

[broken mantle]

Diy monopod sleeve/pad . hopefully helps for tomorrow’s birding session.

Idk. Might need to buy a proper one, or get one of those pipe insulations.

[spring vault]

bicycle bar tape might work well

[broken mantle]

Currently using some random 25x25x3 foam i found.

Kinda helps. Might try doing it to my tripod too.

[daring imp]

managed to capture 2 dippers standing still at 1/4 shutterspeed 600mm f5.6. thoughts?

[broken mantle]

1/4 wow

[daring imp]

oh nvm this was 1/8

[broken mantle]

Still impressive lol

My slowest bird attempt was at 1/15 on a tripod, with a 2 sec timer

[daring imp]

this was my setting @broken mantle

[carmine fox]

prime birding temp

[lean epoch]

Is it good?

[carmine fox]

the foliage is a bit distracting but it's cool!

old birder put me on to a couple owl hotspots and some cooper's hawk locations

same park I frequent too
very happy

[broken mantle]

Whoa

[carmine fox]

it's been -15 or lower the past few days
I am a very happy boy

[broken mantle]

I might need to buy one of those lens raincoats

[carmine fox]

lucky

Ok so this always confused me
I usually use group af since it is a bit more natural/accurate for my use
however how does nikon "point" autofocus work? surely it doesn't just focus on that one point right? I always see people recommending that for birding but I can never seem to get focus
I want to try and get some better BIF images, especially takeoffs but group af always seems to slightly miss, a lot of the time 3d tracking seems like it would work but other cases there isn't enough contrast for it to grab the right subject

[broken mantle]

Idk lol, on my D7200 i use the small cluster AF.(the 5 or 9 points). And pray.

[dark ermine]

Reading up on it in the d7500 manual it does seem to only be for stationary subjects where you specify where to focus https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/d7500/en/13_focus_01.html

No clue how on earth that's recommended for birding unless I'm missing something

[daring imp]

This weather sucks. Even on 600mm f4 i have to use 1/500 6400 iso

[daring imp]

Same here. Sucks when i just got a new lens

[broken mantle]

Took ~20 pics of the local blue eared kingfisher

Then BAM a storm

Got stuck on a small roofed seating area for 2 hours

not the best birding trip. Haven’t copied out the files.

Now i’m reconsidering my long trip 23-29 dec. the birders there warned me of the slippery terrain and bad light till next year.

Another area’s birding guide outright declined clients due to the bad weather for the next few weeks.

[daring imp]

Sucks living in the north lol

Atleast winter time is ass

[broken mantle]

The local marketplace ran out of vanguard alta rcxl(rain cape). Thats like the only rain cover for large lenses available here.

Might need to diy one from a cheap raincoat.

[hidden wyvern]

ornament

[carmine fox]

adobe pls add shift focus point slider

[green meadow]

I think that in these photos it is about motion blur rather than missed focus...or both. What shutter speed you used?

[wide flint]

Seems like most picture have the wings perfectly frozen so I doubt motion blur would be a problem there, considering the wings are the fastest moving parts

[green meadow]

Wings are also some what blurry so I'm quite sure that there is also motion blur involved (specially pictures 1 and 2 maybe 3). 4 and 5 are clearly out of focus. 🤔

[green meadow]

I have noticed that when shutter speed is fast enough there can be some details visible also on the wings. In this one the shutter speed was 1/6400s. 1/4000s might be enough but preferably faster.

[dark ermine]

have you guys seen https://lightroom.adobe.com/learn/discover/sm:animals ?

just found out about it, not exactly relevant to only bird photography but think it's neat, can view other's editing process

[wide flint]

Hmmm yeah you have a point. But even then, the wings are moving so much faster than the body of the bird that I doubt the head would suffer from the same amount of motion blur as the wings do

[spring vault]

be a lot cooler if I liked any of the edits people did on that site lol

[wheat hare]

yikes

[carmine fox]

1/3200 or 1/4000 iirc
I believe I cranked my iso up & was shooting at 1/5000 for a bit as well, I'll check metadata when I get home

[dark ermine]

yeah you have to kind of dig and find the ones that do quality edits. searching for a specific bird then following the rabbit hole down works pretty well

I really like the feature where you can post your own and allow others to remix it and reimagine the edit.

[carmine fox]

they're all 1/4000 actually

[carmine fox]

Precarious perching

[green meadow]

Then it is probably just missed focus. Best possibility to get sharp fly shots of small birds is, if you find spot where you can photograph them taking off/flying side ways and not towards you.

[lean epoch]

Is it a good shot?

