Bird Photography

[astral saffron]

Tbh that's what makes it fun

Gives me an excuse to go where I normally wouldn't

Too many encounters with Brennnesseln tho

[astral saffron]

But you only need to adjust the polarizer if you’re switching between vertical and horizontal

[finite flower]

wtf

you must have a serious misunderstanding of how polarisers work

[astral saffron]

My experience has been they work on a plane and you need to adjust for z

Please inform me if I am wrong but it’s the same reason when you tilt your phone and are wearing glasses you can’t see the screen anymore

[finite flower]

thats not how it works lol

light it scattered randomly in a scene, and the light that your camera sees all have a random polarisation, so you need to keep rotating the polariser until you see that it has cut the glare in the intended way

this doesnt make sense for wildlife photography due to how fast it happens

[tough cipher]

yes, and the rotation of the polariser also relates to the axis of the polarised light coming off of any flat surface

for a stationary subject that doesnt change shape/form/angle thats fine, for something like an animal itll be problematic because youll only be able to polarise one part of the animal at once and figuring that out requires it to stand still for a bit

if a bird is sitting on the ground chilling doing nothing for a little while then yeah, possible to get a bit of extra contrast out of the feathers or whatever but the filter orientation will have to change when the bird moves around or changes position which is not practical to keep up with, thats all

[astral saffron]

I'm thinking more to reduce the glare on the water rather than the bird itself

[tough cipher]

yeah like wong said, this is a different deal

still gonna need to adjust slightly depending on where you point the camera but it wont be chaos the same way

i bought a drop-in CPL for my supertele and realised quite quick that those dollars should have gone to cheeseburgers instead

[finite flower]

wut that

[scarlet tulip]

american goldfinch

[whole spindle]

they are very active rn

[fast knoll]

these r heat

that juvenile wing spread one is amazing

[dark minnow]

Thoughts on k&f gimbal heads?

[whole spindle]

As long as the load isn’t too heavy it should be fine, but don’t expect it to last forever

[whole spindle]

Tysm ❤️

[fast knoll]

man i wish i had bald eagles near me

there's legit nothing here

[whole spindle]

I went to Alaska to see those

Multiple hour flight and then a cruise from bc

[fast knoll]

damn bruh u can really see those ai remove parts of the image

ima try to fix

ohhhh i know why

i did that and then denoised after

funny angle

[shut hazel]

yeah i guess so

im not tooo into it atm

i just carry me cam around and take photos of birbs

[astral saffron]

Nothing wrong with that brother

As long as it's fun and you're enjoying nature

[shut hazel]

yes

[dark minnow]

Yup, everything for the angle

[tough cipher]

based arca foot

i have the same one

[dark minnow]

So useful

[tough cipher]

i wish it was longer to work better as a holding handle but yeah, way better than the bullshit they put on originally

[dark minnow]

Yeah, it’s a bit sharp as well on the edges

[tough cipher]

i put stop pins in these too

downside of that is that it doesnt stand flat anymore if you just rest the camera on the foot itself

[dark minnow]

Yeah I removed em, I want it to sit flat honestly

[tough cipher]

id just shit a brick if it came out of the clamp mount because arcas fkin dovetail concept is just begging for that to happen sometime

[scarlet tulip]

horrid direct light today, but the upside is that a teleconverter becomes easy to use

[wide flint]

congrats on also finally getting bird af @scarlet tulip

[green meadow]

I noticed also that @scarlet tulip just got some nice new features. 😀 👍 Focus limiter might be also quite good addition in some cases. 🤔

[magic crown]

That scene

I love how the artificial light paint on the water

[scarlet tulip]

Do you use the limiter a lot? That looks useful

[dusty fog]

so does that just make the focus limiter switch on my lens obsolete 😂

[green meadow]

Z9 doesn't have that function. At least not yet or then Nikon is saving it to Z9 II

But I think it would be useful when photographing at feeder etc. static situation

[green meadow]

Yes kinda and I assume that it gives more freedom how to set the limiter.

[dusty fog]

Z6iii is the first?

interesting

[green meadow]

I think Z8 has it

in body limiter seems to work only with z-mount lenses. 😕

[dusty fog]

yeah not surprised by that

[spring vault]

physical switch for limiter still seems more useful but if you are after a more specific focus limit range then in body is nice to have

I never use the focus limiter since my af does fine without it and whenever I try it out ill forget to turn it off lol

[green meadow]

Nikon lenses lack close up limiter on the switch (like min-6 m). Those only have option for something like 6 m-infinity. So custom limiter might be nice addition in some cases. I don't use limiter on lens/switch either because it is rather useless in most cases.

[finite flower]

i rarely use limiter only if theres like alot of foliage

[dark ermine]

z8 to d7500 comparison at 100% sigma 150-600 C @ 600mm, same settings 1/1000 iso 1000 f/7.1

soft expected at 600mm. happy with the noise reduction though

50% w/ LR denoise

[dusty fog]

wow very cool tosee this

thanks for share

[dark ermine]

for sure! when I get a chance going to do another one at 400/500mm since should be less soft on both

[shut hazel]

time to see if this really turned out as sharp as i hoped

[finite flower]

lighting was bleh

oops i didn't export correctly

[dusty fog]

the fuck is that

[finite flower]

juve grey headed fish eagle

[green meadow]

That is one weird looking tern. Absolutely magnificent creature. 🤩

[dusty fog]

tern

[green meadow]

is it black skimmer and does it really feed like this?

