Garden birds

[Judobreaker]

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

C&C always welcome.

 

[Rafterman]

The first picture of the blackbird is great. I love the angle at which you took this photo. He has such a stoic pose too!

I wish you were a little closer on #3, but 4 and 5 are nice. Perhaps crop out the bag of nuts on #5 though.

 

[Judobreaker]

I could crop #5 more but it's already a rather heavy crop... Don't want to push it.

 

[coastalconn]

I agree with Rafterman. 1 is really nice!

 

[digital flower]

Nice series

 

[Redbiscuit]

How do all you guys take so many awesome shots of birds all the time? Do you wait out side for them or do you have spots you know they like to go? Unless I'm at a zoo, I can't seem to catch them. Hints Pullease?

 

[PropilotBW]

I could crop #5 more but it's already a rather heavy crop... Don't want to push it.

Great shots! I like #3. He looks deep in thought.
What are you trying to salvage from the background from pic 5? I think it would look a lot better with a tight crop.

 

[Michael79]

These shots are great, my favorite is #3, well done and thanks for sharing.

 

[SCraig]

I have to agree with the others: The first shot is excellent. I Really like the vantage point with the blurred grass in the foreground.

How do all you guys take so many awesome shots of birds all the time? Do you wait out side for them or do you have spots you know they like to go? Unless I'm at a zoo, I can't seem to catch them. Hints Pullease?

I know a lot of places I can go where there are tons of birds. There is also the method of hanging up a feeder and waiting about 10 seconds for a bird to show up

You have to be patient and you have to move slow. If you move slow enough you can sometimes get rather close. Take a slow step and stop. Birds are not smart but they have highly developed survival instincts. If the bird starts making quick, jerky motions don't go any closer until it calms down because those motions are it preparing to fly.

 

[ryanparker]

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

 

[Judobreaker]

How do all you guys take so many awesome shots of birds all the time? Do you wait out side for them or do you have spots you know they like to go? Unless I'm at a zoo, I can't seem to catch them. Hints Pullease?

This particular session involved standing on a stack of garden chairs with my arm (the one holding the lens) leaning on the garden fence for almost an hour.
Patience works wonders.

There's rather a lot of bird activity in most areas actually, if you stand still in one particular place for about half an hour you're bound to spot a few birds somewhere.
The thing to do is finding a spot where birds get a little closer. A bird feeder works well for garden birds, water birds tend to go around water (no kidding) and the waters edge.

The geese I shoot every once in a while (I did a shoot with them this week, you may have seen it) are always around the same spot in the park so in that case it's a matter of locating them and getting close. This will also take time because you should never move too fast or you'll scare them off.
You'll get better as you practice, I can usually get to about 2-3 meters distance of them before they really start being annoyed nowadays. (They're quite tame luckily.)

The best thing to do is to go slow, find a spot where birds come by a lot (or create one with a feeder) and just try it multiple times.
When using the same spot over and over again you'll get to know the behavior of the animals and how to approach them more easily. That's when you start getting the shots you really want.

I could crop #5 more but it's already a rather heavy crop... Don't want to push it.

Great shots! I like #3. He looks deep in thought.
What are you trying to salvage from the background from pic 5? I think it would look a lot better with a tight crop.

It's not really the background I'm concerned with here... It's the bird.
If I crop it even more I'm going to lose a lot of quality. This shot isn't as sharp at 100%. ^^

I have to agree with the others: The first shot is excellent. I Really like the vantage point with the blurred grass in the foreground.

That's actually the top of the neighbours hedge, turned out to be a real cool spot.

 

[Redbiscuit]

Thanks for the tips ---- Patience Practice, here I come Again - Awesome shots!

 

[shelby16]

Amazing shots!! I love #4, actually. I think it's beautiful. I like the blue on grey look.

 

[Rafterman]

How do all you guys take so many awesome shots of birds all the time? Do you wait out side for them or do you have spots you know they like to go? Unless I'm at a zoo, I can't seem to catch them. Hints Pullease?

I do pretty much what the others have mentioned; sit still, be patient, and wait. Having a feeder or berry bush nearby to attract backyard birds is extremely helpful. Use different kinds of foods to attract a variety of species as well. I have both a hopper-style feeder for seed and a suet cage with 2 different types of suet. I create my own seed mix, with about 75% black oil sunflower seeds and the other 25% just standard "wild bird food" that has a bit of cracked corn in it as well. For suet, I use what's called "high-energy" that has sunflower seeds and cracked corn in it, plus an "orange suet" that brings in the fruit-loving birds. Using this variety, I get Cardinals, Wrens, Chickadees, Finches, Woodpeckers, Doves, Cowbirds, Flycatchers, Warblers, Bluebirds, Towhees, Titmice, Juncos, and Crows. The only thing I don't get are insectivores like Mockingbirds and Robins, so I might start mixing in some dried mealworms with the seed mixture.

For coastal birds, you can just walk down the beach and you'll encounter gulls, sandpipers, pelicans, etc. Plus, anywhere there's standing or slowly-moving water, you'll find ducks, herons and other swimming/wading species. It's just a matter of knowing where to look and where to be.

Once you locate them though, you need at least one of two things in order to get that great shot; either a) the ability to sneak up or set up VERY close to the birds, or b) a lens with a really long reach. Being that I personally don't have a couple thousand or more to buy a huge, fast lens, I prefer to use stealth.