After i took the picture, i saw that i could have placed the bird further to the right

But idk

[spring vault]

hell yeah could use some editing tho

[lean epoch]

New bird found

Tell me how can i improve this

[green meadow]

Well I think I would crop it tighter. For me there is too much negative or dead space on the left side and above the bird. 🤔

Tip 1: 1/40s isn't fast enough for photographing white-throated dipper in flight and some slight motion blur will be visible. On the other hand it is possible to keep ISO at very moderate level with that shutter speed. 😅

[carmine fox]

nah perfect photo
throw some filters on it, give it some wanky name and you've got a beautiful Instagram pic

[inner abyss]

Could pass as ártistic

Some crypto farmer did buy a banana taped to a wall for like 6 million so....

[green meadow]

This piece of art is on sale right now. Just 1 million $, so it is kind of a bargain. 😄

[dusty fog]

1 million yeetcoin right?

[dark ermine]

managed to snag a creeper, of course when I wasn't looking for it

[waxen coyote]

Cool bro

[spring vault]

ducc

[dark ermine]

eastern phoebe today

[carmine fox]

epic

[dark ermine]

thank you!

[dark ermine]

i know it's been awhile lol but I just got anther bluebird pic, and I now agree with you about those 2 bluebird in that pic being female. it's def the white eye ring

[wide flint]

Damn that was quite some time ago lol

[hidden wyvern]

borb

harsh sun can really just change an image lol, still like this skatebird though

[carmine fox]

I would murder for some nice light
been overcast nearly two weeks straight

[wide flint]

Same here, we haven't had any sun for 8 days straight, which is the longest period since like 1990

[gilded yarrow]

Same here

apparently there will be sun in friday but it'll just go back to rain/overcast after that

[carmine fox]

clipped
wing

https://tenor.com/view/fed-up-twitch-eye-upset-sad-cartoon-gif-17090247

firstish time using dynamic point af
anecdotally my keep rate seems a bit higher for the take off ones

i'm kinda sad the face was just out of focus on this one

[green meadow]

Yesterday I got some quite nice fly shots of great tits and blue tits. Like these ones. Pretty nice poses. But there wasn't enough light...so ISO 25600. 😅

[wheat hare]

noise or not those are fantastic

[green meadow]

Thanks! 😀

Auto ISO failed me there, bit lower would been enough. Most cases there were only snow as a bc, but in that case there were also some trees so ISO jumped without me realizing it or having time to adjust the exposure compensation. 😑

[carmine fox]

mind sharing your technique for this kind of shot? they're phenomenal

[wheat hare]

Snow is the only time I really don't like how Auto ISO does things

I usually end up turning it off now if it has been snowing.

[green meadow]

I had some peanuts in a box on the ground and birds hesitated on landing there. So I was lucky to take pictures while they flew for a while kind of "stationary" bit like hummingbirds. So I was on the ground and took photos like crazy. 😅 Shutter speed was 1/2500s and af had just enough time to focus to the bird.

[green meadow]

I should probably also stop using it in the winter. 🤔

[green meadow]

When birds looks like this then you know it is cold out side. 🥶

[wheat hare]

I love borbs

[green meadow]

I didn't know what borb means, but it definitely describes that type of birds quite well. 😆

[wheat hare]

borbs are just plumpy birbs basically

What lens have you been using most recently?

[green meadow]

both 600mm f6.3 pf and 100-400mm f4.5-5.6. But at my bird feeder I think I like the zoom lens better because of how versatile it is. Borb was taken with the 600mm and flying ones with the zoom.

and also closest focusing distance of the 600mm is not ideal when birds are in close range.

[carmine fox]

forgive the atrocity known as phoneposting images
I want to get this printed, how do we feel about the composition?
I feel like centered might be the way but I'm not sure
I'm pretty sure I have some crop space to play with since it's like 10mp

[green meadow]

Somehow, I often feel a certain antipathy toward portrait orientation. I really struggle to get the composition to look good to me. It either ends up feeling too tight or having too much empty space. If you're planning to put it on your own wall, the best approach is to make it in a way that looks good to you. After all, you're the one who will be looking at it the most.

[dark ermine]

love all these shots! i've banned myself from taking anymore photos until I get through my leftover culling from 2024..only like 4000 more to go 😂

[waxen coyote]

What do ya think?

[wide flint]

I like it, has something abstract to it

Would probably crop it just a bit tighter

[waxen coyote]

Thanks dude

[waxen coyote]

I wanted to crop it as less as possibile since the quality isn’t the best.

[wide flint]

Man, first day with the Z8 and the 180-600mm and I'm in love. You can crop in so much and still get great quality

Noise performance also seems very good compared to my old a6400

Btw @green meadow am I doing something wrong or does your Z9 also give pretty underexposed files while using auto iso? In camera everything looks fine, but when I drag the files into my editing software I had to bump the exposure a stop or more for some reason

Could also be something with my editing software but idk

[green meadow]

I haven't noticed that kind of issue. Could there be some Picture Controls on which affect pictures on the back of the camera but not raw files?