[tough cipher]

imagine this exact shot/moment but from the water surface level instead parallel to the water so the birds wings rose up in soft bokeh

would be so sick

[finite flower]

im trying that next

i sorta know what you mean

[tough cipher]

this kind of angle where all background falls strongly out of focus

[finite flower]

cause like

i have no clue how this guy got this angle

[tough cipher]

yo

[finite flower]

its not the same day

[tough cipher]

very close to the surface

[finite flower]

but its the same area

[tough cipher]

its key for the depth compression

[finite flower]

bro is like inside the water bruh

[tough cipher]

yeah

[finite flower]

thats my guess

[tough cipher]

this is what happens basically

thin slit of focal plane along a very long depth axis which makes it appear thinner

dreamy look

not everyone loves it but it cuts the subject out of whatever surrounding like all hell so sometimes it looks cool

[finite flower]

its really clean

esp since the water its quite ugly

[tough cipher]

ive tried to save it once or twice with copium tilt shift-like blur masks in different aperture shaped paths but it doesnt look great

never as good as the real deal

but yeah water surface at a slight angle looks mega distracting often

[astral saffron]

Damn not even something to prop the lens up and out of the water

[tough cipher]

that guy is an extreme case because he makes great money shooting wildlife and is sponsored out the ass

[astral saffron]

The shadow would need to be in focus here, not the behind the bird I think

[finite flower]

true birder

[tough cipher]

guarantee you he pays zero dollars if that lens dies

but yeah

[astral saffron]

Yeah no fucks given

[finite flower]

gets a new one or probably has 2 spares that he brought along

then gets the broken one fixed for free

sony sponsorship goes wild

https://www.instagram.com/lifewithdan/

[astral saffron]

Brb need to go simp to sony and get my sponsorship

[finite flower]

i think this guy is also sponsored by sony

[tough cipher]

i read him ranting on a forum once about how he dual wielded A1 and R3 with 400 2,8 and 600 4,0 because he liked trying new systems

a cool 20 grand extra or whatever it is

[finite flower]

ah yes classic 2 best lenses for wildlife in both hands dual wielding that shit

[magic crown]

just finished this high key what do you think guys ?

[finite flower]

the anti vignette falls off too late

[astral saffron]

I like the eyes but think the fade it too tight/aggressive

[finite flower]

pull back abit on the anti vignette

[magic crown]

the objective was to make the invert of this one

[astral saffron]

I think this one works because only half the face is illuminated

[magic crown]

yeah it was hard to get the exact thing in reverse so i did it like that

and i wanted to keep the eyes clear

[fast knoll]

Yes black skimmer

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah just get low

couldve gotten even lower but getting low is like nr1 most important thing for good wildlife pics especially when shooting waterfowl

[scarlet tulip]

productive morning

[dark ermine]

meanwhile...nothing like having new gear and being stuck at work. i work from home too so it's ultra tempting

[tough cipher]

beautiful

what lens is this? looks pretty good

love that playful little bokeh speck in the background too, looks like a moon almost

[gilded yarrow]

Thanks 200-600

[tough cipher]

looks great

[green meadow]

Willow tit in evening light.

[scarlet tulip]

Pine trees make an ideal setting for those

The greens are such a nice deep shade

[green meadow]

I think green needs that softer light. Midday harsh light and green often doesn't look that good.

[scarlet tulip]

It’s true

If the sun is up it helps to be in shadow, so the light can filter down and be less harsh on the leaves in the understory

[fast knoll]

home for the weekend belted kingfisher reported at my local lagoon

hopefully i can see it 🙏

theyre bigger than i originally thought

[scarlet tulip]

they're big, and skittish

find a sheltered spot near some good open branches, and wait very patiently

[spring vault]

I see em somewhat regularly cos theyre pretty noisy but ive never gotten close enough for a good pic

bet I could camp in a hide by one of its fishing spots but I dont feel like it

[fast knoll]

ok i'll keep that in mind

[dusty fog]

You in Jersey by chance?

One was just spotted near me

Rare here

[fast knoll]

naw

socal

i think theyre pretty common around winter

but to me theyre special

[dusty fog]

Nice

[magic crown]

quick question guys what do you use for hiding ?

[broken mantle]

Pure sneak skills

Sometimes i use camo netting for super shy birds.

[whole spindle]

I just stay still and they sometimes dont pose me as a threat

the eagles and big stuff are never scared though

[broken mantle]

Yea just dont do any sudden movements. Stay still, sometimes the birds will come closer

I have a camo popup tent. But haven’t used it in the field.

[finite flower]

do yall prefer like stationary bird shots or like action shots

[scarlet tulip]

Depends

Some birds are hard enough to get close to that catching them in flight is the best way to end up with good photo

Raptors, kingfishers, etc

Others are best seen on a branch

[fast knoll]

i like stationary cause i can zoom in super close and still see insane sharpness

but action is also cooler

[finite flower]

uses hood inverted

[broken mantle]

Yeah so you get more sand and water droplets on the front element. Adds to the cinematic bloom.(jk)

[rocky turret]

A wood stork appeared in my state for the first time in 93 years and people are losing their minds

Given I lived in Florida before I was so confused why everyone was so excited about it, my entire feed has been full of him for the past 2 weeks

People are driving out 1-200 miles to come see/shoot him

[fast knoll]

bro yea some ppl go crazy for their bird life lists

[rocky turret]

Respectable and wild

That being said I'm flying down to Florida next week to visit family and with my luck there will be zero out lmfao

[astral saffron]

We've got another Florida man in the chat

Really wish I was into photography while I lived there

So many missed opportunities

[rocky turret]

God me too

[green meadow]

Yeah both. And I goes like that you'll get "perched shots" of those birds you wold like to get in flight and then you get only flight shots of those you wold like to photograph stationary. 😄

[finite flower]

yep as usual

birder's luck

[spring vault]

https://youtu.be/kY-hYkETRfY?t=965

I got featured in a video

[finite flower]

wow

thats smth to rmb

[fast knoll]

lol saw one but it was hella far and lighting is shit today

[gilded yarrow]

depends

Got a Camo tent

Camo nets too

cheap ghillie as well

[astral saffron]

I use a net. Super lightweight and breathable when you lay it on top of you

It works well enough that I’ve had a kingfisher land about half a meter from me, a mouse climbed over my foot, and other people have not noticed me either when walking by

[magic crown]

the tent is really that useful ? i'm hesitating getting one to stay multiple days at the same spot

[gilded yarrow]

I mean its not big enough to sleep in it

But you can move freely without the animals spotting you, thats whats nice about it

[magic crown]

the one i will possibly take is to lying down to get horizon shot and sleep

[gilded yarrow]

Yeah mine also has an opening low to the ground but I'm like 98% sure you wont be able to sleep in there

[magic crown]

it's something like that

2m X 1m X 81cm

it can be good for

[whole spindle]

Damn is that a hide or a tent

Ohh it’s both

[magic crown]

yeah like that i can sleep on terrain

[scarlet tulip]

red-eyed vireo

[daring imp]

Added my favorite bird shot to my aio cooler lcd lmao. Its cool af

[broken mantle]

On the boat. Now im feeling a bit sea sick lol

[dark minnow]

Just a bit curious, what lens is that?

