House sparrow in foliage over pond

[dalethorn]

These sparrows are common, but not easy to photograph away from a roof or drainspout. They just don't sit still long enough.

[RSL]

Dale, That's an amazing shot -- that you could get him to sit still long enough to shoot. I've been trying to get a local cardinal in a tree, but I never seem to be quite fast enough.

Here's a guy who doesn't move as fast. In this case, he's just been fishing and he has to dry his wings. I'm so close that if I'd taken a step forward I could have kicked him. I wouldn't do that, of course. This Anhinga is a good guy. He always says good morning when I walk by him on the river in the morning. Usually he's on the other side but this particular morning he just eyeballed me, said good morning after I shot, and went on drying his wings.

[attachment=13268:Dec_25_2008_09.jpg]

[dalethorn]

Dale, That's an amazing shot -- that you could get him to sit still long enough to shoot. I've been trying to get a local cardinal in a tree, but I never seem to be quite fast enough.
Here's a guy who doesn't move as fast. In this case, he's just been fishing and he has to dry his wings. I'm so close that if I'd taken a step forward I could have kicked him. I wouldn't do that, of course. This Anhinga is a good guy. He always says good morning when I walk by him on the river in the morning. Usually he's on the other side but this particular morning he just eyeballed me, said good morning after I shot, and went on drying his wings.
[attachment=13268:Dec_25_2008_09.jpg]

That's the trick - get 'em while their stomach is full.  You must have a really serious lens - I can't believe you can capture that much detail with a small lens.

[RSL]

That's the trick - get 'em while their stomach is full.  You must have a really serious lens - I can't believe you can capture that much detail with a small lens.

I shot that one with a D3 and a 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR. The VR really helps.

But here's another with a D2X in December, 2007. I shot this with a 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G VR, which isn't nearly as sharp a lens as the 70-300. I really got lucky with this guy. I walked up almost close enough to step on him before I could get him to fly. Then I tracked him and made three good shots before he landed again on down the river. I got incredibly lucky and tripped the shutter just as he passed the sunspot on the water. It's one of my all-time favorites (other than my favorite street shots of course).

[attachment=13276:Egret_in_the_Sun.jpg]

VR's a lot of help, but Nikon's new 24-70mm f/2.8G isn't VR and it's given me some of the sharpest pictures I've ever made-- even sharper than some of the Leica shots I made back in the sixties with a Summicron F/2. Like this one:

[attachment=13277:Horses.jpg]

I'm going to keep on trying to get the cardinal the way you got the sparrow. Don't have much longer to try, though. On Saturday we're leaving Florida to go back to Colorado. We're going to do an 1,800 mile trip in 6 days -- all on back roads through hundreds of little towns -- 300 miles a day with plenty of time to stop and shoot pictures.

Best regards,

[Jeremy Payne]

Some great shots!

What's this guy?

[dalethorn]

Some great shots!
What's this guy?

It's a sparrow - looks like a house sparrow.

[dalethorn]

I shot that one with a D3 and a 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR. The VR really helps.
But here's another with a D2X in December, 2007. I shot this with a 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G VR, which isn't nearly as sharp a lens as the 70-300. I really got lucky with this guy. I walked up almost close enough to step on him before I could get him to fly. Then I tracked him and made three good shots before he landed again on down the river. I got incredibly lucky and tripped the shutter just as he passed the sunspot on the water. It's one of my all-time favorites (other than my favorite street shots of course).
VR's a lot of help, but Nikon's new 24-70mm f/2.8G isn't VR and it's given me some of the sharpest pictures I've ever made-- even sharper than some of the Leica shots I made back in the sixties with a Summicron F/2. Like this one:
I'm going to keep on trying to get the cardinal the way you got the sparrow. Don't have much longer to try, though. On Saturday we're leaving Florida to go back to Colorado. We're going to do an 1,800 mile trip in 6 days -- all on back roads through hundreds of little towns -- 300 miles a day with plenty of time to stop and shoot pictures.
Best regards,

Here's a female cardinal in the Winter in NE Ohio.  I do like those B&W photos BTW - instinct tells me I should see more variety in color than B&W, yet I don't see that it's the case with all I've seen here on the LL forum.

And a 70-300 mm lens should be able to capture your reflection in the bird's eye.  Unless you're on a tripod, VR isn't just handy, it's a must.  They don't make 300 mm lenses with f1.4 or f2 apertures, last time I checked.

[dalethorn]

And here's a couple of egrets from Bolsa Chica.  I've seen basically three different types there - one is large like a great blue heron, except white, with black feet, one is smaller with yellow feet, and the third is similar to the second, but has the long hair/feathers like you see in one of the attached.

[Randy Carone]

Nice shot RSL. Great shot with the sun behind the wings.
This one's cheating. They'll sit still when they're having lunch with a friend.
The Cooper's Hawk is across the yard on a dried 13 ft Sunflower stem, checking out the bird feeder.

[RSL]

Here's a female cardinal in the Winter in NE Ohio.  I do like those B&W photos BTW - instinct tells me I should see more variety in color than B&W, yet I don't see that it's the case with all I've seen here on the LL forum.

And a 70-300 mm lens should be able to capture your reflection in the bird's eye.  Unless you're on a tripod, VR isn't just handy, it's a must.  They don't make 300 mm lenses with f1.4 or f2 apertures, last time I checked.

Good shot. This morning I almost got my cardinal, but he beat me again. One problem with the 70-300 is that when I start walking toward a bird I usually have the lens zoomed out pretty far. As I get in closer I have to reduce the zoom. Sometimes the bird takes off before I can pull in the zoom and I end up with something like the reflection in the bird's eye instead of the bird. No, I don't know of a 300mm lens at f/1.4 or f/2. There may be a prime hiding away somewhere, but I've never run across it.

Yeah. I still love B&W. The shot off Pikes Peak I posted on Photographic Styles was in color but I converted it with Nik's great Silver EFEX Pro.

[RSL]

And here's a couple of egrets from Bolsa Chica.  I've seen basically three different types there - one is large like a great blue heron, except white, with black feet, one is smaller with yellow feet, and the third is similar to the second, but has the long hair/feathers like you see in one of the attached.

I think the one with the long hair is a snowy egret. I get one of those occasionally down here in Florida but they seem more easily spooked than some.

[RSL]

Nice shot RSL. Great shot with the sun behind the wings.
This one's cheating. They'll sit still when they're having lunch with a friend.
The Cooper's Hawk is across the yard on a dried 13 ft Sunflower stem, checking out the bird feeder.

Randy,

Cheating's okay with birds and you got your girl. I love the shot of the Cooper's Hawk. Three years ago I got this shot of a baby Great Horned Owl just after his mom kicked him out of the nest. I'd been watching for that for days and got there just about at the right time. I got in a little too close and he started clacking his beak and lifting his wings. His feet are about as big as my hands. Wouldn't do to have him clamp those claws down on you.

[attachment=13289:GreatHornedOwl.jpg]

[Randy Carone]

Interesting shot of the Owl - keep the kittens in the house!
Thirty years ago a friend who loved to photograph birds of prey was awakened by the sound of something hitting the screen by his bed. He reached for his camera, turned it on and captured a superb image of a wide-eyed baby Peregrine falcon, on the screen, with its wings spread. A classic.