Bird Photography (Page 2): I have a platform feeder..made places where I can place cedar or pine boughs for the background. Also, I have placed moss on the bottom of the platform and...

Pixelpixie88 Loc: Northern Minnesota

I have a platform feeder..made places where I can place cedar or pine boughs for the background. Also, I have placed moss on the bottom of the platform and interesting branches for a perch. Find one with a little fungus, etc.

quixdraw wrote:

INshooter -- a possible idea. br I have feeders ne... (show quote)

INshooter Loc: Indiana

Haydon wrote:

I'd highly recommend visiting Wild Photo Adventure... (show quote)

Thank you. I will take a look at that video.

wotsmith Loc: Nashville TN

INshooter wrote:

I plan on setting up a bird feeder with a nearby natural looking perch with leafy background to take bird pictures from a blind. It seems to me that if I set this up in a sunny area I would get better feather definition due to the contrasty lighting. However maybe if it were set up in a shady area I would get better pictures. I'd like opinions from guys and gals who are experienced at this kind of photography. What is the best way to do this?

alan murphy has a great video on how to make setups that will attract birds go to his website to see it.

thelazya Loc: Wendell, MN

I set up my camera on a tripod, and use wireless trigger. Birds don't get spooked by it, but make sure you set the shutter to quiet setting,

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Many good ideas here. Let me add a few more. I agree on the open shade. Pick a place for the feeder that will give you a background that is not distracting and far away. That will help with the bokeh. Expect bokeh because you will be shooting at a large aperture. You need a short exposure to capture the movement. These small birds are tiny. Plus, you do not need a lot of depth of field, even with a hanging feeder.

I go back as far as I can and use a long lens which, of course, helps with the bokeh. The weight of the lens requires the support of a tripod. That leads to the next trick: manual focus to avoid delays in focusing. However, since I shoot in multi-exposure, high speed, the manual focus does not matter that much. I also use spot metering. Final hint: use a remote shutter release. Now, sit back, relax, and shoot away.

EnglishBrenda Loc: Kent, England

Pixelpixie88 wrote:

The sun will be your friend. You are right about getting more details in the feathers with the sun. I do this all the time..look at my Flickr link. Also, you will get the catch-light in the birds eyes.
Shoot with spot focusing and always focus on the eye.

Good luck!

I hope you don't mind but I too just looked at your Flicker page. Your photos are really rather special in all respects. Your compositions are beautiful.

INshooter Loc: Indiana

Thanks to all of you for your ideas and video suggestions. I'll try these out this year. I'll see how my present set up (70-200 with 1.7 TC on a D7100) works out. I'll probably buy Nikon's 200-500 at some point.

Jim Bob

INshooter wrote:

I plan on setting up a bird feeder with a nearby natural looking perch with leafy background to take bird pictures from a blind. It seems to me that if I set this up in a sunny area I would get better feather definition due to the contrasty lighting. However maybe if it were set up in a shady area I would get better pictures. I'd like opinions from guys and gals who are experienced at this kind of photography. What is the best way to do this?

Direct sun is useful but you will need to adjust exposure to avoid washed out details. Indirect sun, i.e., brightly lit shaded area is best when available.

Pixelpixie88 Loc: Northern Minnesota

I don't mind at all and I'm glad you looked at it. Thank you for the kind words!

EnglishBrenda wrote:

I hope you don't mind but I too just looked at your Flicker page. Your photos are really rather special in all respects. Your compositions are beautiful.

Pixelpixie88 Loc: Northern Minnesota

abc1234 wrote:

Many good ideas here. Let me add a few more. I a... (show quote)

:thumbup:

Pixelpixie88 Loc: Northern Minnesota

Sometimes you get lucky and can almost walk right up to a bird. A friend of mine took this photo of me to show how close I was to this Spruce Grouse. The Grouse photos are mine.

Please use the download. :-)

(Download)

Regis Loc: Coeur d' Alene, Idaho

INshooter wrote:

I plan on setting up a bird feeder with a nearby natural looking perch with leafy background to take bird pictures from a blind. It seems to me that if I set this up in a sunny area I would get better feather definition due to the contrasty lighting. However maybe if it were set up in a shady area I would get better pictures. I'd like opinions from guys and gals who are experienced at this kind of photography. What is the best way to do this?

Always use sunshine whenever you can.

Tracht3

White light produces more vivid spectral colors. Remember the prism in science class. The whiter the light going through a more dense medium and change the speed of light through refraction and thus creating the beautiful display of color.

Tracht3

White light produces more vivid spectral colors. Remember the prism in science class. The whiter the light going through a more dense medium and change the speed of light through refraction and thus creating the beautiful display of color.

BuckeyeBilly Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

INshooter wrote:

I plan on setting up a bird feeder with a nearby natural looking perch with leafy background to take bird pictures from a blind. It seems to me that if I set this up in a sunny area I would get better feather definition due to the contrasty lighting. However maybe if it were set up in a shady area I would get better pictures. I'd like opinions from guys and gals who are experienced at this kind of photography. What is the best way to do this?

Here is a link to bird photographer Lillian Stokes and what she recommends for lighting situations:

http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/lillians-bird-photography-tip-higher.html