Camera Labs

here are some FULL FRAME pixs of the birds feeding tonight...... all hand held @ 500mm Bigma...... but leaning on the door post or railing.....

160@6.3 ISO 400


125@6.3 ISO 400


250@6.3 ISO 400


160@6.3 ISO 500

Really nice pictures Big Pix!

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Graham
Flickr

The last pic is my favorite, you don't see a bird leaning over like that often...

Ah Australia! Where can i see birds like that around here?! i mean the bird combines all the colors that surround it!

thanks for sharing these wonderful shots Big Pix

Quentin

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Quentin

Hey, I told you I was going to get my pro account someday!

My blog (in French!)

omg.

In a good way.




Patti

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canon 7D, Mark iii 5D, ef 70-300 f/4-5.6, ef 28-135mm canon 100-400mm L IS 4.5, and a little 24-70 L f/2.8...

I agree with Q u e n t i n, the last one is the best but they're all excellent. The colors are great also! Keep up the great work, I really wish I could see birds like that. Any post processing?

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Jake O'Connell, 40D Crew
Canon EOS 40D | 28-135mm IS | 50mm f/1.8 |Vivitar DF 383 | Vivitar 285hv
My Flickr
my Blog
"Photography isn't so much about the results as it is the collective experience, your interactions with people and with the world"

Remindes me of my home counry Brazil!

amazing pictures with great colours, those images just put a smile on ur face no matter what your condition!

Just a quick question, did u use a triopd

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My Picasa

My Flickr

Hi Big Pix,

I see you are the king of the birdie shots These are just beautiful, the detail and the colour. Quite breathtaking. I love the see the different types of birds from around the world.

Cheers Ormina

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Canon G9 , Canon 400D, Canon 40D

More great shots BP! Tell us, do you have any issues focusing on the birds with the Bigma at 500mm when there's branches or leaves in the way?

And what shutter speed do you normally need to avoid motion blurring from the birds moving around?

Any secret tips for aspiring bird photographers out there?

Gordon........ I just pick up the camera and shoot...... set to "A" make sure I am shooting at least 125th or more, but in low light sometimes it is hard to get your shutter speed up, even using a high ISO, brace myself against the door, outside table, railing, and wait for the bird to get into a good area and shot a burst of 5 or 6. With focus I wait till my subject is in a clean area or I track using manual focus as the bird moves about the branches, and I use single point focus, trying to focus on the eye.

With birds, it is best to keep quite still when shooting....... the birds that I shoot are wild, but are happy to be around people as long as they are not moved away with any sudden movement

I have been shooting hand held a very long time, and at a guess, the keeper rate is about 1 in 4 or 5, on a good day, but with digital it is just so easy....... we will not comment on the bad days where the keeper rate does not happen

........ would you believe that I have only been shooting birds, well seriously for around 9 months....... as that is as long as I have owned my Bigma. Tried to shoot birds with my old mirror lens and my keeper rate was too low and I gave up and ordered the Bigma.

The Bigma [Sigma 50mm to 500mm} has very mixed reports. I must admit that it is a great lens in bright light and much easier to hand hold in these conditions. Low light it is a challenge even with high ISO as at 6.3 the lens is very slow and much slower using a 1.4 TC or 2x TC, when a tripod is a must use. I must admit that when shooting birds in flight I use a gimbal tripod head, still not mastered this piece of equipment as yet, but getting there. There are a lot of reports that the Bigma is slow to focus, for me I find that the focus is fine for the type of photography that I do, remember that this is a CHEAP lens, that can give GREAT results, and you are not going to get a Bigma to focus as quick as the top end pro lenses that cost 3 times as much. You pay for what you get. I would love to have the new Nikon 500mm VR or longer but cannot justify the cost for such a beast, maybe after I win the lottery

Hire a Bigma for the weekend and go and play, yes it is heavy but not as heavy as the Sigma 120-300-mm 2.8. Use a mono pod or tripod and shoot some seagulls, I am still trying to get a great shot of these as they do move quickly. I find that pelican's are also great subjects also, shoot taking off or landing very funny......

......... I hope the above helps

....... and thanks all for the kind comments.......

Wow BigPix, these images are simply ammmaazzinngg !!!

So full of color and detail. I also love how you got a pretty nice shallow DOF even at f/6.3.
Honestly the most beautiful bird pictures i've seen to date! Congrats.. you should be very very proud of them.

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Nikon D40x | AF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II | AF-S 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 VR

Thanks for the tips! As you know, I've used the Bigma in dim conditions and it can be frustrating both to focus - and to gather light - but you're proving how great it can be in nice bright conditions!

....... the above shots were done after the sun had gone down, as there are no shadows, just nice even flat lighting, hence my slow shutter speeds, if it had been nice bright conditions I would have been using a much higher shutter speed ........ the brightness comes from the birds, which are bright in colour, and the surrounds of shrubs with bright colours, all the images have had is a basic contrast adjustment in ACR to give the images some lift in colour and brightness

Even more impressive work then!

I was just referring to my NZ bird snaps which were actually taken while it was snowing slightly!

Absolutely lovely shots!

I particularly like 3 & 4 - close enough to start associating personalities with these breathtakingly striking birds!

You certainly do the Bigma justice with these shots - bravo!

Cheers