# My First Bird Photos



## psran (Jan 5, 2014)

I just bought a Tamron 70-300 VC and was wanting to test my skills and the new glass. These are some of the Shots I captured in my backyard, just casual shoot.Please guide me about my mistakes with technique etc. These pics have been heavily cropped and also its my first experience with uploading pics on forum.

Please be a bit gentle in guiding me


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## AceCo55 (Jan 5, 2014)

If you are looking for critiques, you would be better off posting in the "photo galleries" which are for "Photos submitted by members for general display or critique"
There is one for "Nature and Wildlife" - I'm sure you will get more of a response there and from excellent photographers that will be able to provide detailed feeback
Nature & Wildlife


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## psran (Jan 5, 2014)

Okay now that I am in correct section, someone BUMP


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## Bo4key (Jan 5, 2014)

In most of them, the lighting seems to be off or flat and the subject is darker than most of the backgrounds. A good rule of thumb I like to use when shooting birds is to get the sun to my back if at all possible. That way the light is shining on the subject and you will most likely get a catchlight in their eyes which will give them life. 

If it isn't possible to get the sun behind you, you will need to switch the camera to spot metering and meter off the subject. This will cause some of the backgrounds to wash out but at least you will get proper exposure of the subject. 

I also find that shooting birds against mostly a bright sky background (blue or grey) is difficult to nail the exposure and avoid a flat looking shot. 

As for composition, you are centering the subject in most these shots which is not ideal.  Maybe do some reading on composition or check out a photo site like 500px and do a search on bird & wildlife and see how others are doing it.


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## SCraig (Jan 5, 2014)

Whenever possible eliminate man-made objects from your shots.  Power poles, wires, houses, etc. do not add to a natural setting.


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## baturn (Jan 5, 2014)

A couple of suggestions for posting - 1. number the photos
                                                     2. ID the birds.


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## HL45 (Jan 5, 2014)

Third picture is nice, great first attempt!


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## JacaRanda (Jan 5, 2014)

You really have a couple of interesting birds,  I would love to know what they are in pictures 3 & 6.


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## psran (Jan 5, 2014)

JacaRanda said:


> You really have a couple of interesting birds,  I would love to know what they are in pictures 3 & 6.


  Pics 2 & 3 are Indian Mynah. I am not sure about 6th one just saw them around so clicked them

Edit - 6th one is Red- vested Bulbul


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## psran (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks everyone for your useful comments

I can see that all the poles etc have made the pics look a bit unnatural but this was just a shoot I did around the place I live, I am not well versed with Post-processing so could not remove them

I am sure I will get better ones next time


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## psran (Jan 5, 2014)

psran said:


> Pics 2 & 3 are Indian Mynah. I am not sure about 6th one just saw them around so clicked them  Edit - 6th one is Red- vested Bulbul



Edit - 6th one is Red-vested Bulbul


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## psran (Jan 8, 2014)

Got some more pictures today, though not great technically.1. Black Drongo, very rarely seen in our region. I somehow ended using a slow shutter speed of 1/15, hence not so sharp image




2. White Chested Kingfisher. Alas I could not capture his Blue coloured back, he just flew away



3. Red Wattled Lapwing, very common in our region


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## psran (Jan 28, 2014)

Got some more pics from a local Bird sanctuary. Pics range from Bad to ugly to very ugly 
    1.Rose ringed Parakeet
 

 
 
    5. Two white throated kingfishers ( Very Beautiful)
 
 

I used a Tamron 70-300 VC handheld with Nikon D7000 for all the shots. Birds were quite far and I had to do a lot of cropping. To me most of them look unusable, don't know how people manage with only 300mm. Getting photos of BIF was almost impossible  Some more pics to follow. C&c 

P.S:- I would be updating the Bird names as I find themwelcome


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## psran (Jan 28, 2014)

Someone kind enough to reply ?


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## HL45 (Jan 28, 2014)

psran said:


> Someone kind enough to reply ?  I used a Tamron 70-300 VC handheld with Nikon D7000 for all the shots.  Birds were quite far and I had to do a lot of cropping. To me most of  them look unusable, don't know how people manage with only 300mm.  Getting photos of BIF was almost impossible


You about said it all. 400mm would be minimum unless you can get close!


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## psran (Jan 28, 2014)

HL45 said:


> You about said it all. 400mm would be minimum unless you can get close!