[broken mantle]

Ef 600/4 L IS USM

Not the best lens for a boat trip. Especially when paired with a crop body

[broken mantle]

Yep. Getting more action on my 55-200

[scarlet tulip]

powah

[finite flower]

sexy

today was abit uneventful

[scarlet tulip]

no falcons?

[finite flower]

pf didnt show, eagle high perch, didnt dive

likely cause of the heavy ass rain at 4am

[scarlet tulip]

rude of them

rain should mean more activity after

[finite flower]

ill try pf tomorrow

if it didnt show today means highly likely tomorrow it will show

[tough cipher]

some view though

lovely water

[broken mantle]

Yeah. Luckily the weather is good(been raining the past few days).
Sun was harsh(burning the back of my neck hot) at 7 ish AM

[hidden wyvern]

hes back, and looks more "great"

[dark ermine]

queuing up 😄

[fast knoll]

throwing a fit

[fast knoll]

sleepy

[mint warren]

Went out for a few cheeky shots

[shut hazel]

blu

[astral saffron]

My camera and lens fell into some mud this morning

Water hit the front element of the lens

Submerged maybe 2-3 cm

I’ve already dried it off as much as possible and cleaned it

But wow my heart fell out of my chest

[mint warren]

Some more edits, most were in poor light so some excessive measures may of been taken

[green meadow]

This weekends action collage.

[scarlet tulip]

Third one especially is great

These came out well

[fast knoll]

I sold

Belted kingfishers flew right in front of me but I couldn’t track

[green meadow]

I like it too, but unfortunately I had to add bit bg to the bottom of the frame for better balance.

[scarlet tulip]

Happens to everyone sometimes

Extending a frame is pretty easy when it’s all defocus, at least

[fast knoll]

😭

i suck

how's this

[spring vault]

nice

[fast knoll]

LOL look at this dude he has like 10 strands of hair

[whole spindle]

https://tenor.com/view/charlie-brown-crotté-balthazar-docteur-is-in-gif-5019783275231677827

[gilded yarrow]

What shutter speed do you usually use? I never seem to get really sharp in flight shots for some reason

[green meadow]

Shutter speeds for those pictures are 1/8000 s (1 and 2) 1/6400 s (3) and 1/3200 s (4 and 5). Smaller the subject -> faster the shutter speed. I have noticed that I need really fast shutter speeds (over 1/4000 s) for shots where bird is taking off and camera is stationary. Like situations when I'm not fast enough and I can't compensate the movement by tracking the bird.

[gilded yarrow]

Yeahhh I havent succeeded with tracking small birds yet, so I'm always around 1/6400th, havent tried in a loooong time tho

[green meadow]

Jay was landing so bit slower speed were enough. Prefocused and hoped that I would get something kind of sharp. On first try I got that after that I got about five changes and nothing to show for.

[green meadow]

Set up where bird flies or takes off as sideways as possible increases hit rate.

That shutter speed should be enough.

[gilded yarrow]

Yea I usually try to do that

Only got 1 spot where I can try bif shots since the birds get fed there

Would be cool to have more than just 1

[green meadow]

Yeah it would be and also places with different biotope for more variety of species.

[gilded yarrow]

Yup

[magic crown]

bag hide ordered i hope it's good

https://www.buteophotogear.com/a-70442766/bag-hides/bag-hide-light-weight-reed-plus/#description

i take this one

an i will sell my hiding net they are too bulky for me

[astral saffron]

Are you able to move around in this? Or is it stationary only

[magic crown]

I can still move it insde but only in panning i can't "move" like a tent

But i can setup this in like 3 minutes

[hidden wyvern]

I got a lenscoat one, I recommend a tiny chair too

Can be mobile though in mine

[magic crown]

yeah i already have it

and for my use i can sit on the ground

[rocky turret]

Do you get warm in it?

Or is it breathable?

[hidden wyvern]

Id say it’s breathable

Maybe don’t sit in the sun though, has open sections so could also get a sunburn

[magic crown]

Today i will try a new natural reserve with ponds, swamps, plains
Maybe i will see some bee eaters and rollers

[magic crown]

Well i got all of them + a kingfisher

[magic crown]

The perfect trio some of the 3 most colorful birds in one day

[remote remnant]

too much vignette in my opinion, other than that great photo

[gilded yarrow]

Too much Vignette and wouldnt have been a keeper for me since it doesnt have enough detail imo

[fast knoll]

i think a6400 prob doesnt have the most insane image quality to begin with so if u crop it's not gonna look good if u zoom in

u can get away with posting on social media

but yea that vignette is a bit much for me too

[fast knoll]

Got a pic of a rare bird and some dude thanked me for it on ebird lol

[dark ermine]

saw this cardinal at the feeders lookin' like a showgirl

[rocky turret]

Special dude

He's been MIA since May but just returned

[green meadow]

It has been so interesting to notice how different species are considered rare birds in different locations. 😃 For example, the common tern is an everyday bird here in the summer.

[green meadow]

Like for @magic crown all birds seems to be common birds. 🤯 😀 👌

[broken mantle]

The common kingfisher is not common here

[magic crown]

The flamingo here is more common than a bee eater of a roller

[broken mantle]

We have the more saturated blue eared kingfisher

[magic crown]

Finally i've got it

[green meadow]

Nice! 👌

[magic crown]

I was about to abandon about him and i found the best spot for them

[finite flower]

clean

[dark ermine]

that's so awesome, seeing the same bird after some time. very cool!

[gilded yarrow]

Finally got out again

[magic crown]

the bee eater combo
flying
chasing
resting

[magic crown]

@fast knoll @remote remnant @gilded yarrow i corrected the vignette and redid all the light
you have the before/after

[gilded yarrow]

Yeees thats a lot better

[remote remnant]

yes i like

[gilded yarrow]

Holy lighting

Sadly not fully sharp

This ones also insanely lucky, not completely sharp even at 1/5000th tho lmao

[astral saffron]

fast boys

[wide flint]

Damn, it's wings could use some repairs

[dark ermine]

fast flying cigars

[magic crown]

"you got a hole in your left wing !" ahh bird

[gilded yarrow]

Lmaoo yeah it looks kinda fucked up

[magic crown]

the best artistic shot i did i think

[finite flower]

what in the ying yang

[magic crown]

yeah i'm very proud of this edit (even if some part are maybe not good enough)

[fast knoll]

this is very creative

[magic crown]

Thanks

[fast knoll]

how do u get so close to owls

r they skittish

i still havent found one so im clueless lol

[magic crown]

For the european eagle owl (left side) it was totally in wild near a town in mountains and for the Siberian one (right side) it's with the falconry where i work

[fast knoll]

woahh

thats so cool

[magic crown]

For the Siberian his name is Kotchoum and i already have him on my arm he so cute and love being pet

[fast knoll]

thats fire

ima just drop out of med school and become one of those workers who catches and tags california condors

[magic crown]

Oh nice

Btw i hope my shot will be in #⚡・featured-photos

[magic crown]

You already started ?

