Jack47 Loc: Ontario

My first attempt with the D7500 and the Nikon 200-500.
Is there hope for me yet?
It was not quite full daylight and these jays are fast.
Heavily cropped and a little touch-up with ViewNX2.

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nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

Were these hand held? What settings did you use to shoot with? Did you do any post production?

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Excellent... but let us get creative with a bit here and there.... Level #2 and #3
Flip #2 horazontal
#3 has a good display of peanuts. and can be cloned onto an expanded canvas of #2
The forward claw of of #3 can be cloned to replace the blured action claw of #2

if you use the original photos to do the cloning then canvas will be sufficent and the image size will clone directly. That action shot #2 is a real winner indeed .... once modified.

Simple tools and with some error will take you at most 30 minutes

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

O.K., I'm an in-camera (mostly) guy, so here goes!
#1. Peanuts in focus, birdie not so much.
#2. Peanuts still in focus, bird, maybe a bit of camera motion.
#3. Bird sharper, framing needs a bit of work.

Hand-held?
Fill flash, if you got it!
Brace yourself
Raise your ISO
Stop down from wide open...not much DOF to play with wide open, and/or close to the subject.
DON'T press your shutter release like you were smooshing a particularly ugly spider!

Keep at it,. you'll get better!.

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

not handheld but on a ballhead that wasn't tightened because they kept landing in different spots.

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

Tried to get ahead of myself by focusing on the peanuts in hope that the head of the bluejay would be in focus as it picked up a nut. Still had to adjust slightly. I was about 75 to 80 feet away.
I did try to be gentle with the shutter release. Thanks

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

settings varied slightly. I used auto because of the changing light. Very little PP. A little sharpening and color boost.
All were at 500mm

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

For hand held photos of flowers I use low ISO, fill Flash, and F-8. This combo suppress the sun light background and illuminates the subject and the duration of the flash is quick. Any movement of hands is suppressed by the speed of useful [flash] exposure. I have this set up on one of my C settings on the camera. My small SX50 canon has two such fixed settings.

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

For these small birds which don’t sit still, I use between 1/1650 sec and 1/2000 sec with aperture at f5.6 and auto iso. Use spot metering on the bird’s eye otherwise it will be underexposed.

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

Thanks. I’ll give that a try next time.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Good advice so far...AND...MARVELOUS camera and lens! But long teles do have their own set of idiosyncrasies that must be mastered! Keep at it! In a case like yours, Autofocus is your friend...one less thing to worry about! And, there is no particular virtue in shooting Manual! A 500 mm on your camera has ~ 20" DOF at your shooting distance. That's plenty if your focus is right on. Good lighting helps tremendously.

As mentioned, Spot metering on the head/eye. Sometimes, if your D 7500 has the choice of center-weighted area size, the smaller option may be best. The metering modes all have their uses, but all give different results. Do some tests to see what yours will do for you, and which one you like. When you get your choices dialed in, use the U1 or U2 storage options. Choose the one suitable to your situation, and Hey Presto! Your fave choices will be there...modify as needed.

AF-C, Center focus/exposure point with no more than the lowest amount of surrounding points you can get away with. Move as necessary! Learn to use your support, whatever it may be. VR is a goodness!

The thing that most of the wildlife photogs I have read recommend...GET CLOSER! The best way to do that is go where the subjects are habituated to people: Zoos, parks, aviaries and bird feeders etc.

Pilot

Bluejays are hard to capture. Your pics are pretty good, if you ask me.

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

Thank you. Maybe I’m expecting the impossible. Light wasn’t the greatest and it was freezing cold.

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

I’m not fond of the zoo or any other place that keeps animals captive. Kind of defeats the purpose of “wildlife”.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Believe as you wish.

It's all for PRACTICE, man! The more we practice, the better we get! And, we get to see a collection of animals that we probably wouldn't have the opportunity ever to see in the "wild". Not only that, but in many well-run Zoos, the animal's life span is a multiple of what it would be in the wild, also not forgetting zoos run programs that help preserve endangered species.

Me? I'll keep enjoying my Zoo visits.