The subject for the next 2 week challenge is “Birds”. Here is a video that will refresh your skills. I like this video check list for better bird photography by Danielle Carstens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZcObBDtZAU she also has a fantastic series of videos on wildlife photography https://dc-wild.com/videos/
Rufus hummingbird ISO 400 400mm f7.1 1/500 Micro 4 third
calliope hummingbird ISO 800 400mm 1/1250 f7.1
1/2500
Amazing action shot della. Really like the composition as well.
Thank you Henri
Franklin Gull skimming for insects on The Bow River as the sun went down. Picture taken 20260613.
1/8000 sec @f5.0, ISO 2500. 200 mm using an RF70-200 on Canon R5
Edited in Light
Love the moody low key lighting Paul.. beautiful!
One of my favorite birds to photograph is the Western Meadowlark not only for its colour but also to capture it singing. Its song is the best representative of the Prairies. Nothing is better than hearing it in the Spring and we know that Winter i finally over. Taken by Cochrane. as for settings I am going to say F8 because that is my standard setting for birds.
Two female ducks beaking off at each other, so to speak, at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. A common merganser in the water and a goldeneye up on the wreckage of an old bridge. Mere moments earlier they’d been peacefully sleeping beside each other.
ISO 800, 400 mm, f/9, 1/500 s
A Spotted sandpiper perched and ready to fly from a log near the river’s edge at IBS. ISO 560, 600mm, f/8, 1/2500s.
Hairy woodpecker at IBS. Again I was fortunate with strong backlighting providing beautiful soft rim lighting. I darkened the background in post to highlight the rim lighting. ISO 12800, 460mm, f/8, 1/2500s.
As soon as I posted this I realized that I had used the wrong image.. this photo below has some brighter background spots close to the bird digitally removed for a much cleaner photo.
Red Headed Ibis
Kanha National Park – India
A green bee eater coming in for a landing after catching a bug
Kanha National Park – India
Calliope Hummingbird in the Weaselhead – 500mm, f7.1, 1/2000 sec. Edited in Lightroom Classic
Who can resist a Ruddy Duck? Frank Lake last week. 500mm, f7.1, ISO 400, 1/2000 sec. Edited in Lightroom Classic
A girl chases a greylag goose in St. James’s Park in front of Buckingham Palace. iPhone
I’ve been disappointed with my bird photography. Maybe not patient enough. Weather was not cooperating with windy and cold conditions. Got two shots of “easy” birds.
Here is the second one.
American White Pelican f6.3 300mm 1/1000sec ISO 100
Inglewood bird sanctuary (looking for the Red headed woodpecker, but found this majestic pelican instead)
Merganser with 5 of her 11 ducklings IBS
f6.3 300mm 1/500sec iso130
The crow landed on a rail to get out of the rainstorm and looked right at me. 160@5.6, 260mm, iso not recorded.