[fast knoll]

yep

in august

[magic crown]

You started with the summer heat

[fast knoll]

yea it's 95 in LA

35 celsius

[magic crown]

Dang in september

[fast knoll]

yea

it's crazy

cant wait for winter

[magic crown]

Fr

[broken mantle]

Might try going to a spot 4hours away(by car) that is well known for owl sightings

Last time I went there with 20 other birders, I think our group size spooked away the owls . Another group(3people) ahead of ours got tons of owl pics that night.

[fast knoll]

i think in december

im gonna drive to pinnacles national park to try to see the california condors

[scarlet tulip]

get there or to the grand canyon

[fast knoll]

have u seen one

[scarlet tulip]

yeah

[fast knoll]

woww

[scarlet tulip]

saw plenty on the south rim like 15 years ago

i can't imagine the population would be smaller

[fast knoll]

u get any cool photos?

[scarlet tulip]

i was too young

[fast knoll]

yea it's around 560 total now

[scarlet tulip]

my dad might have some

[fast knoll]

bro yea i wish i started birding sooner i prob saw some cool stuff in the past lol

[scarlet tulip]

same, i know for a fact i've missed stuff i could've shot

[fast knoll]

do u remember if u were ever within distance to get a decent shot

[scarlet tulip]

with a supertelephoto, maybe

would've been a flight shot

[fast knoll]

yea bruh they hover so high up

[dark minnow]

Yo I went in the Amazon in Ecuador in 2023, I was doing photos ( for fun at the time) but no birding and I saw some pretty crazy birds ngl

I also learnt yesterday that there is a spot like 30 minutes away from me that’s apparently really good for snowy owls in the winter

[astral saffron]

I really wish I knew where owls are in my area

They are so hard to find

[spring vault]

you can check ebird and ask local birders

[wide flint]

Sadly ebird is not that popular in Europe, most countries have a similar website that is normally operated by some kind of birding organization in that country

[astral saffron]

Yeah not too much info where I live in Austria

Also do not know any local birders

Within a 1 hour drive from my home there are about 3 hotspots

[gilded yarrow]

Theres most definitely more than that, just no people that report any sightings

[gilded yarrow]

germany and maybe austria too has ornitho.de

not sure about austria tho

[dark ermine]

motion blur but cool to see a mourning dove's tail feathers fanned like that

[fast knoll]

@fleet rivet

ur image poped up on my ebird

[fleet rivet]

Yup, been here since tuesday, should be on the homepage until next Tuesday

[fast knoll]

woww

how do u get it on there

just have a lot of ppl rate it 5 stars?

[fleet rivet]

Staff picks ~5-7 photos per week that rotate on the homepage

[fast knoll]

very nice

congrats

[fleet rivet]

It’s random, you just end up there if some ebird staff likes the photo for a reason or another, not really linked to rating (plenty of 3/4 star photos that get in there that are aesthetic)

[fleet rivet]

Thanks !

Like, this one was on the homepage https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/619005485

Even if it isnt a "good ebird photo", its still a great one

[fast knoll]

that shit would get like 3 upvotes in this server

jk i like it

nighthawk with the moon

very nice shot

yea not everything has to be a close up portrait

[wide flint]

nah, it'd do well I think

Very nicely balanced composition

[scarlet tulip]

That’s a good photo yeah

Using the moon is hard

[wide flint]

yeah and the shapes of the bird and the moon being so similar and almost perfectly oppositely alligned goes so fucking hard

[scarlet tulip]

It’s very well selected

And catching a bird at that hour, in that position? Well done

[fleet rivet]

Yeah, its a great photo, but a bad one for ebird because scientific value is minimal compared to others. Just showcasing how its more selected on a "good photo" basis rather than a "good ebird rating" one

[scarlet tulip]

I mean this entirely sincerely

What kind of scientific value could possibly be derived from a single image of a common bird?

[fleet rivet]

Its about a single one, its about having a reliably graded dataset

[scarlet tulip]

Sure, but we know what these birds look like

It’s not like we are hurting for photos of common nighthawks

[fleet rivet]

Yes, but larger dataset allow for better model training (ie, ebird added a new ML model that flags pictures that are likely of the wrong species), better species illustration. Overall, the qualitative dataset of nighthawk is relatively small for many in depth studies and classification

[scarlet tulip]

Ah great, AI slop comes for the birds

[fleet rivet]

You have to separate gen ai and other models

iNaturalist is a pretty good example of good use of classification models

[scarlet tulip]

And, if that’s the use case, they’re going to need as large and diverse a dataset as possible

[fleet rivet]

There is a difference between a model that generates content and a model that tells you "yeah, given location and photo, i’m 90% sure its a common nighthawk". One has scientific value for actual uses, another has none

[scarlet tulip]

Is the model necessary when any experienced birder with a field guide can do similar work?

[wide flint]

What happened to just getting a field guide

[fleet rivet]

No, but it helps onboard beginners, and it doesn’t just apply to birds. And it also allows for large scale studies (ie; studies on nocturnal flight calls)

[scarlet tulip]

Unless we are purporting to identify the real tough birds, like empidonax flycatchers, by photo, this whole thing feels like a fancy toy to waste grant money on

Nocturnal flight calls is a more interesting application

[fleet rivet]

Photo id can be applied to trail cams and similar

But the same very much applies to songs. A good song recording will have more scientific value than an uncommon but pretty one.

