Perching Birds

[spang1mw]

I'm interested in peoples opinions on these shots. I haven't done a ton of wildlife photography and any suggestions or comments would be appreciated!
These were taken with a 55-200 lens.

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[sm4him]

Birds can be pretty tough to do, but if you'll stick with it, you'll improve pretty quickly. You'll also become obsessed with it, if you're like me, but that's another story...

In the first photo, there's just TOO many distracting foreground branches covering up the bird. There's nothing you can "do" about those, other than just wait until a better opportunity presents itself.

The other two are much better compositionally, but they are pretty underexposed--what were your settings? (I could probably check the EXIF data, but I haven't finished my morning coffee yet, so motivation is nonexistent).

I do think they could both use some cropping, as the bird kind of gets lost in the frame. I like the framing made by branches around the sparrow; I wonder how it would look if you cropped one of them to a portrait orientation with just that branch "frame" around the bird?

Some things that have helped me improve bird photos:
--Place some feeders close to bushes or natural places where the birds can land. They will be attracted to the feeder and will land on the surrounding branches, so you can still get photos of them in "natural places." I put seed up on top of a small woodpile in addition to my feeders.

--Set yourself up somewhere where you have a clear line of sight to the birds then make a "blind" of sorts. For example, if you shoot out an open window, put some material over the window with just a hole for the camera lens to "conceal" yourself from the birds. My backyard setup is I have a big pile of branches, etc from a tree that fell. I set up behind that pile (wearing camo hunting clothes or something else dark and inconspicuous) and then wait. It's pretty close to the bushes and tree branch near the wood pile so I get pretty decent shots that way.
Another way I've gotten some pretty close shots: Sit in your car. Backyard-type birds are used to vehicles for the most part, so they pay them little attention--therefore, they make pretty decent "blinds." I pull mine up about six to eight feet from the woodpile, roll down the window, and wait. As long as I don't make any sudden moves, most of the birds pretty much ignore me. My tufted titmice and chickadees seem to be the most skittish. The sparrows will just sit and stare at you.

 

[SCraig]

Sorry, but they just don't work. I shoot a lot of birds and they are difficult, both because of their size in relation to the background and because they spook so easily.

In your first one you did manage to focus on the bird, a feat unto itself among all that brush, however there is so little bird visible I can't even tell what it is.

#2 and #3 are both underexposed and the subject is way too small. From a geometric standpoint it's interesting, although the exposure still needs correcting, but from a bird standpoint it doesn't work.

As I said, birds are difficult. They won't let you get close but to get good bird shots you have to get close. I use a 150-500 lens and it frequently isn't long enough.

You have to have a lot of patience as well for birds and wildlife. You cannot control the background or the foreground much, all you can control up to a point is the camera position and sometimes not even that. They don't take posing instructions well either They are a lot of fun though, and when you get a good one it's a good feeling, like you've accomplished something. Keep at it.

 

[spang1mw]

Thanks for the replies! I took these about a month ago and never posted them here then because I was never happy with the results that I got out of it. Poor lighting and a terrible bush in which the birds were in that made it almost impossible to get a clear shot. I actually did put up some bird feeders after I took those photos but those crazy birds just wont eat it even after I have moved it multiple times :er:. I thought I would post them now and see what kind of response I would get and see if the pictures were really as bad as I thought they were. Also, advice on how to better my bird photo taking ability, which I received. Here's a few more shots of birds I took a while back are these any better?

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[SCraig]

Yeah, I've been there more times than I can count. I've got hundreds of shots that I occasionally revisit thinking I can pull something out of, but there's just nothing there.

I shot a Kingfisher on Saturday. The first one I've EVER seen in this area so I was thrilled. He was in a tree 60 meters away (according to the EXIF data), and a bird in a tree 60 meters away with a 500mm lens is still a small subject. I took a bunch of shots of the bird, and they are nice and sharp and well-lit, but when I crop them down they are nothing but a pixilated mess. Nothing usable at all.

I'm going to go back and see if I can sneak up on him but I'm not hopeful. The tree he hangs out in is right on the edge of the bank of a lake and he has a commanding view of anything coming from a long distance around. I'm sure he didn't pick it by accident and I seriously doubt that I can get much closer at all.

Your other shots are much better. Good detail and exposures. I would push the second and third to the right of the frame so that they are looking more toward the center of the image instead of out the side of the image (Rule of Thirds). You've also got the light areas / dark areas on the feathers due to light and shadows that are so common with birds. Those can sometimes be lessened by playing with the levels a little bit. Also, lighten up the eye in the third one a little bit. In animals and people the eye is the first thing people tend to notice and it needs to be clearly visible for the best presentation. It's difficult with birds since many times they have dark eyes on dark feathers so don't go overboard, just a little bit. All in all, much better though.