Yeah I can see that 300 mm is not enough but I don't want to Invest anything more. Let's see if I could get anything more out of this Focal Length


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## psran (Jan 28, 2014)

This one Bird made whole of my visit to Bird sanctuary worth to me. He Landed just 30-40 feets away from me and happily let me click photos. But somehow Metering of my Nikon D7000 went on to Underexpose everything 



The White Chested Kingfisher

























Infact I ended up Clicking him many times in Different spots


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## psran (Jan 29, 2014)

It's very sad for me that none of Pros is taking any interest in my posts. 

I am feeling very Bad that this can happen to me in a forum which is supposed to be a Knowledge base for so many photographers


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## HL45 (Jan 30, 2014)

psran said:


> It's very sad for me that none of Pros is taking any interest in my posts.
> 
> I am feeling very Bad that this can happen to me in a forum which is supposed to be a Knowledge base for so many photographers


You should start a new thread for new photos. 
Post only 3 or 4 photos, number them and add camera exif info.

Hope that helps.


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## psran (Jan 31, 2014)

HL45 said:


> You should start a new thread for new photos. Post only 3 or 4 photos, number them and add camera exif info.  Hope that helps.



Actually I thought I should not create so many threads that it becomes nuisance for everyone and also wanted to keep a record of how I made improvements over time. 

I tried figuring out how to post EXIF data but could not find it.


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## FedericoRongaroli (Feb 4, 2014)

SCraig said:


> Whenever possible eliminate man-made objects from your shots.  Power poles, wires, houses, etc. do not add to a natural setting.



I'm agree. The second picture, in my opinion is the best, good composition and good background.

bye


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## Bytesback (Feb 5, 2014)

I have the same lens as you do, although I am shooting from a lower end camera, Nikon D3100, but I notice the same noise in my pictures that your seem to have. I've noticed this noise is most frequent if I shoot at 300mm. I've found the pictures generally come out better if you shoot at 240-260mm, and just crop as needed. You tend to end up with a sharper image. This is just my experience, I am really new at this so I could be way off base.


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## Bytesback (Feb 5, 2014)

Also, it pays to be very judgemental and selective when it comes to your photos. When I first went out with my DSLR, I ran into a Bald Eagle that let me take pictures for a LONG time. I got over 300 photos. From there I went through and cut it down to my favorite 50, and edited them. Then I went through and cut it down to the 15 I liked best, and from there chose the 3 I liked most to post here. I have noticed that you'll get more informative responses if you limit your photos to 2-3 and then ask for critique and comments. You can keep all the photos you want on your computer to track your progress, but only post your top 2-3 on here for help. Just a thought


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## psran (Feb 5, 2014)

Bytesback said:


> I have the same lens as you do, although I am shooting from a lower end camera, Nikon D3100, but I notice the same noise in my pictures that your seem to have. I've noticed this noise is most frequent if I shoot at 300mm. I've found the pictures generally come out better if you shoot at 240-260mm, and just crop as needed. You tend to end up with a sharper image. This is just my experience, I am really new at this so I could be way off base.



You are right about 300 mm not being as sharp as cropped out 250 mm, I have to break this habit of using only the Extreme Focal Lengths be it Wide end or Tele End. It's almost second nature to Zoom in to 300 mm


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## psran (Feb 5, 2014)

FedericoRongaroli said:


> I'm agree. The second picture, in my opinion is the best, good composition and good background.  bye



Thanks for the Encouragement. I don't know why but #3 had the Best Bokeh of all but after uploading here it doesn't look half as good


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## Bytesback (Feb 5, 2014)

psran said:


> Bytesback said:
> 
> 
> > I have the same lens as you do, although I am shooting from a lower end camera, Nikon D3100, but I notice the same noise in my pictures that your seem to have. I've noticed this noise is most frequent if I shoot at 300mm. I've found the pictures generally come out better if you shoot at 240-260mm, and just crop as needed. You tend to end up with a sharper image. This is just my experience, I am really new at this so I could be way off base.
> ...



I know what you mean. When I see an bird that I want to photograph, my first instinct is to zoom all the way out to 300mm and snap away. I did that on my first bald eagle encounter, and regretted it immensely as a majority of my pictures were unusable because of the noise. My second encounter I was smarter and stuck around 240, and while the eagle was farther away in my second encounter, a majority of my photos turned out better. I'm finding that learning photography is learning patience, as it is mostly trial and error!


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