Macaulay doesn’t monetise it, so there is very little business value unlike general purpose llms

[scarlet tulip]

In any event, nothing here has shown that this specific photo has less “value” than one of the same bird flashing its primaries in perfect light

If the idea is to train models, then wouldn’t you want as many photos in as many light conditions as possible? Otherwise, they could just go find the nearest museum collection and take some nice photos of the specimens

To use an extreme example

[fleet rivet]

Its just a less valuable one for research purposes and per ebird guidelines, in the same case this photo of mine, albeit aesthetic, is not as interesting for many scientific studies

[scarlet tulip]

Again, precisely none of this matches the argument that they need more photos for their LLMs

The model won’t be deployed on a set of perfect specimens

[fleet rivet]

Except its not LLMs? Its a classifier model

[scarlet tulip]

Whatever

It needs as much data as it can to classify things

[fleet rivet]

Its not just about model training, and yes, outliers damage a model’s training anyways.

[scarlet tulip]

Fortunately, the natural world completely lacks outliers

The basic argument that there are some images which lack value in a dataset like this is sound, but I don’t see how a photo showing plumage, flight characteristics, and lighting conditions that represent a time at which one might see a nighthawk is somehow problematic here

[scarlet tulip]

We don’t do that anymore, field guides are elitist

[wide flint]

I get the general thinking behind it but like, there's so many easier options that are just as readily available and don't fuck up drinking water provisions for whole communities

[astral saffron]

These image classification models has existed for years and aren’t as computationally intensive as something like ChatGPT

I’ve built plenty of my own on a laptop for uni and my internships

AI is a spectrum and up until a few years ago no one had issue with it

The US postal service for example has been using it since 1997

As with most things, it’s not black and white

[astral saffron]

Dual weilding

What am I looking at? One for video and one for photo?

[finite flower]

yes

2 different tripods, same camera and lens stacked

[dark ermine]

I started using inaturalist, what do you guys think of this? a project / group specifically for us PL birders
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-photography-lounge

[spring vault]

that pic is from @analog kindle who is also in this chat!

[astral saffron]

The sequence was all sharp until this one 😭

[green meadow]

This was only sharp one of the sequence and I clipped the wing. 😅 But I think it kinda works this way too? 🤔

[fast knoll]

in flight headshot

it's nice

[green meadow]

Thanks!

[wide flint]

Yeah I think it still works bc the composition is still nice and balanced

lighting is also crazy

[astral saffron]

Fantastic image

[green meadow]

Composition works, but because of heavy crop sharpness looks bit artificial. Even thou I didn't use any ai sharpening just lr noise reduction.

[gilded yarrow]

Nahh looks good

[fast knoll]

has anyone been to pinnacles national park?

[analog kindle]

Back again
Also I upgraded to a Z9 🔥

[fast knoll]

Haha I also have a gull pic that’s similar

[analog kindle]

Nice

Western Gull?

[fast knoll]

Yea pretty sure

[shut hazel]

z9 yumm

[analog kindle]

super yummy

first time using mirrorless and it is bonkers

[scarlet tulip]

If you upgrade, go all the way

Excellent choice

[shut hazel]

thats what i did

well i went far enough where the price is still reasonable for my case

[shut hazel]

wow

th z9 is a crazy choice

i went for the 5ii as my upgrade choice

if i had th money i wouldve gone towards the 6iii perhaps

whats this stacked sensor thing do on it

[scarlet tulip]

makes the e-shutter viable, and gives you 20fps

[shut hazel]

ah

[scarlet tulip]

i have like 60,000 actuations on the camera, and 59,500 are with the e-shutter

[shut hazel]

more fps sounds like a pain in some cases

[shut hazel]

holy guh

[scarlet tulip]

you can always turn it down

[shut hazel]

how long ahve you had thec amera

[shut hazel]

true

[scarlet tulip]

bought it October of 2024

[shut hazel]

thats insane

how does one enable the e shutter on camera?

[scarlet tulip]

check your manual for the Z5ii

on the Z6iii it's a menu option

[shut hazel]

ill look into that

does using the e shutter like

help with keeping your shutter alive

[scarlet tulip]

it does

i use it for the added speed

[shut hazel]

oooo

[scarlet tulip]

shutters are wear items

[shut hazel]

i see

i wonder if shutter replacement is a good option instead of buying a whole new camera

only in the case of something like these z cameras

like the z5ii cost me a whole lot i wouldnt wanna have to buy a whole new camera if my shutter goes boom

not saying its gonna go boom soon ive got maybe like 7k shots on it so far?

had it since july

[scarlet tulip]

you shouldn't have a shutter failure for a long time

[fast knoll]

Is the camera basically invincible if u only use eshutter

[scarlet tulip]

you'll see wear in other places

Nikons like to have rubber issues

this is cosmetic and annoying

[fast knoll]

Oh yea

The rubber degrades eventually huh

[scarlet tulip]

yep, easy to replace but still a pain

[shut hazel]

yeah but just curious

dont got a whole lot of money in hs

plus going to uni next year so thatll be even worse lmao

[scarlet tulip]

I wouldn’t worry about it

If you bought the camera new, it has a year of warranty

Most mechanical devices either die early, thanks to a factory defect, or they last to their rated lifespan and maybe past it

[shut hazel]

i see

thats good to know

i thought my camera had 2 years of warranty on it

ik tamons lenses have like 6 years or somethinf

thats real fun

[scarlet tulip]

Check to be sure, it’s longer in some regions

[shut hazel]

its 1 year in canada

[fast knoll]

I’m sure this will be amazing!

[shut hazel]

for ef and f mount

shows e mount

its always so tempting to give that lens a shot lmao

[gilded yarrow]

keep in mind that its not good for in flight shots unless you got a stacked sensor cam

Makes the wings wobbly

[finite flower]

why isit so goofy on phone

let me raise shadow smore

not be using discord as phone colour grading

[wide flint]

I have never used a mechanical shutter on my current body

[scarlet tulip]

i would hope not lol

[analog kindle]

I actually got it for the price of a used z8
I was planning on going with a Z8 but the deal was too good

So it was more of an impulse choice 😂

[shut hazel]

Awesome

[daring imp]

Holy damn herons

[gilded yarrow]

Cranes

[wide flint]

those are cranes not herons right?

