Christian Photographers Community

At one of my favorite places there are lots of wading birds. Snapped some photos today of these leggy fellows. These are the squawky green herons that sound the alarm every time I come near, they eye me from a safe distance as if they were really not frightened at all, heh:





Oh yeah, photo/processing tips welcomed. I'm new to shooting birds.

Nice shots, Scott.  The top one is my fav of the two.  Nice & tight.    

I can't seem to pull up your EXIF data.  Are you using a tripod/monopod?  Shooting in Aperture Priority?  Aiming for the eye(s)?  Just a couple o' things I picked up out of Scott Kelby's, "Digital Photography" Vols 1 & 2 books and they really make a big, big difference.  I just got the Oly dSLR and I'm finding it MUCH easier than the prosumers I have or had in the past as it's much fast on the focusing and little to no shutter lag. 

I like what you have done here.  I am not very technically minded but I do enjoy good pictures and these qualify!

Well done!

Quote from: gjtoth on April 15, 2009, 07:14:04 AM
Nice shots, Scott.  The top one is my fav of the two.  Nice & tight.    

I can't seem to pull up your EXIF data.  Are you using a tripod/monopod?  Shooting in Aperture Priority?  Aiming for the eye(s)?  Just a couple o' things I picked up out of Scott Kelby's, "Digital Photography" Vols 1 & 2 books and they really make a big, big difference.  I just got the Oly dSLR and I'm finding it MUCH easier than the prosumers I have or had in the past as it's much fast on the focusing and little to no shutter lag. 

No EXIF because I did a little post process (unsharp mask) in Photoshop and saved it out as a JPG. Still have not used the more photo-specific processing packages liek Aperture, Lightbox or the one that came with the camera (which seems pretty nice). I shot with Aperture priority, f5.6, using a 300mm zoom maxed out and a 2x extender ring that really isn't designed for digital so I had to manually focus. My eyes are no good for fine focus without glasses and with glasses I can't get into the viewfinder tightly enough as I like, so I figure I had some focus issues when I shot and I did indeed. I did not use a tripod but the tripod would improve the shot greatly. I am looking at a lens support rig, maybe will make one, because the long lens and extension tube would still shake on a tripod unless I support it from the lens. Plus, these guys were flushed out of the reeds and I sort of snapped them on the go when they landed briefly on the limbs of the trees. I'm going to need to set a tripod and out and just wait to get some real steady shots, I'm afraid.

These little guys are vocal and I love herons of all flavors, they are graceful when hunting but really awkward and goofy when startled. These Green Herons have a furry crest they raise up when startled, wish I could get a shot of that.

I saw one of these yesterday when we were out in our boat.  These are good shots of them.

Becky

Beautiful shots Scott. Love his yellow eye, and these are quite sharp. If you don't mind me asking, but where do you live??

Great picture.
Sarge

Quote from: Sarge on April 23, 2009, 02:39:28 AM
Beautiful shots Scott. Love his yellow eye, and these are quite sharp. If you don't mind me asking, but where do you live??

Great picture.
Sarge

Hi Sarge,
Thanks for the comments. Been away from the computer for a while and not shooting any photos (but will tomorrow!).

I live in the Houston, TX area, actually half way between Houston and Galveston. These images were taken at the marsh I used to haunt as a child, but it is now part of a county park. Lots of wildlife there, glad they preserved it even though its a bit 'managed' now and has too many people trashing parts of it. In a time of unwise urban sprawl and unbridled new development, what used to be wild coastal prairie and woods are now subdivisions. Sad to me, having loved the wilds around here long ago, but finding the pockets of wildlife is fun.