And congrats on the new camera.

[carmine fox]

speaking of z
I haven't looked much into them, but I found a second hand Z6 with 50k shutter for about $100 more than I'm planning to get my 150-600 for

[green meadow]

I haven't used Z6 so I can't give any insights, but look out for some reviews to determine if it matches your requirements. I have heard that first z cameras didn't have great af, but not sure if that is the case and did they got any updates to fix that.

[wide flint]

I have th picture controls set to auto but I think it's my editing software

Since it also did some weird stuff with white balance and stuff

[green meadow]

Hopefully it is just some simple setting issue and you'll find out what's wrong. I'm sure you made really good choice with that camera and lens combo. Can't wait to see more results with those. And really promising start by the way. 👌

[carmine fox]

consensus seems to be z6i is a waste ever since the z6iii dropped
I think I might go through with my 150-600 purchase and continue with my current body, and maybe by spring see if prices drop a bit so I can pickup a new/refurb z6iii w/ ftz

[carmine fox]

So my savings plan is currently set for z6iii
however I'm already getting some fomo from bird af+nearly 2x mp on the z8
however off sale the z8 is nearly 80% more than the price of z6iii off sale

[wide flint]

Yeah very happy with the combo, even with the limited shooting in very bad weather today. Hoping for some decent weather next week since I'm free and on a birding island the whole week

[wide flint]

Tough choice. I heard the Z6III does pretty well with birds on the animal eye autofocus settings, so that shouldnt be a huge problem. But the 45MP of the Z8 is very nice

[carmine fox]

yeah, I'm decently versed with the ~20mp format since that's what I've used for most of my time shooting
I think I might go for the z6iii and save the rest for z glass
all I really want is muh af modes and the epic pre release capture

pre release in itself is fucking awesome for anything action related
even though it's just a second, I've had some shots where I've missed by less than one
I'm sure everyone has

[wide flint]

Sadly it's only in jpeg

But in the right conditions it isn't the end of the world to shoot in jpeg

[carmine fox]

WHAT
have I been lied to

[wheat hare]

Maybe just misheard is all. Don’t think any Nikon does raw pre capture yet.

[carmine fox]

ah unfortunate
probably yeah, I just assumed

hopefully more of a software limitation than hardware
I can't see why it wouldn't be

[green meadow]

Yeah it is in all models jpeg only. And I have lost all my hope that updates would enable it to raws also.

I think they would already have given it to us if it was possible. 😭

Lately I have noticed that I get better results shooting raw and by using my own "precapture", so that I start shooting before bird takes off or something happens.

[wheat hare]

I have a feeling they are done with feature updates

[green meadow]

Yeah probably preparing for launching new models of current cameras.

and saving new features to those.

[wide flint]

Yeah I wouldnt hope for raw precapture coming to the current models with a firmware update

It would be very nice

But I dont see it happening

[carmine fox]

One can hope at least

[carmine fox]

so I'm going to get a large format done of this for a relative-
should the small sharpness dropoff of the claws be an issue or am I just being a paranoid pixel peeper
those are my main concern

(150% crop btw lmfao)
does it get any more paranoid? I don't think so

I gotta remember to stop down a bit
heat of the moment and all that jazz

the age old "shallow focus or am I zooming in too much"

[green meadow]

Pixel peeping is great fun but doesn't lead anywhere. Well not entirely true it probably helps learning techniques of getting sharp photos. But sometimes even blurry photo can be much better or interesting that super sharp technically perfect photo. So it is good to remember that sharpness isn't everything. And that being said I'm a helpless pixel peeper. 😅 I'm quite sure that after you get the print you will think that it is not sharp enough (at least I have looked every of my larger prints that way). But after you hang it on the wall and look it from normal viewing distance I think it will be fine. 😀 👍

[drifting silo]

Photos from a few months ago

[green meadow]

Love the blue-tit photo and those out of focus leafs 👌 and robins are really nice too. 😄

[drifting silo]

Thx, i havent been out to photograph anything for a while now. And didnt have any luck last time i tried either lol. I‘ll be trying again soon now that the Christmas break has started

[carmine fox]

Facebook knows the exact type of content I like to spend time on

[drifting silo]

More boring bird photos

[green meadow]

Swan and dipper

[wide flint]

Finally some better light today. Really happy with these ones

Also absolutely love how goofy the bill of the northern shoveler looks

[hidden wyvern]

Little egg shaped bird

[gilded yarrow]

