The exciting news around here is that my husband surprised me with a new camera--a Canon 7D and two lenses--an 18-135 mm and a 75-300 mm. I've had it for about a week and have been having fun trying to use it. I haven't gotten past the auto setting, but a photographer friend is supposed to be coming today to show me how to use some of the other settings.
I've never owned anything but a small point and shoot until now. I'm thrilled to finally be able to take photos of the many birds that come to our feeders. If any of you have tips on taking photos of birds I would love to hear them. This is all so new to me.
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| Nuthatch |
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| Female house finch |
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| Cardinal |
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| Hairy woodpecker |
i'm so happy for you Kateri... what a nice gift. hope you and your friend enjoy your time together with your respective cameras. i look forward to seeing more of your photos. have a great day~
ReplyDeletebeauty shots of the little sputxy's....they are hard to capture with a regular camera. We will all benefit from your lens and what you see through it, looking for more gorgeous pictures from you in the coming weeks..:)
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteNice photos! It's fun to have a dslr and a decent lens so that you can share your world with others. I have a Nikon but probably similar 70-300 lens. I photo birds often with it at 300mm. I still end up cropping a lot of the photos significantly. I tend to shoot in aperture mode so that I can control depth of field. I adjust the ISO so that the shutter speed stays fast enough to give a sharp image.
ReplyDeleteWow! Lucky you! You will LOVE having a DSLR, and great lenses too! You have an eye for seeing things.. now you can capture them to a whole new level. Very excited for you!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots! You've clearly mastered the basics and are ready to move to more advanced bird photography--birds in flight (BIFs).
ReplyDeleteI've only had an interchangeable lens camera for a year now (Sony NEX-5N, a bit less expensive option for anyone looking to make the upgrade on a budget). So take this advice with a grain of salt, I'm still basically a noob.
I set my camera to S, Shutter priority mode. Then I dial up the shutter speed as fast as I can for the light conditions. On a bright sunny day I take it all the way to 1/4000 of a second, especially for hummingbirds. I like to shoot them when they are not approaching a feeder if possible, but in a more natural setting. So with some patience I learn what their patterns are. There will be a few preferred nearby branches they'll visit repeatedly. I use a telephoto to zoom in on one of those perches, with the camera set to take photos in burst mode as long as I hold down the button. I fix focus on the branch and then hold it steady while waiting for a bird to fly toward it (watching mostly with peripheral vision). I'll snap a series as the bird approaches and usually get a few nice shots on each approach.
You've got a great camera and great eye and I too look forward to seeing more of what you can do with a better tool. I'm still in the new exciting phase even after a year of mine :)
A new camera, how exciting!! :)
ReplyDeleteThe pictures you posted today are great! I'm no help as I'm still shooting in Auto mode! LOL!!
I think you are doing wonderful! I like my pre-set settings. Of course I use them at weird times, but I'm too nervous to take that plunge into manual. You go girl!
ReplyDeleteI love your pictures.
ReplyDeleteMy 9 year old loves taking pictures of birds. I have what seems like a million bird photos on my phone! Look forward to seeing more from your new camera :-)
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