# My Wildlife Photography



## mikeschmeee

Hello,

Thought I'd share my wildlife photos as I really enjoy being outdoors especially photographing birds. Currently all my photos are done with a Nikon D90 + 18-200mm VR. If only my body was popular on the streets I'd be able to sell myself and get a nice 300mm f2.8 VR or perhaps 400mm. So for now, my lame equipment along with patience and warm clothing will have to do. I'll keep this thread updated as I shoot at least once a week but usually end up shooting more then that. None of these photos are prefect so don't expect awesome stuff. I just try my best with everything that I have. 

I'll start with a few recent photos that got. 

























A few these are old photos taken earlier in the year with a 300mm f4 that I sold a while ago. Kind of wish I still had it but it was a bit tricky without VR, even with a tripod and steady smooth hands. The rest of the photos were taken this week with a 18-200mm VR at f5.6. My strategy is waiting for the right moment when the birds get close enough to me. The places I frequently visit have different types of species that wiz by fairly close so I'm usually able to get a decent photo or two... with tons of crop  

Anyways, hope you all like the photos.
More to come! Stay tuned. 

Cheers
Thanks
Mike
:thumbsup:


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## Bios.

They look very good considering the lens you used! I need to stop being so lazy about my bird photography.


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## SCraig

mikeschmeee said:


> ... Currently all my photos are done with a Nikon D90 + 18-200mm VR...


Good shots considering the lens.  Recovering some of the shadow details would help with the eagle on the utility pole.

There's certainly nothing wrong with a D90.  That's what I use and I love mine.  A bit more lens would help, certainly, but there is no end to that road.  I use a Sigma 150-500 and it isn't enough a lot of the time.


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## Joel_W

Very impressive. I especially like the last Eagle shot.


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## MaoZeBong

mikeschmee are you the same one who is on peepee.com?

either way, excellent shots.


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## mikeschmeee

^
What is peepee.com? I did a quick search and there is no website by that name but no I am not on peepee. However, your username looks familiar so if you are referring to PP.com as in PreludePower.com then yes! I am on PreludePower

Some more photos...

























Nothing special but its as close as I can get with this crappy zoom lens. Still working on getting a better lens. It'll be a while though until money starts falling from the sky.


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## cgipson1

Some nice shots! I would love to see birds like that... seldom do!


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## Frequency

Most of these photos are fantastic... and my most fav. one is the owl photograph, the first one of the first set. Hope you soon get your 500mm, so that we can all see more close ups of birds in flight, rest and roost

Regards


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## Joel_W

Wow!! The 2nd set is even better then the 1st. I really like #3. The look as the Hawk is staring right at you. Talk about eye contact.


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## mikeschmeee

Took these photo in the last few days of December 2011 and I was hoping to have some more from the first week of January but its been raining non stop so its kind of tough to get some nice photos with my gear and current weather conditions. 





























I couldn't get many in flight photos, for some reason they wouldn't fly much. A lot of sitting. Oh well, next time.


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## chanik

*Mikeschmeee*, great pictures! I especially love these with mountains in the background!

Could you write something about technique (how you find birds, what you do that they are not afraid etc)?

Maybe you can add numbers to the photos? Would be easier to comment.


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## z1rick

Fantastic photos, hope to see more soon.


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## mikeschmeee

Hey guys!

I've been a bit out of the birding game lately as I'm a bit busy with school and trying to save as much money as possible for a 300mm f/2.8 VR but I got a few here and there. Nothing special but here you go...

I heard a few Eagles chuckling on top of a very in my backyard so naturally I got as close as I could. 





They flew away after about an hour of watching everything that moves around my place..





A bunch of Cormorants have been swimming around a little lake/pond not too far away from my place. I got a sequence of this one catching some fish as well! Swallowed a huge fish! It was massive! 





This little guy getting some free food from my fathers suet cage feeder thingy. 