Man y'all are making me jealous, weather here in germany is still terrible

[wide flint]

It's still not great here, super windy and a lot of rain. But luckily enough light and sometimes the sun coming through the clouds a bit, so good enough to go out and use the new gear properly

[gilded yarrow]

Nice, I can maybe go out on tuesday again but not sure yet

[hidden wyvern]

i had a bad snow storm in my photo lmao (had some sunlight beforehand though), excited to go out again today or tomorrow

looks sunny today though

snow is really fun with birds, been waiting for it

[wide flint]

Man I wish we would have proper snow here

been years since the last time

[green meadow]

I'll gladly give some of ours to you. It has been snowing almost every day this week. I'm already so full of cleaning my car from snow every morning. And I won't stop snowing until march or in worst case in may. 😅

[wide flint]

I'd happily take some of yours! Really thinking about takin a winter photography trip to Scandinavia in the coming years.

[green meadow]

I recommend doing it. I'm sure it’s an amazing experience for someone who isn’t so used to snow. But when you have to deal with it year after year, it becomes a bit of a burden. I have to say that Even though I’m complaining about winter, I’m still happy that we have different seasons. Also the worst is over now because the days are starting to get longer, little by little. 😄

[dark ermine]

kudos to everyone, but especially with in flight photos, I've been staging my usual spot and still most of my pics are of birds sitting still because I fired too late..gonna blow out my shutter in no time

[hidden wyvern]

got a bird in basically "perfect" focus today, almost too an odd looking image lol, was nice to see all the birds at home still around. Bluejays, nuthatches, chickadees, goldfinches, crows and it looks like theres either a robin nest or a bluejay nest nearby now

ive yet to see the mourning doves but they tend to arrive later in the day anyway

nest is easy to spot now but in the summer prob not as much, my guess is a robin (unless they have extremely large baby chickadees)

[hidden wyvern]

eye focus would never

i think the bird may have seen me

this lens performs well in the trees, first time ive used it around home so lots of experience with the zoom lens there, havent denoised at all today

[carmine fox]

lucky duck
I've yet to see a bluejay with my camera
theyre my favorite birds along with cardinals

[hidden wyvern]

got both at my apartment area which is nice, lots of bluejays at my family home area though

got the red guy at a flower garden

im on the hunt for an owl always though, everyone has some bird thats just tough for some reason lol

[carmine fox]

There's a pretty reliable spot near here for owls apparently
I check it every time I go now
wanna trade locations?

What lens do you usually use anyway?

[hidden wyvern]

Depends on the day but I’ll use rf 100-500 or the 500 f/4

500mm seems to be the common fl

[hidden wyvern]

Owls here are far and few although lots of eagles

[carmine fox]

ah nice
I'm excited for my first big lens
70-300 is limiting at times

[hidden wyvern]

Yeah it’ll be nice the more range you get, prob best to have access to 500/600 over higher/lower

500 f/4 I just got in sept, while heavy it’s almost been my main lens since

[hidden wyvern]

I find an image like this is a good idea of what it can do

Won’t be super close like 800mm, won’t be super wide like 200mm

If I want super close I just put on a tc, depending on the zoom + body might not need that though lol, assuming it’s a zoom lens

[carmine fox]

Yeah I don't know if I'll end up getting a tc for the tamron, Maybe if I decide to go the nikkor route but 200-500 is strange range. From what I've heard the IQ is negligible but the Tamron G2 has more snappy AF which is more important to me, plenty of people have also noted 200 can be too much up close sometimes and 500 can be just a bit less than needed, I'd prefer to have more range even if I drop edge sharpness at full 600
I can always just stop up, I don't plan on using it in low light, however the iso performance on d7500 is quite good from my experience and consensus

full 600 on apsc is like 900 anyway, literally 3x my max right now
even 500 is pretty much 2.5x my max, supposedly quite sharp there anyway

[hidden wyvern]

I’m using ff myself so 900mm is like double what I have

I prob wouldn’t go above my max which is 700mm but I do want a 2x tc occasionally

[wide flint]

@gilded yarrow I'm also giving the Kingfisher a go these coming days

Turns out one visits the little stream next to my moms house pretty regularly

[gilded yarrow]

Sick, I hope you are more lucky than I am

[wide flint]

I'd like to think it's almost impossible to be more unlucky then you

Really hope I'm not gonna spend 20 hours without even seeing one

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah true

[wide flint]

Almost 4 hours and had one fly by

Calling it a day, already too little light

Found a new and probably better spot for tommorow, hoping there's more light tommorow

[gilded yarrow]

Average kingfisher experience

I'll go look for them again next week in a different spot where I got my 1st kingfisher pic ever, not expecting anything tho since thats a bad spot lmao