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18-300 Lens ... Putting it to the Test ... New Bird Photos

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Via: a-macarthur • 12 years ago • 7 comments

18-300 Lens ... Putting it to the Test ... New Bird Photos

I'm looking forward to the days when I can again head out to the forests, fields and streams with my new lens; for now, I sit at my window and wait/hope the birds will come to my feeders and stay long enough to have their pictures taken.

Male House Sparrow

Female House Sparrow

Carolina Chickadee

His Eminence, The Cardinal

Elegant ... and He Knows it this Blue Jay does!

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Professor Guide

seeder A. Macarthur 12 years ago

Click a pic ... best view will appear.

Freshman Silent

LoneRanger01 12 years ago

great pics,...what lens and camera was used

Professor Guide

seeder A. Macarthur 12 years ago

Thanks LR; I use a Nikon D90 for most shots/subjects and a Nikon 18-300 Lens which I just got recently. It is surprisingly good throughout its entire zoom range, wide angle to 300mm including macro. I can get reliable auto focusing zoomed in at 300mm at a foot-an-a-half from subject ... and even closer with extension tubes!

For some macro shots I use a Nikon D200 with a Nikon 60mm Macro lens sometimes with extension tubes.

Freshman Silent

LoneRanger01 12 years ago

OK, How far away are the birds,...is the window open or are you shooting through the galss and if so how did you eliminate the glare????more info needed....

There's no doubt you are a skilled photographer and maybe most are just happy to look at the pics,...me I want to know how itis done,.....

Professor Guide

seeder A. Macarthur 12 years ago

The birds are from 4-6 feet from the window ... which is closed but squeaky clean. I eliminate glare and flash bounce-back by shooting on an angle rather than head-on (angle of incidence equals angle of reflection). On bright days I'll use a circular polarizer too.

I set up a tall bird feeder and wedge tree branches under the tray to extend out; birds will perch on the branches waiting to get to the feeder and that's when I try to release the shutter ... no man-made stuff in the shot is my ideal.

Some shots are taken at a longer distance ... 10-12 feet from the lens. When I get a shot at that distance, I'll crop around it in Photoshop so the bird fills the frame; of course that means a smaller overall image ... 5"x7" rather than 14" x 18" ... but many publishers will use a smaller shot if it's the best of a particular subject available at a deadline.

For the internet ... 96dpi works fine and so do smaller images; for prints, 300dpi is the preferred resolution.

Happy to share the technical stuff.

Here's a better explanation of how I approach bird photography ... with a bit of humor added.

Photographing Birds ... Quite the Challenge, but, Rewarding for Those who Persevere and Employ a Strategy

Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:16 AM EDT

birds , photography , arts , how-to , feeder , shutter-speed , iso-asa , aperture-f-stop

Serious bird photography requires a serious attitude ... and good hair days ... not to mention a healthy scalp!

Of course, I have a "pussycat" side ... but birds and cats will just not work in this endeavor.

Most will be surprised to know that even though I live in the city of Philadelphia, this is my extended backyard; obviously, it gives me an advantage in nature and wildlife photography opportunities ... but I still need a set up and a strategy.

Feeders plus a natural backdrop plus branches constitute my setup for bird photography.

Here's where I take most of my bird images ... naturally I keep the windows spotless inside and out, but on warmer days, I open the side windows and screens and avoid shooting through the glass. EITHER WAY, BIRDS EYES CONTAIN AN ORGAN THAT IS SUPER-SENSITIVE TO MOVEMENT, SO SET-UP ... THEN STAY AS STILL AS POSSIBLE. If you can anticipate where your next likely shot may materialize, PRE-FOCUS ON THE AREA SO THAT WHEN THE BIRD ARRIVES, YOU'LL ALREADY BE CLOSE TO THE CORRECT FOCAL DISTANCE!

I have a 400mm lens and a Nikon D90 ... and I realize not everyone works with such advantages. Do the best you can with what you have -- at the point in time you are sure that your equipment is not as advanced as your skill level ... that's the time to consider upgrading!

Female Cardinal perched on a fallen tree limb that I placed near my feeders. Try to find limbs/branches with interesting shapes, colors and textures. Note the blurred background (shallow depth-of-field) created by the wide aperture; it allows the subject to pop.

Red-bellied Woodpecker. I posted this shot as an example of what happens when I'm careless; note the light-colored tree branch behind the bird. It's a distraction and I moved it to a different position after I realized I'd taken several shots with it in each of the images. It's one thing when you have no choice but this happened in my own set-up. It won't happen again!

Same bird ... no distracting background. The tree limb takes up much of the frame but the powerful colors and patterns on the woodpecker more than balance out the composition. The chiseled out limb, as busy as it is, cannot compete with this red-head. Try to keep your eyes on just the limb ... you can't for long ... the rest of the image won't permit it.

Blue Jay Perched on a Tree Limb; unlike the "bad" Woodpecker image, even though the tree limb falls behind the subject, it does not intersect the head. In addition, the diagonal of the limb starting at the bottom of the frame, is a leading line that draws the viewer's eyes directly to the subject.

Forgive the lousy article formatting, I copied and pasted from another site ... I'll try and clean it up later.

Freshman Silent

LoneRanger01 12 years ago

now that was worth reading,...thank you

Professor Expert

Perrie Halpern R.A. 12 years ago

Wonderful pictures Mac of my favorite subject. And what a great lesson! What a nice break from this weekend.

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