That's it for now. I'll try to get some better shots soon! 

Thanks
Mike


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## mikeschmeee

I captured a few photographs of a Short-Eared Owl at Boundary Bay today. Not the greatest but they'll have to do with my equipment. 



















Here are a few older photos from September.


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## photographyinaus

Hello!
This pictures really nice. thanks to share these pictures.


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## mikeschmeee

I captured a few more bird photos over the past few days


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## baturn

Some very nice shots. I agree with Scraig that more lens would help. I also use a Sigma 150-500 and feel limited at times. The other option, which you seem to be good at is patience. Well done and good luck!


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## baturn

Wow.You posted again as I was typing. where are you in BC? and where are some of these birds? Love the owls.


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## mikeschmeee

I'm in the lower mainland of BC. You can see many birds during the winter months around the Delta, Ladner and Tsawwassen area. You can also head to Reifel Bird Sanctuary which is a migration area for many birds along the Pacific Flyway. There are many Sandhill Cranes and Lesser Snow Geese along with many other birds. There are several owls that migrated there but I can't seem to spot them. I guess they're always hiding high up in the trees?


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## BlackSheep

Nice shots! I really like the snowy owl, and the short-eared (?) in the last 3 photos.


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## mikeschmeee

I got some great photos on Friday. 

































The Long-Eared Owl is very patient with humans and sure likes to pose.


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## matthewo

you sure did,  i really want to get some owl pictures one day


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## PropilotBW

Awesome pics.  Goes to show its not the lens that necessarily makes the shot.  Nice panning technique.


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## coastalconn

I am so jealous that you have access to so many raptors!  Exif shows the 70-300 VR, did you get a new lens?


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## Blitz55

mikeschmeee said:


> I got some great photos on Friday.
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> The Long-Eared Owl is very patient with humans and sure likes to pose.




These two in sequence made me chuckle. Focused on what looks to be you in one shot, then bam, something grabs his attention, eyes go wide. 

Great stuff, fantastic photos.


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## Zydeco

These are some seriously impressive captures! I'd sure love to try my hand at bird/flight photography sometime soon.. Might not be too hard! I see a lot of vultures and a fair amount of hawks/falcons, and I even spotted a bald eagle perched on a dead tree on the roadside a few weeks back. Really wished I had my camera, I'd have pulled right over!

But anyway, keep it up! I'm eager to see more.


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## Benco

Love the owl photos, very cool.


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## mikeschmeee

Thanks for the comments everyone!  
Yes, I purchased a 70-300mm VR as it was on sale for $359 CDN during a boxing week sale. I'm no where near my goal of purchasing a 300mm f2.8 with a TC along with a new tripod and Wimberley head but I'll get there one day and when I do, I'll be birding non-stop! For the past few days, I've been trying to find a Barred Owl that I've seen twice at a near by park in the past but I haven't been so lucky. 

A few more recent photos, nothing spectacular but it'll do for now I guess. I'm hoping I can make capture some more raptor photos this weekend.

I've never seen a Ring-Necked Pheasant in the wild before. There were two but one got scared as I quietly and slowly approached. I wanted to display its beautiful feathers but my full frame shot was a bit blurry so I'll have to settle for this "peek-a-boo" photo hah.


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## mikeschmeee

Not much happening these days. The owls just disappeared, I have no clue where they went. I guess I'll turn my attention to the local Bald Eagles, Harriers and Hawks. Maybe I can get some neat in-flight photos but for now these little backyard birds will have to do. 













Made a little video early Sunday morning of the Chickadee's in my backyard.


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## Rafterman

Those two of the heron at sunset were UNREAL. Makes me wish I still lived in the Florida Keys.


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## mikeschmeee

Well I've stopped trying to find the Barred Owl. That bird is so well camouflaged but I don't even hear its calls. I'll probably stumble upon it one day... when I don't have my camera with me! 

