A few garden birds

Ollie · #1 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 06:36 PM

Hi all

I'm unable to get out and about being off work with back problems again.

Anyway after sitting in front of the television all morning bored to death I thought I would see if I could manage a few photos out the bedroom window out of sheer boredom really as I'm usually an active sort of person and sitting doing nothing doesn't go down well with me.

After sorting through them I thought these four were worth sharing. Hope you enjoy them as It sure helped my day along taking them.

Roger

First a Goldfinch, if you click the photo to enlarge it you will just be able to make out a few water droplets on the bird as we had just had a shower.

Another Goldfinch, I just liked the expression on the face of this one.

A female Greenfinch stretching her neck to look at the feeders

And finally a Starling

nutmeg · #2 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 06:41 PM

What a great selection! Love them all - but if pressed to name a favourite, I'd say the starling. Such a gorgeous sheen.

naturelover · #3 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 07:10 PM

Beautiful,do you know untill i joined wab i didnt realise how beautiful our birds were,only ever seeing them far away,i think the goldfinch is a fabulas bird,and now i get them on my bird feeding station.

tich007mt · #4 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 07:28 PM

I'm dead jealous of those beautiful Goldfinch pics. I've been trying to attract some to my garden with a niger feeder and sunflower hearts for the last month now but no sign yet. Has attracted some Siskins however who seem to love the sunflower hearts.

Tich

Ollie · #5 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tich007mt

I'm dead jealous of those beautiful Goldfinch pics. I've been trying to attract some to my garden with a niger feeder and sunflower hearts for the last month now but no sign yet. Has attracted some Siskins however who seem to love the sunflower hearts.

Tich

Don't despair Tich. It took the Goldfinches around a couple of months to come to mine. I get up to fifteen at a time now. Tell you what Tich I will swap some of my goldies for your Siskins. I have only had two Siskins visit all winter and they have moved off now.

Niger and sunflower hearts are the way to go for the goldfinches, sometimes they eat the niger and sometimes the sunflower hearts
Roger

lucy78green · #6 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 08:30 PM

I had three goldfinches on Sunday, first I'd ever noticed. Of course they haven't come back since

Tobyh · #7 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 08:35 PM

Lovely shots there Ollie, beautifully sharp and incredible detail. Do you have any threads where you share your technique? I'm always eager to learn

TobyH

Ollie · #8 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobyh

Lovely shots there Ollie, beautifully sharp and incredible detail. Do you have any threads where you share your technique? I'm always eager to learn

TobyH

Hi Toby,
The detail and sharpness are more down to the Canon 400mm F5.6L USM prime lens I use rather than my technique. I'm also pretty close to the birds when photographing out the bedroom window so don't have to crop the images very much which helps as well.
Roger

GME · #9 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 09:12 PM

Beautiful shots as ever Roger!

What sort of shutter speeds were you managing? Did you use any noise reduction, post processing, etc? Curious to help learn and improve for myself!
Whatever you've done they're cracking pics. Well done

Gareth

p.s. sorry about the back

Ollie · #10 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GME

Beautiful shots as ever Roger!

What sort of shutter speeds were you managing? Did you use any noise reduction, post processing, etc? Curious to help learn and improve for myself!
Whatever you've done they're cracking pics. Well done

Gareth

p.s. sorry about the back

Hi Gareth
First Goldfinch, F7.1, 1/125 sec, ISO 400
Second Goldfinch, F7.1, 1/250 sec, ISO 400
Greenfinch, F7.1, 1/160 sec, ISO 400
Starling F8.0, 1/125 sec, ISO 400

I have the camera mounted on a hide clamp on the bedroom windowsill
I used flash on al these as the garden was in shade. A canon 580EX 11 Speedlite flash mounted on a Stroboframe off camera flash bracket with a Better Beamer flash extender. Picture below

I use PS Elements for editing, just adjusted shadows and highlights a touch and sharpened a touch. Then Neat Image used on the background only not the bird to get rid of any noise, but to be honest there isn't much noise at ISO 400 with the 400D.

Hope this helps
Roger

colincurry · #11 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 09:50 PM

Great shots Roger.

I have also tried to take pictures from our bedroom window. I open the window first and stand there freezing my socks off. Because of the high window sill, it is difficult to focus without leaning forwards quite a bit. This tends to frighten the birds off. I have some nice shots of a blackbird but the goldfinches and green finches are very shy.

I like your poor weather set up and will have to investigate it further.

Best

Colin

Ollie · #12 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colincurry

Great shots Roger.

I have also tried to take pictures from our bedroom window. I open the window first and stand there freezing my socks off. Because of the high window sill, it is difficult to focus without leaning forwards quite a bit. This tends to frighten the birds off. I have some nice shots of a blackbird but the goldfinches and green finches are very shy.

I like your poor weather set up and will have to investigate it further.

Best

Colin

Hi Colin
I have it sussed. I have a high chair with a couple of cushions, well it's more like a bar stool really that gives me enough height to sit down. Just have to be carefull I don't fall off it.

If the wife isn't at home I also put the central heating on and keep the bedroom door closed at least the rest of the house is warm then when I've done.