[gilded yarrow]

Wheres that? Didnt know they already started Migration

Must be relatively high up

[wide flint]

FInland

[gilded yarrow]

Ahh yeah makes sense

I wanna watch the Migration in germany this year

[wide flint]

So they're just getting together to start migration

[gilded yarrow]

Not sure if I'll be able to

Sick

[wide flint]

Sadly we barely get crane migration in the west of the Netherlands. The east has some decent spots tho

[gilded yarrow]

I wanna watch them at the kelbra Talsperre here in germany, no clue how to know when they'll be there tho

[daring imp]

Thanks! I keep forgetting the english names of them 😂 sometimes i say crane to heron and heron to crane etc

Got other 2 insane shots too. Only stayed 1 hour

[tough cipher]

2nd looks cool

Nice and clean

[daring imp]

idk if i like this one. went in the reeds and the wings were in a nice pos so thought id do something with this also. thoughts?

damn i think its abit too far away. images look very wierd with topaz ai when denoiseing

[daring imp]

thanks bro!

i guess this one is pretty okay

[hidden wyvern]

little golden bird

[shut hazel]

canary of some sort?

[dusty fog]

perhaps a goldfinch?

colors are very muted though

nonbreeding male american goldfinch maybe?

[scarlet tulip]

American Goldfinch yeah

[shut hazel]

ah

I dunno too much about differentiating birbs

[dusty fog]

its just experience

also being slightly fucking weird

[shut hazel]

lmao

i used to be able to do a bit more than i currently can but then i focused more on planes

so i think i am still slightly weird lmao

[gilded yarrow]

Use lr denoise

[fast knoll]

too far away for good sharpness that's prob why

but yea lr denoise is very nice

[daring imp]

Dont have lr. I use on1 max. I like paying once for my stuff

[hidden wyvern]

im thinking either this or a juvenile goldfinch of either gender

nearby was one with full colours, albeit noisier area

[scarlet tulip]

not a gallery shot, needed about twice the shutter speed

but fun to get a phoebe in transit

[remote remnant]

still looks great

[fast knoll]

do u guys ever use lrc's lens blur feature if u want a little more background separation

What do u think hmm

[finite flower]

it doesnt work if your subject is sharp because the masking isnt perfect

but since half your bird is motion blurred you cant see the edges anyway

[finite flower]

it works better if you subject is large/more of it in frame as well cuz more pixels to work with

[fast knoll]

Yea I was pretty close

[remote remnant]

peak bird photography

[spring vault]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/940588003032702988/1414763787298279484/DSCF3018.jpg?ex=68c0c0f3&is=68bf6f73&hm=03c6e17c45a65c1c866c65fabf568462c9045b101a079a575fca15ff2ff13cf3&

[magic crown]

Chilling with my boi

[gilded yarrow]

fuck Zoos but chill bird lol

[magic crown]

Yeah but sometimes it's good to chill

[dusty fog]

sounds like a pretty smelly place to chll

[spring vault]

fog

[drifting silo]

Photoshop is more reliable for this, also doesnt take much time

Select subject create mask smth smth smart object and then gaussian blur

Im no good at ps

[scarlet tulip]

Was a nice misty morning, yeah

I saw one bird

This was the best shot of the morning lol

[spring vault]

awesome

[tough cipher]

photoshop has a lens blur simulation in its blur gallery that looks a lot more realistic

[tough cipher]

jesus christ

[shut hazel]

i read this as frog

[tough cipher]

this with a gigantic 4:5 crop vertical would be insane

[shut hazel]

frog 🐸

[scarlet tulip]

Let me see if I have enough room above and below

[drifting silo]

I didnt know that. Guess my youtube tutorials are outdated lol

[spring vault]

for the Photoshop lens blur I'll edit the subject out of the background so it isn't included in the blur then edit the subject back onto the blurred bg and it looks the best

fixes the edge issues u get with automated methods

[shut hazel]

Generative ai to add extra background fr

[scarlet tulip]

There’s always ye olde canvas expanding

Yeah

[tough cipher]

[spring vault]

I don't have the original pic on my phone unfortunately but some of the background sticks here were actually in the foreground and had different amounts of blur

[tough cipher]

jokes aside shots like these with this emptiness to them always get epic when ran over with the negative space-train

now back to birbs sorry

[scarlet tulip]

i see what you mean, though

kinda wish i'd had the 300 lol

[magic crown]

Bro have explosive feathers

Btw that bokeh omg perfect circles

[gilded yarrow]

meh, bad for the animals so I wouldnt chill there

[magic crown]

They are in semi wild and they have a really lot of space
But yeah kinda sad for some (it's a tropical reserve not a classical one)

[fast knoll]

depends on which zoo

some r rlly good

[magic crown]

damn the shot looks like a drawing

[fast knoll]

amazing

[dark minnow]

Got some pretty close shots of cormorants today

[gilded yarrow]

Meh not really

[dark minnow]

With a really nice light

[finite flower]

i see you like vignette in your images

[dark minnow]

Here’s one with a really quick edit

[fast knoll]

san diego zoo

actually idk about all of their programs but i do know they helped bring the california condors back which is rlly cool

[gilded yarrow]

Birding from my classroom window lol

Theres a green Woodpecker living here too, saw him just once so far tho

Hearing it all the time

[gilded yarrow]

Yeahh thats good, the animals in the Zoo arent living a good life 99% of the time tho

Chiffchaff

Theres so many birds here wtf

already saw 6 species in like 10 minutes

Nothing rare but still

[shut hazel]

jorb

[scarlet tulip]

@tough cipher got that shot from earlier off the camera, not sure what i'll do with it edit wise but it's probably the closest i have been to one of these hawks

[magic crown]

The carers at the tropical reserve told me that he is a curious little snooper who likes to rummage through people's bags

[scarlet tulip]

sequence of 9 photos from a burst

[spring vault]

lol get rekt nerd

I like seeing lil birds chase big birds

[scarlet tulip]

it's the reverse of normal, crows are usually the ones doing the chasing

[inner abyss]

Rate my bird photo

[fast knoll]

cool send it once u upload it

[drifting silo]

😩

[tough cipher]

not the nazi kingfisher

[astral saffron]

[dark minnow]

would you guys consider this sharp?

I really love the Bokeh but none of the shots are as sharp as usually I feel like

[scarlet tulip]

could add some sharpening, that's a hard set of conditions to work in and it doesn't look unusable

[dark minnow]

Ok so its not my lens fucking up on me then

[tough cipher]

lens looks quite fine, focus is maybe a pinch off and into counter light like this without direct light sculpting small shadows and contrasts will fuck with detail

no lens would deliver a crisp banger here

you use a 100-400 II dont you?

