First Wildlife pics

ryanparker · Feb 26, 2013

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

kokonut · Feb 26, 2013

Well, it is not an easy work that one. But as other people here recommend you I would suggest to work on getting sharp images first. Birds seems to be quite difficult. Good luck!

Rafterman · Feb 26, 2013

I really like the first Mallard shot! Wild birds have always been a love of mine since high school when I did an internship at a rehab facility in Florida. We had pelicans, cormorants, spoonbills, owls, songbirds, and LOTS of raptors. The American Kestrel is definitely my favorite raptor; so much power in a little package.

But I digress...the 55-200 VR is a nice consumer zoom for what you get. I took thousands of shots on mine, but recently traded it in for a Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 VC because as others mentioned, you will ALWAYS desire more reach when photographing birds.

Since you are set with having the 55-200 for a while, which isn't exactly the fastest lens, my best advice is to make sure you shoot in good lighting conditions and work on getting closer to the birds. The former is pretty easy, the latter is not. I've sat motionless on my deck for an hour on numerous occasions, just waiting for a Northern Cardinal to land on the bird feeder 10-feet away. They are VERY skittish. The finches, wrens and chickadees don't mind you being there too much, but the Cardinals are really shy. Certain duck species are calm around photographers too (as your nice pics can attest to), but others will bolt when you get even within 200-feet.

As far as camera settings, I will second coastalconn's suggestion to shoot in aperture priority (A) and set a maximum ISO via the menu. High shutter speed is VERY important for bird pics, but this way, your lens lets in as much light as possible, without the shot ending up super grainy. If you can't get quality pics at the widest aperture and about 800-1600 ISO, then you'll know that the problem is a lack of available light, which is easily fixed by shooting in brighter conditions. Lastly, if you practice shooting stationary birds first, you'll get sharper shots than if you immediately try to tackle something really hard, like capturing hummingbirds or songbirds in flight, for example.

At any rate, you're off to a great start with a wonderful camera and a very capable lens! Here's a Yellow-rumped Warbler on the suet feeder that I got with my 55-200mm...

200mm, 1/400sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, cropped for composition

sm4him · Feb 26, 2013

rhodeislandhntr said:
Please be easy, this is my first camera and only my 3rd day owning it but I wanted to start off with some easy wildlife pics.

You say that, and then your first picture is a bird in flight?? Wow, if you think that's easy, I wanna know what you think is HARD. :lmao:
Birds in flight are some of the toughest shots to do really well, imo. Perhaps that's just because I'm rarely, if ever, successful at it!

I'd echo what others have already said--for early attempts, these are really quite promising. Once you learn how to choose your shutter speed, aperture and ISO better based on conditions, you'll be off to the races.
I really don't have anything to add as far as that goes--others more capable than I have already given great advice on the settings.

Two things I will mention:
1) COMPOSITION. I know these are early attempts, and I also know that you can't always choose the composition for bird shots. But if you get in the practice early of knowing what shots you're trying to get, you'll get better and better at making them happen.
You have some good perspective on some of these--in the second one, it looks like you tried to get down on its level, which is good. Don't always shoot standing up and looking down towards the birds--get on your knees, on your belly, on your back, whatever it takes to get good perspectives.
Also--watch your composition. If a bird is flying, I generally try to compose it so they have a little bit of room to "fly into" in the photo. For instance, in your first picture, since the bird is flying toward the left, I'd try to leave a little more "dead space" on the left side for it to "fly into."
Also, watch for parts cut off. Again, sometimes with birds, it's just unavoidable and you take what you can get. But my goal is usually to treat them just like I would a portrait--don't cut off parts in places that look like it was accidental. For instance: in the closeup of the Canada goose (#7, I think? It'll help if you number the pictures in a post), it's clear that you MEANT to show just the head. But in the first picture of the bird flying, it looks like you just accidentally cut its wings off because it filled too much of the frame. Same thing in the second, where you just barely missed getting the rest of its leg/foot in the frame. Really not a deal breaker, especially since you're just starting, but like I said, if you train yourself early to WATCH for little things like that, you'll find that soon you just automatically frame shots that way.
Finally, watch the tendency to center your subjects in the frame. Sometimes that works, especially when you nearly fill the frame with the bird, but it's often better to place the bird along one of the "rule of thirds" lines.

2. This little tip is really important, so pay attention. You live in Rhode Island? There's a guy named Kris--coastalconn--who just mentioned you're right up the interstate from him. MAKE FRIENDS WITH THAT GUY!!! :lmao:
Seriously, do whatever it takes to meet up with him--pay him if you have to--because he takes seriously freakin' awesome bird photos, and I think he's a bird-stalking ninja. He'll teach you a thing or two for sure!

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 26, 2013

Thanks Everyone, I am waiting until next payday to head over to a Barnes&Nobles to buy a guide to photography for dummies book,lol. Any recommendations on books please feel free, I need something that explains all this stuff and how to put it into perspective and how/when to use what settings.

cwcaesar · Feb 26, 2013

Start here:
Digital Photography Tutorials

Some good reading here for free.

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 26, 2013

Thanks, I also found a few on Amazon specificly for the Nikon D3100, I might order them, its nice to go back and read something over again you might not get the first time.

coastalconn · Feb 26, 2013

If you do the Tablet/E-reader thing I recommend this Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography: Tony Northrup, Chelsea Knowles: Amazon.com: Kindle Store Yes he s a friend of mine and I make no money by mentioning this. He also lives in CT and he constantly upgrades his ebook with video links. He also has an active and supportive community on Facebook. He also is a wildlife shooter and we go out shooting together sometimes...

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 26, 2013

I dont do the tablet/ e book, but my oldest daughter has a kindle. My 40th b-day is approaching so maybe that is something i should look into, are paperbacks that outdated.

Heitz · Feb 26, 2013

#2 & #4 -- very nice. For beginner you are totally on the right track. I look forward to seeing your progression.

Rafterman · Feb 26, 2013

Here's a great book for the D3100. I own it and it really helped me learn the camera: Nikon D3100 Digital Field Guide: J. Dennis Thomas: 9780470648650: Amazon.com: Books

coastalconn · Feb 26, 2013

rhodeislandhntr said:
I dont do the tablet/ e book, but my oldest daughter has a kindle. My 40th b-day is approaching so maybe that is something i should look into, are paperbacks that outdated.

I don't think real books will go out of style for a few more years

His concept is sorta cool, you read about whatever the chapter is than it normally has a video that you can directly link to. Exposure with film is still the same as exposure with digital. It's about understanding the correlation between Shutter Speed, ISO and Aperture.. BTW I turn 40 in June!

rhodeislandhntr · Feb 26, 2013

Coastal, If at anytime you need a coffee, let me know, I'm not that far. Thanks for the info. Went out today after work saw 3 deer but they saw me first so no pics. I will succeed thou, might try to get some turkey pics this weekend if I can find the birds.