Anyways, it seems that most of the birds have migrated due to the season. It's been quite warm here and Winter is officially done. I've been trying to lure a Pileated Woodpecker to my backyard but I haven't caught him at one of the bird feeders yet so instead I've been watching and making little videos of all the other birds that show up for an easy meal. 






Hopefully I'll see some Eagles and Osprey at a near by lake. I'm still trying to capture my dream photo of an Eagle swooping down for some fish.

Some backyard bird photos:


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## 2WheelPhoto

These pics are so nice they make me want to go shoot something other than people


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## HL45

Nice work !!


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## dolina

Great iamges! ALl of em!


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## SamiJoSchwirtz

Nice


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## mikeschmeee

Hello everyone. Not much has been going on lately but two Downy Woodpeckers have excavated a hole in a dead tree in my backyard. I'm trying to capture some video and photos of the pair mating and other interesting behaviour. I noticed that they have this strange chirp when they are near each other before they mate. 

In the mean time, here is a little video I put together of some Sandhill Cranes at a local birding hot spot.


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## Aloicious

I'm diggin' these, thanks for sharing!


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## Mogana

Good effort Mate !!!
Nice pictures


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## mikeschmeee

Wildlife season is back!

I went to a few local spots to check out  the birds that are migrating and there wasn't much action but slowly  and surely the birds will be coming in! 

I got a few shots of the Sandhill Cranes but I really like this one that I got of a Black Crowned Night Heron. 





I'd  much rather have a cleaner shot without all of the shrubbery in the way  but I kinda of like it. I think the photo shows the Night Heron in its  natural habitat.


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## Braineack

First time through this thread, some of these are great. nice job!


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## mikeschmeee

I've been trekking around the lower mainland trying to find some interesting shots of raptors but been unsuccessful. I did capture a lot of Snow Geese flying off into the sunset and one friendly Northern Flicker. 
Hopefully I'll see some interesting activity by some neat wildlife soon.


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## mikeschmeee

I snapped a few photographys of some Long-Eared Owls but they are quite difficult to spot especially when they are hidden deep within the bushes.


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## mikeschmeee

I captured a little bit of video footage of the Long-eared Owl today.


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## mikeschmeee

I was trying to shoot some photos of a Seagull trying to eat this starfish but he was unsuccessful so I ended up snapping a close up portrait of the little aquatic creature.


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## Hosanna

I would like to share the best i have ever seen of a nest. 

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17266212

Hummer nest By: Monte Stinnett


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## Hosanna

View attachment 65196

Can't imagine how he got so close. Excellent. white tailed kites and prey: Photo by Photographer Monte Stinnett - photo.net


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## mikeschmeee

Some more images from two weeks ago.

















I have a lot of Bald Eagle photos to go through but after a quick glance, non of them are keepers in my opinion. I'll be posting more soon.


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## randyphotoforum

MaoZeBong said:


> mikeschmee are you the same one who is on *peepee.com*?
> 
> either way, excellent shots.


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## Bryan Pereira

awesome work!


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## mikeschmeee

wow! some of the birds at a local sanctuary are very aggressive this time of year. I guess they are being as protective as they can for their new young. 
Due to certain waterfowl aggressiveness, I didn't feel comfortable around some of my usual spots to capture inflight photos so I went to a near by marsh to focus on some smaller birds. Luckily, a large flock of Snow Geese flew in and I managed to sneak up on them to capture a photo. Surprisingly, they were not startled by my presences, not one bit. In fact, a few of them came quite close.


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## mikeschmeee

Some more birds have been migrating over to their breeding grounds around local marshland.


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## BillM

Beautiful shots :thumbup:


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## khaosphotography

Those are some beautiful shots u got very impressive


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## mikeschmeee

The birding season is upon us! As the temperatures drop more and more birds will be migrating down south. Some just passing through and some staying for the winter. 
I've already seen quite a large number of Snow Geese and they will be moving closer in to the farmlands of the pacific west coast. 

