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Birds At The Feeder

John27 Comments

Well, the birds have finally discovered the new feeder and it has been very busy today! I like all of the different little birds that can land on the feeder, but not the big fat pigeons on the ground eating the seeds that fall off of the feeder. They have to eat too of course but they are like vermin.

The 200mm lens just isn’t enough for a closer photo, a 300mm lens or more would produce much cleaner photos. The background is very unappealing, isn’t it! Sorry, but that is how it’s done here, chain link fences wouldn’t work well. You have to live here for a while to understand why this is.

27 thoughts on “Birds At The Feeder”

  3. I suggest that spread some feed on the ground and this will attract pigeons to the ground, they feel more comfortable feeding there and the smaller birds will use the feeder. The main thing is that birds will know where to find food. 🙂

  4. It did not take as long as I expected. Pigeons help clean up.
    A longer lens would help. You might want to consider cropping and then use Topaz to sharpen the photos. You may also find that using manual and setting your speed of your shutter to 2400 or higher, your aperture to its lowest setting. I then set my iso to auto. By doing this you capture the birds in flight in perfect focus. Experiment with the setting and you’ll find just the settings to still get the focus and the bird’s wings in movement. I’ll look forward to seeing your photos.

    • Thank you for the tips, Tim! I barley know how to use the manual mode and should use it more often. Practice! I like the Nikkor 200mm but a 400 would be sweet. Not so sweet for the bank account though. The Nikon body is the Z50 body, a bit smaller than other bodies in the series.

      • If you begin to get into bird photography in a “big” way a longer lens is important. As you mentioned the cost is high. Most bird photographers try to fill the frame with their subject. Until you decide to dedicate significant time to photographing bird try cropping and sharpening. You should be pleased with your results.
        Using manual mode is more challenging but it does give you more control. I find that once I’ve selected manual for photographing birds, and using the settings I mentioned, the only change I make is to my f/ stop. By increasing the f/ stop I get greater depth of field. If I’m focused on the birds eye and it is standing front to back I can get not only the eye in focus but its tail. Play with the f/ stop to see the difference. The most important thing is to have fun.

        • Thank you again for this information, Tim. Last year, I spent some time with a pro photographer who taught me how to use manual mode, I really need to focus more on this instead of auto.

          • Even if you don’t use manual try one of the modes that give you more control. I use aperture priority most of the time. This allows me to adjust my depth of field. If I don’t want something in focus in the background I can lower my aperture setting. Most times I leave my setting around 8 as I’ve found that this gives me a good depth of field and is one of the best focal areas for my lens. Good luck with all of your studies. Once learn you have more command over what you are shooting. Please let me know if I can help.

  5. WOW! They come… I am happy to see this. Thank you dear John, have a nice weekend, Love, nia

  6. Awww, We get a lot of Pigeons here and I feed them a bit, on my own property. They may not look as nice as some of the others, but, God made them, too.

    • Thanks, Anne Marie, I should try sitting still in my favorite chair which is closer, and see if the birds will come.

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