Bird Blind

HL45 · Mar 18, 2013

Recently I was looking for a blind to hide me from some of the more skittish birds in my backyard.
I've used a pop-up blind for hunting. I wanted something smaller, just big enough for me, camera and tripod.
I went to our local sportsman's store and found a near perfect blind!
Ameristep One Man Chair Blind.

Cellphone pics of the setup.
Chair has a cup holder in the arm so you can enjoy your favorite beverage while you wait for the birds!
For under 100.00 I'm happy with this in the backyard, not sure how well it would work out in the woods.

Few Images from yesterday shooting from the blind!

untitled-2135 by mtw2118, on Flickr

untitled-2044 by mtw2118, on Flickr

untitled-2094 by mtw2118, on Flickr

TimLindstedt · Mar 19, 2013

Cool, that's something I need! Easy to carry and get set up!

You got some really nice shots!

ryanparker · Mar 19, 2013

wow, amazing shots! Such beautiful colors & details...very nice!

HL45 · Mar 19, 2013

Thanks for the comments!

shefjr · Mar 19, 2013

That's pretty slick! I've been considering picking one of those up myself. Just hard to tell the quality of them when looking at stuff online.

You exposed for the black capped chickadee and female cardinal really well. I really like the chickadee. The male cardinals colors look off to me but, that's just me.

WesternGuy · Mar 19, 2013

This is a neat setup. I will have to look into something like this. Your bird pics are nice and sharp and I like the colour. My only comment is to not crop the tails off the birds - detracts from the image.

WesternGuy

wackii · Mar 19, 2013

Nice setup... Nice shots of these beautiful birds. Would be nicer if the tail isn't cut-off.

PropilotBW · Mar 19, 2013

Nice! My bird stalking attempt would have been much more successful with this.
I like the camo lens, what type is it?

shelby16 · Mar 19, 2013

Oh my gosh, I love this! Great shots too.

coastalconn · Mar 19, 2013

I'm intrigued also. How much does the setup weigh? Would it be an easy trek a mile or so through the woods? Nice shots, btw!

HL45 · Mar 20, 2013

Thanks all!

The chair blind weighs 10lbs and comes with a bag with straps to shoulder it.

The lens is the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5, 5.6 , got the camo kit online from B&H

Cropping the tails was needed on these because of the feeder pole and the swing feeder arm blocking the tail.

John, I have trouble with the Red on the male cardinal for some reason, my setup searches for focus allot on the color and as many shots as I've taken of this guy very few turn out to be worthy of even processing. Wish I knew why.

untitled-2075 by mtw2118, on Flickr

Maybe this is better?

shefjr · Mar 20, 2013

I know the feeling. My cardinals give me trouble as well. I usually clip too much of the red channel and lose detail in doing so. If I don't clip it some then the photos seem under exposed. I feel your pain on it. Both of your male cardinals look great as far as the detail. All I meant was that the red seems a bit too red. Again though that's just my opinion. Also, my computer screen is not calibrated so take what I say with a grain of salt.