[dark minnow]

Yup

[dark minnow]

Aight thx

[tough cipher]

yeah hell no

[dark minnow]

Was my first time shooting in those conditions and with the lens always being sharp I was questioning stuff

[gilded yarrow]

add a bit of sharpness, turn radius down to 0.9 and turn up Detail and it'll be perfectly sharp

need to Experiment with radius, somewhere between 0.9-1.2

[scarlet tulip]

messing with some lighter editing

[fast knoll]

How the hell do u have so many birds everywhere

[scarlet tulip]

maine is a pretty good birding spot

[dark minnow]

Just realised there is a Bald Eagle in this

[scarlet tulip]

"hello you need a license to photograph my island thanks"

[fast knoll]

Fire photo

[scarlet tulip]

yeah that's a great landscape

[dark minnow]

might try and print it but I have no clue what size to go for

Like big as fuck would be nice but I have no place for it

might just go 11x8.5

[magic crown]

Decent landscape

[fast knoll]

do u guys think it's worth it to get a rf 1.4x for $350? gonna go on a trip to pinnacles national park in december to try to get a pic of the condors

would use it on my 100-500

[scarlet tulip]

does the teleconverter remove some focal range? i thought it did on the 1-5

if you don't care, no problem

i would just buy a 200-800 at that point tbh

[dark minnow]

yeah, it cuts to 300 i think

[scarlet tulip]

ouch

[dark minnow]

oooh

what a cutie

[scarlet tulip]

yellowthroats run the entire cute-psychotic gamut lol

[fast knoll]

yea it makes it pretty inconvenient to walk around with

[gilded yarrow]

I feel like you dont know the meaning of decent ngl

[fast knoll]

am i better off spending that money on a cfexpress

i only have a v60 sd rn lol

can only record up to 1080p if i want 60 fps video

[magic crown]

[dark minnow]

yes, you could also try to rent for the trip

[gilded yarrow]

V90 should be enough for 4k60, I only use V90 cards in my a7iv too

[gilded yarrow]

Decent means like its okay but also not great

[magic crown]

Wait what ?

[magic crown]

Damn what an miss understanding

[gilded yarrow]

[fast knoll]

lool he was right

[magic crown]

Bc here decent in french mean = perfect/insane

And i taught it has the same signification

[dark minnow]

Not really

[fast knoll]

hmm how much more expensive are cfe vs v90

[gilded yarrow]

loool yeah I was already confused when you called my kingfisher in the rain pic decent

[dark minnow]

Here it means really average

[magic crown]

This is not what i meant

[gilded yarrow]

uhhhh my lexar 1800x 64g were like 30€ each or something

Wait

[magic crown]

I wanted to say it's an insane shot

[gilded yarrow]

Do I only have v60 cards

I need to check when I get home

I can record 4k60 tho

Lmao no clue

[fast knoll]

yea idk

maybe my r5 is just picky

[dark minnow]

im in quebec btw

[magic crown]

Can someone kill me pls

[fast knoll]

is sandisk shit

[dark minnow]

No

I use them for ssds and cards and never had a problem

[fast knoll]

i see a 256 sandisk cfe for $40 off so it's $110

some reddit ppl r saying that sandisks get rlly hot

[magic crown]

Sandisk are good for most

[fast knoll]

i wouldnt be recording super long videos tho so idk if that matters for me

not doing 8k either

[dark minnow]

that I dont know

[fast knoll]

no overheating problems or anything tho right

[dark minnow]

for my sd cards I have both a Sandisk and an Angelbird and both heat the same way

64go V90

[spring vault]

I'm late but cfe is cheaper and should be faster than v90

and v60 should be good enough for 4k 60

v90 is needed for 4k 120

[fast knoll]

yea i think i messed up my settings or something

[remote remnant]

4k60 10 bit on v30 for me

[fast knoll]

Uncropped

First time seeing one up close

Always distant fly bys

[fast knoll]

Nice sharpness

I like this one

is the background too bright and distracting

[astral saffron]

The background is good, he’s just facing away 🥲

[fast knoll]

yea :(

i have another one actually

his mouth is less open tho

[shut hazel]

Birg

[fast knoll]

accidentally shot from too low of an angle and very bottom of photo looks too blurry for my liking

is this ai gen one on the left better or nah

[dusty fog]

Too low of an angle? Usually lower the better haha

[fast knoll]

Yea but the ground was uneven in this case

What do u think about that blurry part at the bottom

[dusty fog]

I like either one honestly

The blur doesn’t bother me

[fast knoll]

Ok thank u

Lighting carried me in this photo lol

[dusty fog]

Looks a little unnatural if you stare at it but not a huge deal

Lighting carries every photo

[fast knoll]

True

[scarlet tulip]

how'd you get so close? these are nice

[fast knoll]

these r like 5-6 mp crops but there was a pair on a powerline in front of me

and this one was taking off and i managed to get the take off in focus

also removed the powerlines as u can see lol

[vapid apex]

Hmm the blur is kinda interesting.. Doesnt really distract me from the subject infact it helped my eyes to focus on the subject

[green meadow]

Rain drops on spruce needles gave quite interesting details to these ones.

[magic crown]

that ambiance

a curious duck

[fast knoll]

i rlly like the second one the light is right on the bird

[spring vault]

how'd you get below a duck was it sitting on something

[magic crown]

actually it's in side

[spring vault]

you were just real low then

[magic crown]

and yeah i was sitted and he just did that rizz

[spring vault]

gyat

[shut hazel]

duck

[hidden wyvern]

the many faces of cormorant

[green meadow]

It is nice and bg is also clean enough but still interesting. I like third one as well, it kind of shows how small that bird actually is. First picture has lots of nice bokeh balls but that also makes bg bit messy. 🤔

[fast knoll]

tried my best to save an iso12800 photo that looked like this lol

[fast knoll]

what do u guys think about image borders

i think it makes boring photos look a lot less boring lol

thats why i started using them

[shut hazel]

it depends

i sometimes use them

[remote remnant]

i only use for posting to social media

[gilded yarrow]

Can be nice

Dont always look good tho

[scarlet tulip]

i tried them and am unenthusiastic in most cases

they're nicer on landscapes IMO

[fast knoll]

wow just found a sharp version of the belted kingfisher wing spread

other one had slight motion blur

[fast knoll]

wait do u guys use the dropper to white balance every photo u edit

i lowkey didnt do that before but i just realized it's pretty nice LOL

[spring vault]

usually I try daylight balanced and then awb and then eyedropper and then eyeball it from there

