I found the BEST way to photograph birds!!!

[ArmySoldier777]

That second one by Inkista had me laughing lol.

Here's one of my attempts at bird photography too

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Peach

Inkista, that second one is PRICELESS! That smaller bird is looking over at you like "HEY! What're you doing taking pictures of may lady!"

Hey, if you were in a singles bar, and someone was taking pictures of you getting hit on you'd probably be indignant, too.

I was hoping to get this, but only got this.

Originally Posted by KurtM

Showoff.

Well, yeah, but if you want to feel better, check out my Birds set. I occasionally post up embarrassing out-of-focus bird-butt misses there, too. Because, as I said, you have to practice. And because looking at Flickr streams of real birders like hearman and SARHounds depressed the hell out of how me by showing how bad I was in comparison.

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

Re shooting smallish birds.
Start with one that are used to people and are not flying. Gulls can be a good choice.

+1. Gulls and rock pigeons are fantastic for this, and not quite as gear-demanding as their shyer brethren.

My "warm up" before birding season is generally to head on down to the Zoo or up to the Wild Animal Park, and stake out one of the artificial lagoon areas and shoot the "freeloaders" (local wildlife that takes advantage of the shade/water/food for the collection birds). Because of the crowds at both places, the freeloaders are less shy than regular wildlife, and it's good for the ego and good practice, as well as fun. Catching a shot like this:



gets easier when the tree has this many birds:

[inkista]

Originally Posted by ArmySoldier777

Here's one of my attempts at bird photography too...

Man. The one raptor that lives in abundance out my way that I don't have a photo of is the osprey. That's a great shot. I'm envious.

[ArmySoldier777]

Originally Posted by inkista

Man. The one raptor that lives in abundance out my way that I don't have a photo of is the osprey. That's a great shot. I'm envious.

Thank you lol. I wish I could say it was easy, but that's one out of like 9 shots. He just happened to keep flying back and forth lol. There were a couple other decent shots, but I deleted them because after seeing that one, they just didn't seem worth keeping.

That's another point too, don't just take one shot when shooting something like birds. I'm not saying you have to spray it, but I'd definitely get a good amount to pick through.

[inkista]

The only time I'm happy I have 6fps burst speed on the 50D is when I'm birding.

I sooo want an Osprey "Holy Trinity" (flying, diving, making off with the fish...)

[Peach]

Inkista, I still think that's a great shot, regardless of whether it was "nailed"

[windrider86]

Hummingbirds are easier than you think. The trick is to set feeders outside your home (assuming you have hummingbirds) Spend a heck of a lot of time being outside near them. Get closer and closer each time and spend a lot of time just sitting there. Eventually they'll trust you enough that they'll bombard you as you walk out of your house with their food and land all over you.
I had one published in Nat Geo a number of years ago by doing just that and ended up with a shot of a lil guy with its tongue sticking out