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Birds are all around us and make wonderful subjects for photography. Since birds are hard to approach in the wild, successful bird photos often require long telephoto lenses and high-resolution image sensors. As I've learned painfully, having a telephoto lens just adds to the challenge of taking good photos. Here's a few of my nicer keepers. All but the pelican were taken from my back yard in New England. Post some of your birds and we can share info.
A Male & Female Wood Duck, love shooting these but they are very skittish here. Their colors are amazing.
Male & Female shot with Nikon D2X body, 500/4 lens with 1.4 converter.
Male - 1/1600 @ F4, 400 ISO.
Thanks for sharing. What lens is your go to for shots like these?
It varies. Most of those shots above were taken with an old Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom. Recently I started using a Canon 800mm f/11 prime, a relatively economical lens. Although it needs a reasonable amount of light to perform well, I'm most pleased with the outcome. The second shot (robin high in a tree) was taken with the 800mm prime. On the other hand, it's not as good for shooting birds-in-flight; the 100-400 focuses much faster.
I started birding last year and really enjoy the challenge. I was using my full frame Canon 6DMK2 and Canon 100-400mm zoom. But it lacked the range I needed. Not able to afford a big prime lens, I picked up a crop sensor Canon 90D in an effort to get some more range with my 100-400mm zoom lens.
Canon EOS 90D and 100-400mm x 1.4 (crop factor) = 560mm, 1/800 sec. @ f/5.6:
I have tried to shoot birds in the last few years only, I am going to share some shots but can't really offer much technical info. except you need a lot of patience and quick reflexes...lol:
All of these were taken with Nikon body and a 500/4 lens with 1.4X converter attached. Most birds are very skittish here so I typically use a bag blind and tripod, except the shore birds those I set the tripod low & lay in the sand.
Got a few more this morning, shooting out the window at two feeders nearby. These were taken with an 800mm prime and two stacked close-up rings to bring down the minimum focus distance. The lighting wasn't ideal, but I have to take what I can get.
Shooting birds
