My best bird photo ever!

[Clix Pix]

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58921029-L.jpg



:D :D

[CanadaRAM]

Oh geeze, I'm imagining the next 2 seconds of that story -- hope the lens cleaned up OK ... ;) :D

[Clix Pix]

Oh geeze, I'm imagining the next 2 seconds of that story -- hope the lens cleaned up OK ... ;) :D

LOL! Mercifully that was not an issue! The little bugger just flew faster than I could pan with my camera! Happily, I did get some other shots which included an entire bird (or two or three)...

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58920686-L.jpg

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58920832-L.jpg

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58921005-L.jpg

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58920905-L.jpg

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58920725-L.jpg

[devilot]

I actually really do like the first image. :o I think it's neat.

[Bubbasteve]

Oh geeze, I'm imagining the next 2 seconds of that story -- hope the lens cleaned up OK ... ;) :D

lol, I like your initial picture and your second from last picture.

To hell with it, I like them all! nicely done

[Clix Pix]

I actually really do like the first image. :o I think it's neat.

Thanks! I do, too, actually! I had to laugh when I saw it first in the camera's LCD screen and then later in the computer....

[Clix Pix]

lol, I like your initial picture and your second from last picture.

To hell with it, I like them all! nicely done

Thanks! I'm lucky enough to live in a place where I can step out on my deck and see these and other delightful birdies....

[Flowbee]

I actually really do like the first image. :o I think it's neat.

It makes a cool desktop!

[Clix Pix]

It makes a cool desktop!

Hey, you're right, I hadn't even thought about that! I've been using a macro of kiwi fruit, but yeah, this one would be even better and far more interesting!

[Heb1228]

Hey! I want to see! Is something wrong with the site hosting the image?

[Clix Pix]

Hey! I want to see! Is something wrong with the site hosting the image?

Apparently so....they must be doing maintenance or something. Bleh! I hope that by the time more people are back online that the images will be as well. Otherwise I'll switch them to another hosting site.

[pdpfilms]

Still not up.... I'd love to see these!

[edesignuk]

I had great hopes for this thread when I saw the title, then I find it's the feathered variety. I won't lie to you, I feel cheated, cheated I say!

:p

[Abstract]

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58920905-L.jpg


I like this one. :) If you got a bit closer, it would have been perfect though.

And yeah, I also like the original pic.

[devilot]

It makes a cool desktop!I agree.

But more than that... it's so eerily still. But there's also a good chunk of detail (love the translucency of the tail feathers)-- I mean, surely, she took a picture of a stuffed bird! It can't be real. :D

[iGary]

You'd enjoy the Nature and Wildlife Forums at Fred Miranda.

[Lau]

I also love that first picture! That's the kind of compositions I try to take on purpose....:D

[Clix Pix]

I like this one. :) If you got a bit closer, it would have been perfect though.

And yeah, I also like the original pic.

Thanks! Hee, hee, if I'd gotten any closer I would've been in the drink! The photos were all shot from my second-story deck, which overlooks a small lake. I think my birthday present to myself this year is going to be a longer telephoto lens, as I've got just the 70-200m VR and the 18-200mm VR. Yesterday, though, when I first went out there I still had the 105mm on the camera from a previous still life shoot, having grabbed it in a hurry, and decided to see how well I could do with that first. I think that's the one which was on the camera when I shot the "tail" image. Then I put the 18-200 on so that I could see how it does with rapidly moving subjects. Normally when I'm out on the deck I have the 70-200 on, as it does pretty well if the birdies fly close enough to me. This lot I lured by tossing bread into the water. That gets the gulls flying madly all around in a hurry, but it's hard to clutch the camera in one hand, toss the bread with the other hand and then be ready to shoot as they quickly swoop down on the bread. The colorful shot with the three gulls was before I started tossing the bread... The color is caused by the reflection of the townhouses across the lake and it was a late-afternoon sun....

[Clix Pix]

I agree.

But more than that... it's so eerily still. But there's also a good chunk of detail (love the translucency of the tail feathers)-- I mean, surely, she took a picture of a stuffed bird! It can't be real. :D

LOL! Man, wouldn't that have been neat if I could've gotten the whole gull? Boy, those babies fly fast!

[Clix Pix]

You'd enjoy the Nature and Wildlife Forums at Fred Miranda.

I tend to spend time at Nikon Cafe, and there are a couple of forums there where all the guys with their big 400mm and 500mm bazookas and 2x teleconverters and heavy tripods display their gorgeous images of exquisite birds either flying or tiptoeing around in the weeds and marshlands.... Just for fun I also posted my "Best Ever Bird Photo" in that forum, too. LOL!

I keep meaning to have a closer look at the Fred Miranda forums, as I've heard they're really good and that a lot of pros hang out there. Thanks for the reminder!

[devilot]

I also love that first picture! That's the kind of compositions I try to take on purpose....:DOf if you got the whole gull you could just crop out the rest of it. ;)

[Josh]

That's a pretty lucky shot! Good job!

I probably would have ducked for cover :p

[Clix Pix]

That's a pretty lucky shot! Good job!

I probably would have ducked for cover :p

Yeah, he looks closer than he actually was, but I think I could've touched him if I'd reached out and hadn't had both hands on the camera madly trying to pan to keep up with him and capture him (on memory card).

[Clix Pix]

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58992613-L.jpg



Wasn't as close as it would seem: had to do a bit of cropping....

[-hh]

(butt shot)

:D :D

I have a lot of UW fish photos that look like that too.

Here's a recent (last month) photo...we call it "Bird Feeder", since it was taken at our bird feeders...

http://www.huntzinger.com/photo/2006/hawk(20D_20060117_4275)c.jpg

Granted,people do get a bit confused when we explain that our objective is to feed birds...which includes attracting birds to feed BIGGER birds!

