Fifty Shades of Gray . . .

PGM

I spent some time the past couple of weeks trying to capture birds-in-flight other than the egrets. All comments and suggestions welcome and appreciated! Best, Pam

1) Tricolored Heron getting ready to make an ill-advised landing on the Great Egrets platforms at Avery Island's Bird City:



2) He didn't receive a warm welcome at all, and seconds later several egrets chased him off.



3) Little Blue Heron flying over Bird City:



4) Another Little Blue Heron



5) Tricolored Heron sitting treetop at Bird City:



6) Tricolored Heron in flight:



7) Juvenile White Ibis flying over Bird City:



8) Juvenile White Ibis flock flying around Bird City:

puzzledpaul

Well, it looks like you're getting to grips with the 'x', Pam ... which is a bit of a shame, 'cos I was hoping you'd give up with it ... and I'd be signing for a delivery some time

Think I'd like to see #7, with some sort of textured, in colour harmony bg (rather than plain blue) + wings up, to see a bit of body ... so am not asking for much

Shots taken from the rear quarter rarely work (imo) as well as some sort of frontal angle.

I'm wary of bgs that render eyecatching contrasty blotches that intrude in some way ... like the dark areas in 1 ... even when really oof, they can be a right pita. I don't know whether your circumstances / environment allow you to suss out a bg that'll provide what you want (which may well be something different from what I'm after) ... and act as a canvas ... onto which you can try to place your subject.
This will of course be dependant on light / time of day / foliage state etc + likely subject activity.

Am personally a sucker for duller / softer /less contrasty light days ... with the gear you're using -such situations shouldn't be too big a problem?

All very much imo, of course.

5 looks very imperious, btw ... just the sort of look I get from mrs pp when I've not made 'er cuppa 'just right' ...and would be 2nd choice, even tho' not a bif.

pp

PGM

Paul, thanks for looking these over so carefully. Bird City has lots and lots of egrets flying around in an area that is easy to access from an observation platform, so when I shoot the white birds, I can choose bg and angle of shot, etc. pretty well. However, the darker birds, like those shown in this series, are much fewer in number and they also nest in an area less accessible. So I have to catch them as I can. I agree with you about the softer less contrasty light, but this time of year we have almost all bright sunny totally blue sky days, with an occasional terrifying thunderstorm thrown in. We did have one cloudy day this week, and I thought I'd get some great bif shots, but I didn't. I was trying only for the darker birds, and I thought they would look better against a cloudy sky than blue. But the birds all came out underexposed, even though I had exposure comp set at a pretty high number. I probably just need to practice more. Bottom line, I agree with your comments! Thanks so much. Best, Pam

Dennis Kaczor

Pam, you did well with the flight shots. A bit more practice with the camera gear and you will get even sharper images in no time. I too like that last shot in this set.

PGM

Thanks, Dennis! The darker birds don't fly as close as the egrets do, so most of the shots are really cropped. I'm definitely going to keep practicing, and appreciate the encouragement. Best, Pam

kgarrett11

Liked these. Went to your web site (Avery Island Egrets). Really like 29, 32 and 34. Birds doing what is natural is what I try to get.

ashrugged

Thats a lovely set Pam. I have seen you get better over the last few years. I see a little noise if I zoom in esspically number 4. I noted one of the shots was 1/8000 sec. could I suggest you may get even better I/Q. If you were to decrease shutter and iso.

PGM

kgarrett11 wrote: »

Liked these. Went to your web site (Avery Island Egrets). Really like 29, 32 and 34. Birds doing what is natural is what I try to get.

Thanks very much, Keith! I liked your website. You obviously have mastered photographing a wide variety of subjects, too. Best, Pam

PGM

ashrugged wrote: »

Thats a lovely set Pam. I have seen you get better over the last few years. I see a little noise if I zoom in esspically number 4. I noted one of the shots was 1/8000 sec. could I suggest you may get even better I/Q. If you were to decrease shutter and iso.

Thanks very much, Robert. All improvement in my photography is definitely due to the talented and generous people in this forum who have helped me. I see exactly what you mean about the noise and lowering the shutter and iso. What is I/Q, though?

Best, Pam

ashrugged

Image quality.

PGM

ashrugged wrote: »

Image quality.

Thanks! Best, Pam