Here are a few shots taking a little while back:


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## AlanKlein

800mm.  F/5.6.  1/2000.  Real tough shot.  Waited all day.


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## Cat & Mike

Beautiful sets of some amazing variety. You def have a talent for bif. Thanks for sharing these wonderful captures.


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## dannylightning

you have allot of really good shots there.


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## snowbear

mikeschmeee said:


>



This one, FTW!  I just wish you could have gotten closer and filled the frame with this little fellow.


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## Cat & Mike

Some amazing captures and some great varirty. Would have to say my fav's would be the first one with the flock in the suns glow, the Pin-tail coming in for landing, and the Wren on the bullrushes.


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## mikeschmeee

A few photos from last weekend.


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## mikeschmeee

Here are a few more from this past weekend.


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## mikeschmeee

Some photos over the past few weekends.


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## mikeschmeee

More photos!


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## Capt Gary

photographyinaus said:


> Hello!
> This pictures really nice. thanks to share these pictures.[/QUOTE
> 
> 
> mikeschmeee said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Thought I'd share my wildlife photos as I really enjoy being outdoors especially photographing birds. Currently all my photos are done with a Nikon D90 + 18-200mm VR. If only my body was popular on the streets I'd be able to sell myself and get a nice 300mm f2.8 VR or perhaps 400mm. So for now, my lame equipment along with patience and warm clothing will have to do. I'll keep this thread updated as I shoot at least once a week but usually end up shooting more then that. None of these photos are prefect so don't expect awesome stuff. I just try my best with everything that I have.
> 
> I'll start with a few recent photos that got.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A few these are old photos taken earlier in the year with a 300mm f4 that I sold a while ago. Kind of wish I still had it but it was a bit tricky without VR, even with a tripod and steady smooth hands. The rest of the photos were taken this week with a 18-200mm VR at f5.6. My strategy is waiting for the right moment when the birds get close enough to me. The places I frequently visit have different types of species that wiz by fairly close so I'm usually able to get a decent photo or two... with tons of crop
> 
> Anyways, hope you all like the photos.
> More to come! Stay tuned.
> 
> Cheers
> Thanks
> Mike
> :thumbsup:
Click to expand...


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## Capt Gary

Like your work. Great getting out and seeing nature at it's finest.


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## mikeschmeee




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## mikeschmeee

Some more images from over the last few weekends.


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## mikeschmeee

I haven't updated this in a while. Here are some of the most recent photos.


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## Braineack

wow.  are these all with the 300mm 2.8?


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## mikeschmeee

^
Yes, this was all with Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II. 
Sometimes I'm using a Nikon TC-20E III or TC-14E III teleconverter for extra reach.

Here are some more photos...


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## mikeschmeee

Sorry, I forgot to mention that only everything after October 2014 was shot with my newest lens; 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II. Everything that is older than that was shot using a 300 f/4 and/or 70-300 VRII.


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## spiralout462

Beautiful images!  Thank you for the update!


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## NancyMoranG

Nice to see your update as it was a chance to review some beautiful, older posts!


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## mikeschmeee

Hello everyone,

It's been quite some time since I updated this thread.
Some interesting events have happened and along with that came for some decent photographs.

Here are a few:






































There's a lot more on my flickr page so check them out!

Cheers,
Mike


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## ZombiesniperJr

Nice shots are those young bald eagles? and is that a beaver or a seal in the last one??


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## mikeschmeee

The ones without a full white head and tail are considered juvenile bald eagles. 
The last image is a harbor seal


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## ZombiesniperJr

Thanks


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## CarlosFrazao

Epic shots man, what equipment are you using


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## mikeschmeee

Thanks. I'm shooting with a Nikon D4s and either the 300mm f/2.8 or 600mm f/4 Lately it's been the 600

Here's a little video I put together of a Annas Hummingbird that visits one of my backyard feeders






Cheers,
Mike


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