Birds, birds, birds

[mercphoto]

I put a bird feeder in my backyard today. I didn't think it would attract birds so quickly.

I'd like advice first on technique. I was 20-22 feet away, behind another tree. They didn't seem to see me or hear the camera. 20D, ISO 400, 70-200/2.8 with 1.4 tele at full zoom. Av mode wide-open. Light was low, shutter speed was 1/400. Remote shutter release.

I think one problem was depth of field. The bird feeder was the point of focus. The bird in front seems out of the DOF. Brighter light may have helped. What else?

http://mercphoto.smugmug.com/photos/25845822-M.jpg

Comments on composition, background, color corrections, etc. appreciated as well. But technique is first on my personal list.

Thanks!

[pathfinder]

I put a bird feeder in my backyard today. I didn't think it would attract birds so quickly.

I'd like advice first on technique. I was 20-22 feet away, behind another tree. They didn't seem to see me or hear the camera. 20D, ISO 400, 70-200/2.8 with 1.4 tele at full zoom. Av mode wide-open. Light was low, shutter speed was 1/400. Remote shutter release.

I think one problem was depth of field. The bird feeder was the point of focus. The bird in front seems out of the DOF. Brighter light may have helped. What else?

http://mercphoto.smugmug.com/photos/25845822-S.jpg

Comments on composition, background, color corrections, etc. appreciated as well. But technique is first on my personal list.

Thanks!


Shooting birds is great fun, Bill, but not as easy to do well as it might seem. Most folks do not prefer shots of birds on the feeder - so the trick is to capture them as they stage on the limbs around the feeder, but not on the feeder itself.

Small birds - sparrows, finches, etc are small subjects - I know it seems redundant to say it, but what you quickly find out is that that 200mm lens just seems awful short when you start to shoot birds at 20-30 feet and that seems to be a typical distance in my experience. Sometimes with acclimated birds you can get a little closer, but frequently, without a blind, 20-30 feet is what they are willing to permit.

Like all photograhic subjects, lighting is where it is at. Side lighting, late afternoon sun, early morning sun, are all better choices for shooting birds. That is when they tend to feed also. But when you start increasing the focal length - 200+ 1.4 TX = f4 280 mm just doesn't seem that fast in lower light - especially if the birds are in the shade - so higher ISOs 400 and up are frequently the order of the day. Fill Flash or fill with a Better Beamer can be very helpful for a little snap in the image also. Long teles have very shallow DOF when shot wide open at nearer distances - like 20 feet.

It takes some patience and gradually you begin to know where the birds are likely to land as they have landed there before. A tripod with a Wimberly Sidekick or a large sand bag can be helpful to hold the camera steady as you shoot with longer glass at frequently moving targets.

You can see many of my little birds at http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/gallery/213634/1
Most of the smaller birds were shot in my back yard over the last 6 months. Long glass ( 400mm an up) is a big help - I hate to say that, but it is just a fact of life. More than one feeder can be helpful also - we have two grain feeders and a suet feeder and a feeder for finches. More feeders bring in more birds and more birds seem to bring in even more birds. Kind of like a shark feeding frenzy.


Welcome to shooting birds - they can be fascinating and you will soon find yourself seeing new things that you have never noticed before that have always been all around you. If you have any other questions - toss then out and I'll try to answer them also.

[Khaos]

I like the line of waiting birds on that top branch. It makes for a cute picture.

Shooting small birds is tricky.

Personally, I like to shoot away from a feeder if possible. Use the feeder to attract and then be patient in getting one in the tree away from the feeder. It's hard to do sometime, but all bird shots look much better away from any man made structures.

The exposure looks fine, but if there's going to be any white, especially in birds, knock it down in the bias a third or two.

Since you have the 20D, use the exposure lock and single focus point. I always use single focus when doing birds. Get the exposure (I would suggest partial metering) even if its not center of the pic, lock it, and then compose. Use the single point and rotate it to the focus spot you want and shoot.

Focusing on the feeder was the first mistake. The feeder isn't the subject, the bird(s) is(are).

At 20 feet, 2.8 should be fine. The bird isn't OOF beause of DOF, it looks like he was moving his head quickly during the shot. Movement needs a shutter speed of at least 500 for birds.

Again, cute picture, just make sure you exposure lock first, compose, and make the true subject the focus point by using one of the 9 available focus points on th 20D.