(FWIW, the victim was a blackbird in this case. No great loss :D)

-hh

[Clix Pix]

I have a lot of UW fish photos that look like that too.

Here's a recent (last month) photo...we call it "Bird Feeder", since it was taken at our bird feeders...-hh


Ewwww....that's nasty! Not the photo technique, but the subject matter. *Shrug* But that's nature, of course.... "Survival of the fittest!"

[SpAtZ]

Here is my favorite: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e367/ccspatz/IMG_5251.jpg

[Chip NoVaMac]

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58921029-L.jpg



:D :D

Why did I think of:

Birdie, Birdie, in the sky. Why did you do it in my eye?

BTW, a great shot. Giving us pause on to the meaning.

[Chip NoVaMac]

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58920905-L.jpg


I really loved this shot!!!! Great eye there Connie!

[puckhead193]

Here is my favorite:
I took a shot almost like that its posted in the bird feeder thread or something like that... i couldn't get close enough though dam snow!

[Chip NoVaMac]

I took a shot almost like that its posted in the bird feeder thread or something like that... i couldn't get close enough though dam snow!

I have a co-worker that has a "set-up" in his backyard - and what he has hared with us would be the envy of most photographers IMO.

[Clix Pix]

Here is my favorite:

That's a beauty! He's a Cardinal, right? That's the state bird of Virginia!

[Clix Pix]

Why did I think of:

Birdie, Birdie, in the sky. Why did you do it in my eye?

BTW, a great shot. Giving us pause on to the meaning.

Thanks, Chip! I'm just thankful that he DIDN'T drop a little souvenir on my lens or in my eye! LOL!!

[Clix Pix]

I really loved this shot!!!! Great eye there Connie!

Thank you again, Sir! :-) Not sure right off the top of my head, would have to go look at the exif, if that was with the 105 or the 18-200.... I think it was with the 18-200, but am just not positive. This one I did crop a little; the other one is totally the way it came out of the camera, simply resized for web viewing......

[-hh]

Here is my favorite:
(nice big cardinal)


Man, he had to have been close!


I suspect that this is similar to mine - - a good example of how to use your house as a bird blind :)

FWIW, mine was photo'ed through two sets of glass (french door & storm door). Depending on time of day lighting, these extra layers can ruin all photo-taking, unfortunately. Since more options is always better, I've been trying to talk my wife into letting me remove the screen from the window in our one bedroom to make for better winter birdfeeder photography...don't want to have a "lattice" effect from the screen.


-hh

[iriejedi]

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58921029-L.jpg



:D :D


This looks like one of my Dad's attempted family pictures during the holidays.... almost always, someone has there head cut off!:)

[jaminphx]

I'm pretty sure that is Johnathan Livingston! He is faster that other gulls.

[Keebler]

that first pic is amazing. even if you meant to catch all of the bird. would make a wicked desktop. that pic of the hawk is great too...they're all neat.
what camera did you use? i've always wanted to get into photographer...amateur...just shoot stuff for myself. would love to get some great 'nature' shots.

well done!

[Clix Pix]

I'm pretty sure that is Johnathan Livingston! He is faster that other gulls.


Ha, ha! Jonathan Livingston it is..... :)

[Clix Pix]

that first pic is amazing. even if you meant to catch all of the bird. would make a wicked desktop. that pic of the hawk is great too...they're all neat.
what camera did you use? i've always wanted to get into photographer...amateur...just shoot stuff for myself. would love to get some great 'nature' shots.

well done!

Thanks! Yeah, I think I will use Jonathan Livingston as a desktop wallpaper for a while....

My camera is the Nikon D200 and the lens was either the 105mm, which I'd had on there for an earlier tabletop/still life session, or the 18-200. I'll have to check the exif to see...

I'm just an enthusiastic amateur myself -- I've loved photography ever since I was a little girl with my first Brownie and later in college with the wildly popular Instamatic. Eventually I got into shooting with SLRs, then spent a few years in Coolpix country, then just about a year ago got myself a D70. In November when the D200 was announced I knew I wanted one, so got on a pre-order list at my local store and in mid-December the D200 was in my eager little hands. Great camera, I really love it!

[Clix Pix]

OK, the first photo of Jonathan Livingston (his tail) was shot with the 18-200mm lens zoomed out to 200, f/11, 1/640 sec, at an ISO of 800.

Here's the rest of him!

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58921037-L.jpg



D200, 18-200mm lens at 200mm, f/11, 1/1250 sec, ISO 800

[pashazade]

OK, the first photo of Jonathan Livingston (his tail) was shot with the 18-200mm lens zoomed out to 200, f/11, 1/640 sec, at an ISO of 800.

Here's the rest of him!


D200, 18-200mm lens at 200mm, f/11, 1/1250 sec, ISO 800

I love this picture and the tail one :)

My personal two favourites are these, both taken locally in Richmond.

http://www.pashazade.com/photos/RichmondRobin02.jpg

http://www.pashazade.com/photos/RichmondRobin01.jpg

I like the blurred one a lot, but of course it was down to luck.

pashazade

[pashazade]

Here is my favorite: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e367/ccspatz/IMG_5251.jpg

I just love the contrast of the red against the white and the subtle sprinkling of moisture on the body.

Thanks for sharing it.

[Clix Pix]

That Cardinal is Christmas-card perfect! Can't you just see that on a card?

[SpAtZ]

That cardinal was a result of three hours dug into the snow with a few unbrellas(since it was snowing). I was about 10 feet away.

[Chappers]

Jacuzzi anyone