Funnily enough the Goldfinches and Greenfinches are the boldest they don't bat an eyelid even with the flash
Roger

Lincs Yellowbelly · #13 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 10:13 PM

Nice shots roger, tomorrow aim is to get a nice shot of a Dunnock

was watching a pair in my garden and they really are pretty birds and much underrated

Ollie · #14 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

Nice shots roger, tomorrow aim is to get a nice shot of a Dunnock

was watching a pair in my garden and they really are pretty birds and much underrated

Thanks
Dunnocks certainly are underrated birds John and they are also pretty frustrating to photograph at times often staying down low in cover. If you can catch one singing they do tend to choose a higher perch for this
Good luck
Roger

witham · #15 (**permalink**) 20-03-2008, 08:17 AM

We have Dunnocks in the garden who feed regularly under one of the bird tables, also Tree Sparrows, Goldfinches etc, I am in the process of upgrading my camera in the hope of getting some decent shots as my old one didn't have a decent zoom on it, then I'll have to find out how to put them on the site, so fingers x

Ollie · #16 (**permalink**) 20-03-2008, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by witham

We have Dunnocks in the garden who feed regularly under one of the bird tables, also Tree Sparrows, Goldfinches etc, I am in the process of upgrading my camera in the hope of getting some decent shots as my old one didn't have a decent zoom on it, then I'll have to find out how to put them on the site, so fingers x

Hope ypu get the shots you want Witham. If you have any problems on how to upload them just post a querry or feel free to PM me
Roger

PMG · #17 (**permalink**) 20-03-2008, 08:27 AM

Sorry to hear about the back probs again Roger - hope it settles soon - lovely shots but I like that second goldfinch

Pauline

Ollie · #18 (**permalink**) 20-03-2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PMG

Sorry to hear about the back probs again Roger - hope it settles soon - lovely shots but I like that second goldfinch

Pauline

Thanks Pauline
A little better today.
I'm managing without pain killers at the moment and hope to be back at work next week. Oh to be young again without all the aches and pains

Roger

GME · #19 (**permalink**) 20-03-2008, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ollie

Hi Gareth
First Goldfinch, F7.1, 1/125 sec, ISO 400
Second Goldfinch, F7.1, 1/250 sec, ISO 400
Greenfinch, F7.1, 1/160 sec, ISO 400
Starling F8.0, 1/125 sec, ISO 400

I have the camera mounted on a hide clamp on the bedroom windowsill
I used flash on al these as the garden was in shade. A canon 580EX 11 Speedlite flash mounted on a Stroboframe off camera flash bracket with a Better Beamer flash extender. Picture below

I use PS Elements for editing, just adjusted shadows and highlights a touch and sharpened a touch. Then Neat Image used on the background only not the bird to get rid of any noise, but to be honest there isn't much noise at ISO 400 with the 400D.

Hope this helps
Roger

Thanks Roger - it certainly does help. I remember your setup now you've mentioned it from another thread. I can see the benefits of the flash! Think that is one of my problems. I've been taking shots from and through the windows into the garden and got some nice shots of various garden birds but am still a little dissapointed in the sharpness of some. Nearly all have been in not great light and would really have benefitted from flash. Any where I'm lucky to have a glimmer of sun appearing always add a bit of sparkle to the shots that is definitely missing otherwise! It is interesting to see as I always try to achieve faster shutter speeds than the ones you've listed in order to achieve greater sharpness (but then i'm not using flash or a tripod - just a beanbag).

GME · #20 (**permalink**) 20-03-2008, 09:15 AM

Oh, and I'm still just getting to grips with using Neat Image - I too have started using PSE. I downloaded the free version of Neat Image and have tried it stand alone and as a plug-in. It's great to see what it can do. Now all I have to do is experiment to see what gets the best results

Ollie · #21 (**permalink**) 20-03-2008, 09:28 AM

Hi Gareth. I prefer natural light to flash but the problem with my garden is when the sun is out I'm shooting straight into the sun which isn't good. I usually wait until the afternoon when it's in shade or pick cloudy mornings.

I'm a firm believer in using a tripod or monopod or at least some form of support especially with slowish shutter speeds. I can occasionally get a good sharp shot hand holding but I don't bother much these days.

I'm not saying it isn't possible to hand hold, Graham (glsammy) has some great shots hand held using the bigma although Graham won't mind me saying he does use a mono pod when possible which is a lot more versatile and quicker to get into position with than a tripod.

Neat Image is a great little programme. I use the paid for version that installs as a plugin to PS Elements and would not be without it.

Roger

Ollie · #22 (**permalink**) 22-03-2008, 08:41 PM

Just thought I would add a few more to this thead that I took in the garden today between showers.
Roger

colincurry · #23 (**permalink**) 23-03-2008, 06:24 PM

And very nice they are too.

Did you have any snow today; and, if so, did you manage any pics?

Colin

Ollie · #24 (**permalink**) 23-03-2008, 07:07 PM

Thanks Colin.

Yes we did have the snow and no I didn't get any photos. Much to my annoyance, the wife and I had other things planned that I could not escape from. Well not without getting in her bad books anyway and I didn't want that
Roger