[captmacq]

above is a snow egret

Took some of the advice from this thread and whent out last weekend


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcqueenphotog/3787578230/" title="white heron in flight-2183 by Capt Mac, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3561/3787578230_72c819945a.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="white heron in flight-2183" /></a>

I think thats better than my first trys

[pingflood]

Coming in for a landing.

K20 + DA 55-300mm @ 300mm

Wonderful shot.

[Rense]

I had an encounter yesterday, with a story. I was busy doing my field work as a botanist, sitting on my knees deep in the tall grass. I had my Pentax-A 100/4 macro on my K20, which is my walk around lens at the moment, especially when I am working. Suddenly, at about 30 meters, I heard a young buzzard, and when I looked, I saw it flying, together with one of the parents. The last one dropped a mouse which he/she had in her claws, and the young tried to catch it in flight, but finally landed and had to look for it on the ground. It was training it's hunter skills!

And my hunter skills? I had the 100/4 at close focus, so I was too late to make some action shots, but when the young buzzard started flying again, I could make some half-decent shots of it. The grass in its claws in the second shot show that this one has to train a little bit more...

Just like me....






Both are cropped to quite an extend.

[brecklundin]

Coming in for a landing.

K20 + DA 55-300mm @ 300mm

Simply a nice shot! Love the focus and the exposure is excellent...starting to like that lens a lot the more I see of it.

[pingflood]

Rense: What metering mode were you using? Looks a bit underexposed over here. I've pretty much given up on relying on the camera's meter for BIF shots and just use manual mode as long as the light is mostly consistent.

Went shooting yesterday and finally scored some good pelican pictures. The little bastards always like to fly backlit for some reason, but patience pays off. To me, BIF shooting is mostly about spending quality time outside, and the occasional half decent bird picture is just a bonus!

[Rense]

Rense: What metering mode were you using? Looks a bit underexposed over here. I've pretty much given up on relying on the camera's meter for BIF shots and just use manual mode as long as the light is mostly consistent.

Went shooting yesterday and finally scored some good pelican pictures. The little bastards always like to fly backlit for some reason, but patience pays off. To me, BIF shooting is mostly about spending quality time outside, and the occasional half decent bird picture is just a bonus!

Yes, they are a bit underexposed, especially the second one. I use Av mode and center-weighted (no time to swich, coming from macro-work). You use M and...?

[pingflood]

I have a few subjects I can meter off and know what the right exposure should be, so say I am on the beach, I point the lens at the sand and make sure the meter reads 1/3 stop over with my settings in Manual mode. Then anything in the same light will be well exposed.

I know some birders just use Av mode and a certain amount of compensation but I don't find it reliable enough. If you have a dark bird against a blue sky there's a huge difference in metering if the bird takes up 10% of the frame vs 40% of it... if you are shooting RAW and are willing to put up with fixing some exposures in post then you might be ok with it, but I'd prefer to get the exposure where I want it right away.

If the light and background changes a lot though, then I go to Av mode, and rely on experience to dial in the appropriate exposure compensation.

But honestly, most of the time it's just _easier_ to shoot in manual.

Here's a shot (linking it since this is a Pentax thread and I don't want to spam it with my brand C photos) that was taken right after metering off the sand at +1/3 stop. http://www.beyondthematrix.com/DPP_0059.jpg

[daacon]

Nothing special but meets the subject matter

[MattGunn]

Not an especially interesting bird but it was hanging almost stationary in the air just waiting for me to take a photo.

[LeoTaylor]

MattGunn:

Nice photo of a seagull. They are soaring birds so can hang in the air when it is breezy. I had a several gulls soaring over my head once and had my 50-200mm kit lens on a K100D. Below is one of the shots. I've seen a red tailed hawk hover motionless, but did not have my camera handy.

I see you are from Wales. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Conwy Castle a few years ago. I've been to Caernarfon Castle as well.

[jmc7104]

Does BIF stand for Butts in focus, cause that is what most of mine are. jim

[xjjohnno]

A couple of coastal wetlands dwellers on the wing.
[IMGWIDELEFT]http://www.xjgarage.org/photos/september2009/slides/PICT5124.JPG[/IMGWIDELEFT]
[IMGWIDELEFT]http://www.xjgarage.org/photos/september2009/slides/PICT5128.JPG[/IMGWIDELEFT]

[MattGunn]

MattGunn:

Nice photo of a seagull. They are soaring birds so can hang in the air when it is breezy. I had a several gulls soaring over my head once and had my 50-200mm kit lens on a K100D. Below is one of the shots. I've seen a red tailed hawk hover motionless, but did not have my camera handy.

I see you are from Wales. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Conwy Castle a few years ago. I've been to Caernarfon Castle as well.

Thanks. I used to fly RC gliders and would routinely soar with the seagulls (and occasionally buzzards) over the local costal cliffs. We have Red kites here and they sometimes hover in the slope lift also, but only when there are no cameras about. We have quite a few castles here in wales but Conwy and Caernarfon are amongst the most complete and impressive.

[jmc7104]

Couple more gull shots. At times easy targets and other times difficult.





Yeah Pelicans around here also


jim

[Rense]

Does BIF stand for Butts in focus, cause that is what most of mine are. jim