Pure Evo

Here's a series I shot at a park near my home. Yes? No? Why?

NFRs2000NYC

Would be awesome if you had a little more DOF, and separated the bird more. However, I know how hard it is to catch birds, they don't exactly like to wait while you go grab another lens.

zzziippyyy

[QUOTE=NFRs2000NYC,Jul 6 2010, 12:23 AM] Would be awesome if you had a little more DOF, and separated the bird more.

NFR_AP2

nice!

AssassinJN

Nice shots though I almost wish #1 was just a hair slower shutter speed to allow a little motion blur in. Birds look really funny frozen mid-flap when the wings are retracted.

Pure Evo

Thanks for the defense. It's not the lens' fault, it's the shooter. It was shot with a Nikon 400mm. I was switching lenses all morning and had to go back to my car to get that one, because I originally went to shoot the Falls (kit lens) and some macro flowers (60mm and 105mm micros).

Below is the exif info on the bluebird pictures, I'd appreciate some advice as to my settings from the pros how to make it even better. For reference, I was actually trying to "freeze" the bird. I have maybe 100 shots of him (and his mate) in various states of blurrinessbut I know what you mean. It's an awkward stance for a bird.

They were shot "maybe" about 3-5 meters from the tree (don't remember) - you pro guys can probably triangulate the size of the bird versus the focal length versus the depth - I was limited by a wall behind me vs. being too close. I was basically looking through the viewfinder with one eye and watching for the bird to come into my peripheral with my left eye. When I saw him coming in, I'd pull the trigger.

Also, attached are a couple of pissed off geese that I've shot "frozen" near my house, but with wings in full glory!

zzziippyyy

I'm glad to know you do have a long lens

First geese shot is As far as getting bird shots there is a lot of luck involved. Your shutter speed generally needs to be between 1/1000th and 1/2000th to freeze the wingtips of birds in flight the larger the bird the slower shutter speed you can use as evidenced from your 1/400th on the ducks. You will just need to be sure you have good light at those shutter speeds as I think your 400mm is F5.6 wide open? The hardest thing when shooting birds is focus lock and your cameras focus speed. That is why I went to canon 1D series bodies IMHO focus performance on them suits my needs. Getting birds focused is always going to be your biggest challenge in shooting them other than the obvious focal challenges. Practice practice practice and than practice some more. do not be surprised if you get 1 or 2 keepers out of 100 shots thats mostly normal believe it or not. you almost have to be instinctive when shooting birds and get them without having to look into your viewfinder shotgun style. Shooting birds unfortunately is one of those situations where more often than not the body your using is going to dictate the outcome and or handicap you. I don't want any responses to this post to be a pissing match by anyone on the canon vs nikon thing either both are excellent manufacturers. I don't know Nikon's lineup and I'm not sure how well your body that your using performs regarding focus speed. Hopefully someone can step in here and advise you what is best for you regarding bird shooting with your platform you are currently using which is Nikon.

The other thing you may want to consider when shooting birds is to look for clean backgrounds, I like your shots you posted of the bluebirds but the backgrounds are killing your shots the bird is getting lost in it. Yes I know we cannot always control our backgrounds and most times were lucky just to be able to gets some shots of any given bird but if you can get a clean background for that winning shot. If you look at your duck photo's they are not necessarily better or worse than your bluebirds shots the BIG difference is the background behind the bird.

Happy shooting!
Dave

Pure Evo

Thanks for the post. I've found that getting good backgrounds is my MAJOR weakness. I'll get something nice and then realize all the noise and distraction behind it. The D90, BTW, is the nicer of the "entry-level" Nikon DSLRs. Basically something you don't have to go to a specialty store for.

As far as Nikon vs. Canon, I use both brands to some extent. I have always used Canon for P&S, I just bought a Canon S90 which is GREAT, and I had a G10 and went through a bunch of PowerShots back in the day. I also have an HV30 for video, which is pretty amazing for a cheap/small DV. I bought the Nikon mostly on a recommendation for beginning in the DSLR world, and I'm pretty happy with it. Plus, I have access to a lot of lenses besides the few that I own, which is a major plus. So Canon vs. Nikon never really means much to me. I'm not skilled enough to appreciate or take advantage of the differences.

I do, however, drool over higher end equipment, and their full-frames and incredible speed, though! Just like my S2000. It's not exactly an F430, but I love it and it gets done what I need it to. (and I'm pretty sure I can get through DC traffic just as quickly as the Ferrari!)

zzziippyyy

Practice improving upon that, look at and be aware of your backgrounds before you take the shot.