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[kundalini]

Instead of mowing the lawn yesterday as I should have done, shooting some of the song birds in the backyard seemed a better idea. My feeders are in pretty deep shade and the sky was overcast, so I cheated a little by setting up a monolight into a reflective umbrella. Although I used my tripod, I kept the head loosy goosy for quicker changes to find the birds.

These were taken with a Nikon D300 and 300mm f/4. At some point I added a TC17.


Cardinal - male

Brown Thrasher

Carolina Wren

House Finch - female

House Finch - male

Northern Mockingbird

and there is always damn squirrels around

Comments always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking.

 

[Designer]

I'd say your time was well spent! The house finch scratching herself is not my fave, and the little white thing on the squirrel's chin is kind of distracting, but a wonderful set! Congratulations!

 

[kundalini]

I'd say your time was well spent! The house finch scratching herself is not my fave, and the little white thing on the squirrel's chin is kind of distracting, but a wonderful set! Congratulations!

I totally agree with you about the female house finch, but I kept it in the set as a "waiting in the wings" sorta shot. There are four feeders out there and as you can see, they were filled with guests most of the day. I've nailed serveral natural perches (fallen tree limbs) around the structure so the birds can queue up for their turn and I can avoid having the feeders in the shots.

I keep trying to insist that they should wipe their mouths after eating, but do they ever listen?

Thanks for the kind words and taking time to comment.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

The first one is amazingly good.

 

[runnah]

The light didn't distract them?

 

[kundalini]

The first one is amazingly good.

Cheers.

The light didn't distract them?

The first few pops cleared the decks, then it was a turn of the head with that WTF look and finally was just ignored altogether.


And for those who think you have to be super sneaky, I set up on my stool, camera tripod and light, about 25' away from them out in the open..... no camo. Mind you, they do see me and the cat out & about quite a lot in the backyard. Makes one ponder if they are aware of who feeds them? :scratch:

 

[Derrel]

Beautiful lighting on those birds. I like the first two shots the most. The cardinal does have really lovely light on him. Plus he's shown in a nice profile against a good, darker background. Really makes him stand out.

 

[kundalini]

Thanks for stopping by and commenting Derrel.

 

[DarkShadow]

All Nice but 1 and 2 my favorite.Nicely done, that was better then mowing.:thumbup:

 

[BlackSheep]

Nice shots! The cardinal and the mockingbird are my favourites, nicely "posed" birds and perfect backgrounds for each of them. Time well spent!

 

[CreationEarth]

Pretty darn good shots. The first one is my fav. You should probably create a website of bird photography.

 

[coastalconn]

Nice series

 

[kundalini]

All Nice but 1 and 2 my favorite.Nicely done, that was better then mowing.:thumbup:

Nice shots! The cardinal and the mockingbird are my favourites, nicely "posed" birds and perfect backgrounds for each of them. Time well spent!

Pretty darn good shots. The first one is my fav. You should probably create a website of bird photography.

Nice series

Thank you and thank you and thank you and thank you very much.

Seriously thanks for taking the time to look and comment. BTW, with all the recent rain, the grass is knee high now. :sad: