Ugly Hedgehog - Photography Forum
Home Active Topics Newest Pictures Search Login Register
Sub-Gallery: Birds
Scarlet Tanager (male)
Page 1 of 2 next>
May 25, 2023 12:51:46   #
srsincary Loc: Cary, NC
 
Old Bynum Bridge, Chatham County, NC.
May 23rd, 2023.
He was closer to me in the last 2 shots, so the equipment had to work a little less hard.

Comments and critiques welcome.


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

Reply
May 25, 2023 12:54:06   #
Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA
 
srsincary wrote:
Old Bynum Bridge, Chatham County, NC.
May 23rd, 2023.
He was closer to me in the last 2 shots, so the equipment had to work a little less hard.

Comments and critiques welcome.


Wonderful set! Luv the colors.

Reply
May 25, 2023 13:00:00   #
Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York
 
srsincary wrote:
Old Bynum Bridge, Chatham County, NC.
May 23rd, 2023.
He was closer to me in the last 2 shots, so the equipment had to work a little less hard.

Comments and critiques welcome.


What a beautiful set. I tried to photo a male tanager but had NO success. Went out and pick up a 160-600mm Sigma. He flew away before I grabbed a shot. So tell me how did you do it. I’m in Brooklyn by Gateway.

Reply
 
 
May 25, 2023 13:01:02   #
srsincary Loc: Cary, NC
 
Sinewsworn wrote:
Wonderful set! Luv the colors.


Thank you, Timothy. One can't go wrong with red (except a lot of us men, maybe ).

Reply
May 25, 2023 13:09:14   #
NMGal Loc: NE NM
 
Great captures.

Reply
May 25, 2023 13:40:24   #
jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon
 
Great captures!!

jack

Reply
May 25, 2023 13:40:49   #
srsincary Loc: Cary, NC
 
Scruples wrote:
What a beautiful set. I tried to photo a male tanager but had NO success. Went out and pick up a 160-600mm Sigma. He flew away before I grabbed a shot. So tell me how did you do it. I’m in Brooklyn by Gateway.


Hi Scruples, thank you for your feedback. Maybe being a New Yorker, he was in more of a hurry than birds in Central NC? 😂

But seriously, this Tanager was super cooperative. There is a tree at one of the pedestrian Bridge, which the sun shines on 30 minutes after sunrise. Various birds - many migrating through this region, like to sit on that tree in the morning. But almost every other bird I have photographed there this year (many posted in UHH) either sit for less than a minute, or stay hidden behind a lot of leaves.

However, this Scarlet tanager sat very openly, across 3 different tree limbs, over maybe 10 minutes!! And spent maybe 5 of those 10 minutes singing! In the second pair of shots he was closer to me than in the first two. I also took some shots when he was in the 3rd limb, but he was far away and the IQ of those images were lower. I was the only person on the bridge at that time, and I am not sure if that made the Tanager less skittish (?).

All in all I had a good karma 10 minute session with this bird and I feel blessed.

Reply
 
 
May 25, 2023 13:42:03   #
srsincary Loc: Cary, NC
 
NMGal wrote:
Great captures.


Thank you, NMGal!

Reply
May 25, 2023 13:43:54   #
srsincary Loc: Cary, NC
 
jack schade wrote:
Great captures!!

jack



Thank you, Jack, for viewing and commenting.

Reply
May 25, 2023 14:55:08   #
Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York
 
srsincary wrote:
…….this Tanager was super cooperative…..


I live in Marine Park Brooklyn. For many years, there was a blight in our
neighborhood. There was an inlet that became a car dump. For many years we fought and the residents were able to remove those rusted relics. We turned it into the Marine Park Salt Marsh and it is on the migratory path of many a species of birds. From time to time I will head over and try to photo some beauties. But I rarely have luck. Incidentally, I bought a 150-600mm lens with little success.

Do you have any pointers?

