Weekend in the neighborhood!

raptorcaptor

Bit of a stretch!



Some strutting!



Stilt flyby



SJWS International Airport




Candy corn!



Mrs. Downy hanging upside down!



Where the good stuffs at!

Albert Dickson

Awsome Images.
I realy like the Avocet and Stilt shots. What a realy cool set of birds!

jwear

really good shots just like you said -thanks again fun day :ivar boy did I miss shooting --yep you nail the hummer I will post mine another day

raptorcaptor

Albert Dickson wrote:

I realy like the Avocet and Stilt shots. What a realy cool set of birds!

Thanks Albert! The birds are starting to get their breeding plummage now, so its good shooting!

dbaker1221

you da man!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :ivar

Dick on Aruba

Great series!
I absolutely love the 2nd capture.

Thanks for sharing,

Dick.

BigAl

A really super set, but the avocets take the cake for me

Maestro

Wow Glenn, awesome series! Everything is crystal clear and tack sharp!

douglas

All fantastic captures, my fav is the guy coming in for a landing

raptorcaptor

jwear wrote:

really good shots just like you said -thanks again fun day :ivar boy did I miss shooting --yep you nail the hummer I will post mine another day

Had fun too! Maybe next time we'll have a bit more variety!

raptorcaptor

dbaker1221 wrote:

you da man!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :ivar

Thanks David!

ShepsMom

Your pictures made me laugh! Stretching birds, how cute is that! Love, love, love the last shot. Beautiful composition!! Thank you for showing off

raptorcaptor

Dick on Aruba wrote:

Great series!
I absolutely love the 2nd capture.

Thanks for sharing,

Dick.

Thanks Dick!

raptorcaptor

BigAl wrote:

A really super set, but the avocets take the cake for me

Thanks Big Al! What part of South Africa? I grew up in Johannesburg!

raptorcaptor

Maestro wrote:

Wow Glenn, awesome series! Everything is crystal clear and tack sharp!

Thanks Stephen!

BigAl

raptorcaptor wrote:

Thanks Big Al! What part of South Africa? I grew up in Johannesburg!

I'm in Pretoria, but grew up in Natal (long time ago now )

raptorcaptor

BigAl wrote:

I'm in Pretoria, but grew up in Natal (long time ago now )

Long time for me too! Still have family in Joburg.

bfjr

Hummer is sweet

Ya done good all around:D

Well you and that nice light

raptorcaptor

douglas wrote:

All fantastic captures, my fav is the guy coming in for a landing

Thanks Douglas! It was a lucky shot

raptorcaptor

ShepsMom wrote:

Your pictures made me laugh! Stretching birds, how cute is that! Love, love, love the last shot. Beautiful composition!! Thank you for showing off

Thank you! I'm glad I made you laugh!

raptorcaptor

bfjr wrote:

Hummer is sweet

Ya done good all around:D

Well you and that nice light

Thanks Ben!

Ric Grupe

All very nice, Glenn.

This one was the one I liked most. Perfect timing.

GaryBakker

Incredible photos RaptorCaptor. I am in awe.

This might be the wrong place to ask this, but I love birds and I love photography. However, I have never had the ability to take photos like these. (Mods, you can move my post if you prefer it elsewhere.)

I'm assuming a very long lens is required. 500? Do people typically use a zoom, or simply crop as necessary?

The biggest question though has to do with focus. No matter what, I can never get photos this sharp. What is the secret?

(PS - I use a couple-year-old Canon digital Rebel, 80-200 zoom lens.)

raptorcaptor

Ric Grupe wrote:

All very nice, Glenn.

This one was the one I liked most. Perfect timing.

Thanks Ric!

raptorcaptor

Green Fleurdelis wrote:

Incredible photos RaptorCaptor. I am in awe.

This might be the wrong place to ask this, but I love birds and I love photography. However, I have never had the ability to take photos like these. (Mods, you can move my post if you prefer it elsewhere.)

I'm assuming a very long lens is required. 500? Do people typically use a zoom, or simply crop as necessary?

The biggest question though has to do with focus. No matter what, I can never get photos this sharp. What is the secret?