[dark minnow]

I mostly eye it honestly

[fast knoll]

yea usually i just adjust the temp slider

but i could not get the white to look white in this one cause i messed with highlights so much

dropper clutched up

[tough cipher]

looks like the data allows to stretch a lot farther if you want to reach more neutral exposure/contrast

image looks fine, yeah if you punch into the 100% you can see traces of AI cleanup along the smallest details/feathers but in a normal web size its nice

[fast knoll]

Ooh thank u

[drifting silo]

Did i cook with the edit

[dusty fog]

is nais

[green meadow]

Soaked jay 😆

[dusty fog]

what shutter speed was this shake haha

[green meadow]

It was a really low light situation so both shots were taken at 1/125 s

[spring vault]

I love birds doin that

[fast knoll]

lmao

need to get a shot like that

[dusty fog]

tree swallow 💙

the best

[spring vault]

it's a barn swallow actually there were tree swallows hanging out there too tho

[dusty fog]

i did know that

just become redacted for a moment

both great anyway

[fast knoll]

throwback to my bird photography back in may

[fast knoll]

what do u guys think about this lmao is this stupid

i never had the right lighting until now to try darkening the background

it just sucks cause the beak looks cut off even tho that's just how the color is

[scarlet tulip]

That’s well done I think

Using the background to get the dark effect is best since you can get away with a lot less masking

Can clean up the non-black parts of the background for a more extreme look, and even go monochrome

[fast knoll]

all i did is object select and then turn down exposure on background lol

yea i think it worked decently well

lighting was right for it the background was already quite dark

idk what im doing at this point lmao

[green meadow]

I guess I'm having a jay season right now.

[gilded yarrow]

1 and 3 are really great

Man I really need to find a Spot with lots of birds so I can try more bif

[green meadow]

I got a good sequence of the fight, but unfortunately in most shots neither bird’s eyes are visible. Also in many the focus is on the bird that is facing away from me. First one is probably best of those that I got.

[green meadow]

Jays are really fun birds to photograph in flight. So much easier than small birds, it is even possible to track them after they take off.

I saw also a sparrow hawk today. It tried to catch these jays. That one is hard to photograph in flight at least on the spot where I was. I didn’t get a single shot. It flew like a maniac between the trees in a quite dense forest. 😅

[fast knoll]

bushtits r so tiny got lucky with this one at 10k iso

[green meadow]

Great tit collage

[green meadow]

Bought used z-mount 2x tc and tested sharpess. Not totally standard test setting, but tried to use same distance and shutter speed, changed iso to get about the same exposure. Then cropped to about 100% of 2x tc and matched others to that and exported to match same resolution. 1. 600mm pf by it self, 2. with 1,4x tc and 3 with 2x tc. I might say that lens by it self is sharpest option. 🤔

Photo pills calculator says that depht of field is shallower with tc even thou aperture is smaller. So only perk of using tc might be better background separation bit further away than by lens only and cropping. Am I right?

[scarlet tulip]

Potentially, yeah

I do wonder how much that difference win depth of field translates to how the background looks

Would have to test in the field

[green meadow]

Yes, just my thoughts. I really have to test it in the field. That initial test only makes me wonder if I need that 2x tc at all.

But that drop of sharpness isn't that bad. Thought that it might be worse.

[dusty fog]

1.4 definitely good though

especially in center

[olive mountain]

grrr

i found his food spot and he seems to not mind prople too much

[fast knoll]

I think it’s not too noticeable

If a bird is quite far away it’s def better to get that extra reach instead of cropping

[gilded yarrow]

2nd pic definitely the sharpest

3rd might just be a little bit of motion blur

[fast knoll]

lol I was taking pics of hummingbirds and a skater came up to me and asked if I could get a pic of him skating

Just made$20

[analog kindle]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642137384

Absolutely ecstatic about this one!!

[fast knoll]

iso 12800

sharpness is still there

[analog kindle]

indeed

[fast knoll]

wow very beautiful

is this rare for u?

[analog kindle]

Yes and no

I was on a trip to the upper fringe of my state, there is a very little spot where some of those guys live

[fast knoll]

oh woww

[analog kindle]

so it was a lifer, and I managed to get an insane encounter

nevertheless pretty cool species

[fast knoll]

oh wow

[fast knoll]

tongue

[shut hazel]

👅

[green meadow]

First and second are really close. Motion blur is totally possible due to 1/25 s shutter speed.

[magic crown]

Let's go my 3rd one

[tough cipher]

TC's have a weird tendency to drop sharpness a bit when focusing at longer distances and there can be somewhat noticable drop in tracking speed when the microadjustments to focus are effectively doubled in size from zooming into the lens light circle

If you want a more comprehensive idea, take it out on a tripod and shoot smth like 10-20 meters away or just try it on real birds obviously

I suspect the tracking accuracy drop might bother you since you do a lot of birds in flight

This is different with different lenses tho, on a very modern setup like yours it should be less

[green meadow]

Yesterday I got to test 2x tc on low light and effect on af is really remarkable even on quite static subjects. I think that it is for good light only and for mostly static situations.

[fast knoll]

i think on a high end prime like his it shouldnt be too noticeable

im really considering buying a 1.4 for my 100-500 but i think itll be too inconvenient to walk around with a fully extended lens

[green meadow]

Would work better with primes that have large aperture to start with. f6.3 is bit too small.

I still need to test more on real situations to see how it works. It might be good addition to camera bag for some situations. And not that expensive investment.

This is from yesterday just after sunset about 60 m away, 1200mm, f13, 1/30s, ISO 12800 and handheld 🤣

and without tc

[magic crown]

"AYO BRO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN RECORD ME FOR FREE ??"

[spring vault]

guys

[eternal igloo]

WHATTT

[scarlet tulip]

Do it

Now

You have a shot at hotspot parking lot immortality

[dark minnow]

Do it, I beg of you

[fast knoll]

Uncropped can’t wait to edit this one

Background a bit ugly tho ☹️

[fast knoll]

i thought this one was nicer with a wider crop

[finite flower]

its abit blown imo

drop the exposure abit

and the highlights

[fast knoll]

ok

i see what u mean

those flower petals

r extremely white

[dusty fog]

damn that's sharp

[magic crown]

sharp/10

[magic crown]

so simple