I use an OBEN Tripod and a FOTGA200 “L” Bracket.

Reply
May 25, 2023 15:59:52   #
srsincary Loc: Cary, NC
 
Scruples wrote:
I live in Marine Park Brooklyn. For many years, there was a blight in our
neighborhood. There was an inlet that became a car dump. For many years we fought and the residents were able to remove those rusted relics. We turned it into the Marine Park Salt Marsh and it is on the migratory path of many a species of birds. From time to time I will head over and try to photo some beauties. But I rarely have luck. Incidentally, I bought a 150-600mm lens with little success.

Do you have any pointers?

I use an OBEN Tripod and a FOTGA200 “L” Bracket.
I live in Marine Park Brooklyn. For many years, th... (show quote)


Scruples - I am so glad you could fight the dump and have a marsh again that is friendly to birds.

As to your 150-600mm lens, what was the issue with your lack of success with photographing birds? Was it too heavy to use without a tripod? A tripod will work fine for bird shots as long as the subject stays put for a long enough time (eagles and even hawks are quite cooperative in that regard). But most small birds are very restless in general.

If lens + camera weight is the issue, I had a similar problem with my 200-500mm Nikon. Great lens, but with the lens at 5.5 pounds + the heavy-ish D500, my shoulder would hurt after 1 hour of photography. I do not use a tripod since BIFs and small birds are difficult to photograph with a tripod (monopod maybe - I have never tried). I did capture some nice shots with the 200-500, including Eagle and OSPRI BIFs through 2021, and I still have the lens.

My current lens - paired with my Nikon D500 - is a Nikon 300mm PF f/4 + a TC 1.4E iii, giving me an effective focal length of 420 mm + the 1.5x extra reach due to the APS-C sensor of the D500. The lens is super light, of excellent IQ and AF-C speed even with the TC (it is quite expensive, so I bought it used at MPB). The D500 low light performance is not good over ISO 1600 and heavy cropping is challenging. But I can hand hold that camera + lens combo for hours and with the D500's AF-C capabilities, I have even had some luck with small BIFs - one of which I posted a few weeks ago. The Nikon D500's Group AF setting is my friend for BIFs. Plus, lots of practice of course, and a thorough reading of Steve Perry's book on Nikon AF systems.

I'll be happy to discuss further regarding your specific issues - using private messaging if you like. If the problem was with the specific lens (a bad sample) or the combo with your camera, I am not sure I can be of much help. I have never had to custom tune my Nikon cameras (D7200, D500) with any lens due to a serious AF problem of the combination.

Reply
 
 
May 25, 2023 16:42:56   #
UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT
 
Excellent set, Ronnie!

Reply
May 25, 2023 17:58:01   #
Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York
 
srsincary wrote:
…..I am so glad you could fight the dump and have a marsh again that is friendly to birds…..



The fight for the Salt Marsh was hard. We went through the community board and the parks department. Even schlepping rusty broken down jalopies out of the swamp was donated by several tow companies.

I was walking around with my Canon 5D and a 28-135mm lens. I saw the red feathers and focused on the male. But he flitted away and I got a very blurry shot which was embarrassing. I went to buy a new lens (150-600mm). I also bought an L bracket to assist focusing. I stayed in the Salt Marsh with no success.

I believe you are correct about the difference between birds from New York City and from North Carolina. Hopefully I can bait them when they head south for the winter.

Reply
May 25, 2023 18:13:30   #
srsincary Loc: Cary, NC
 
UTMike wrote:
Excellent set, Ronnie!


Thank you, Mike, for your feedback.

Reply
May 25, 2023 18:25:53   #
kpmac Loc: Ragley, La
 
A very nice set, Ronnie. I photographed my first one this Spring.

Reply
Page 1 of 2 next>
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
Sub-Gallery: Birds
UglyHedgehog.com - Forum
Copyright 2011-2024 Ugly Hedgehog, Inc.