(PS - I use a couple-year-old Canon digital Rebel, 80-200 zoom lens.)

I usually shoot with a 400mm DO F4 and I use a 1.4 or 2x TC as the situation permits. I also shoot with short lenses depending on what I shoot.
Sharpness comes with practise, but there are some general rules that help.

Use a good tripod, and head. ( I shoot with a Gitzo tripod with a ballhead, and a Wimberly Sidekick-This is a basic gimbal setup that uses balance to give you stable motion when shooting)

Make sure that you shutter speed is high enough to catch any motion.

Most of the time you can keep the aperture fairly wide open.

Learn to hold the camera so it doesn't move too much when you press the shutter (even on a tripod).

Shoot a lot of pictures!:D

GaryBakker

Thanks for your response RaptorCaptor. I appreciate the advice.

I'm surprised that you use a tripod and still are able to get those action shots of the waterbirds (for example). Birds, in my experience, are nervous creatures and never stay in one spot for very long. That you are able to aim, focus, and shoot to capture these moments is admirable.

I assume TC means teleconverter? Doesn't using this negatively affect the overall lens quality? Though upon reflection, seeing your photos, the answer is clearly not.

Again, words cannot express how impressed I am with the photos you posted in this thread. I know I'm fawning, but heck. You deserve it.
bow

raptorcaptor

Green Fleurdelis wrote:

Thanks for your response RaptorCaptor. I appreciate the advice.

I'm surprised that you use a tripod and still are able to get those action shots of the waterbirds (for example). Birds, in my experience, are nervous creatures and never stay in one spot for very long. That you are able to aim, focus, and shoot to capture these moments is admirable.

I assume TC means teleconverter? Doesn't using this negatively affect the overall lens quality? Though upon reflection, seeing your photos, the answer is clearly not.

Again, words cannot express how impressed I am with the photos you posted in this thread. I know I'm fawning, but heck. You deserve it.
bow

You lose a little sharpness with the 1.4 and even more with the 2x, but sometimes it is still worth it! Take a look at the gimbal heads and you will understand how much easier it is to shoot birds in flight!

GaryBakker

raptorcaptor wrote:

Take a look at the gimbal heads and you will understand how much easier it is to shoot birds in flight!

Sheesh. I'm such a doofus.

To give you an idea of how much of a rank amateur I am, I didn't know there were such things as a Ball Head tripod and gimbal attachments. After doing some research I can now better understand how you can do nature photography using these tools.

This is somewhat akin to woodworking, where often the right tool is more important than having extraordinary skill. (Too bad this is not also true for golf.)

RaptorCaptor, one last question: To capture some of the shots you have, you need a pretty fast shutter speed. But you can only open up your 400mm lens to F4. What do you do when you have twilight? Or deep shade? Or heavily overcast skies? (I notice that most of your shots are in full daylight, so perhaps this isn't a problem.)

Thanks for indulging me, and educating me. I appreciate it.

raptorcaptor

Green Fleurdelis wrote:

Sheesh. I'm such a doofus.

To give you an idea of how much of a rank amateur I am, I didn't know there were such things as a Ball Head tripod and gimbal attachments. After doing some research I can now better understand how you can do nature photography using these tools.

This is somewhat akin to woodworking, where often the right tool is more important than having extraordinary skill. (Too bad this is not also true for golf.)

RaptorCaptor, one last question: To capture some of the shots you have, you need a pretty fast shutter speed. But you can only open up your 400mm lens to F4. What do you do when you have twilight? Or deep shade? Or heavily overcast skies? (I notice that most of your shots are in full daylight, so perhaps this isn't a problem.)

Thanks for indulging me, and educating me. I appreciate it.

Usually with overcast you have ample light, but for low light situations you use a flash, or do a different type of photography.



Low light with a flash - I acccidently shot this at iso 200, usually I shoot iso 400.

Harryb

Outstanding set Glenn and congrats on your 1,000th post

raptorcaptor

Harryb wrote:

Outstanding set Glenn and congrats on your 1,000th post

Thanks Harry! 1000 posts... I guess I've been slacking!