Long-time lurker, first time post.

I'm a passionate hobbyist eager for helpful tips, so fire away with your suggestions!

First up, Western Bluebird.

Shot handheld with 1D III and 400 f5.6 + 1.4x extender. I was hiking with my 6 and 8 yr old kids, so I set the camera to TV mode thinking of BIF shots, and never really adjusted the settings again (kids started arguing). Turned out I found this spot with a bunch of perching Bluebirds, but never adjusted my settings, which may have hurt me a bit. It was bright 4:30 pm fall sun. Suggestions for settings for next time?

Thanks for looking!

OK, already adjusted image size...first post way too big...rookie!

Dang, who needs a different settings, great background blur, sharp, well exposed, well done. Bruce

Congratulations! #2 is my pick

Tim

Welcome to the Forum and ery good job with these, Jim. I like the first shot best as the bg is adding to the bg. You may want to try to use a vertical cro with that image as it would fit better the shape of the subject. For sure you should avoid placing the subject in the centerof the frame as it makes the image look static. Try also to use the center focus point aiming to the birds eye as that is the focus point of your image. Images look properly focused, clean and detail are fine. In the last image the birds eye looks OOF on my monitor.
There aren't fixed rules for shooting perched birds. Some people like to shoot in manual mode. I personally shoot in AV also for IF shots usually dialing the sweet spot for the aperture and bumping the ISO if I need higher SS. I only use the Tv Mode when I need a low SS. You just need to try all different mode and see what works for you.
Keep shooting and keep posting. It will only get better.

Hi Jim Your comments have been welcomed and it is great to see you now offering some of your images to share.

Exposures look lovely to me. Colors are most pleasing and with very nice sharpness. BG's are really nice and clean. Nice looking BB's here sir, very nice!

To consider, vertical shots, less centered and allowing more room to the area the bird is gazing such as in #3....Keep them coming, you are no rookie with these shots

Karl

B Benson wrote:
Dang, who needs a different settings, great background blur, sharp, well exposed, well done. Bruce

Thanks Bruce, you're kind!

Jim

tfoltz wrote:
Congratulations! #2 is my pick

Tim

Appreciate it, Tim! I liked #2 best as well.

Jim

Shasoc wrote:
Welcome to the Forum and ery good job with these, Jim. I like the first shot best as the bg is adding to the bg. You may want to try to use a vertical cro with that image as it would fit better the shape of the subject. For sure you should avoid placing the subject in the centerof the frame as it makes the image look static. Try also to use the center focus point aiming to the birds eye as that is the focus point of your image. Images look properly focused, clean and detail are fine. In the last image the birds eye looks OOF on my monitor.
There aren't fixed rules for shooting perched birds. Some people like to shoot in manual mode. I personally shoot in AV also for IF shots usually dialing the sweet spot for the aperture and bumping the ISO if I need higher SS. I only use the Tv Mode when I need a low SS. You just need to try all different mode and see what works for you.
Keep shooting and keep posting. It will only get better.

Thank you for your thoughts Shasoc. Good tips. I will go back and test out some vertical crops.

Welcome Jim!! This is a fantastic first set, good on you!! The kids starting arguing I heard said quite well once "this is like shooting with a marching band" You did beyond great considering

Keep them coming, please.

Tim

Karl Witt wrote:
Hi Jim Your comments have been welcomed and it is great to see you now offering some of your images to share.

Exposures look lovely to me. Colors are most pleasing and with very nice sharpness. BG's are really nice and clean. Nice looking BB's here sir, very nice!

To consider, vertical shots, less centered and allowing more room to the area the bird is gazing such as in #3....Keep them coming, you are no rookie with these shots

Karl

Thank you, Karl. I've enjoyed so many of your posts. Good thoughts for #3 and the future.

Cheers,

Jim

Tim Kuhn wrote:
Welcome Jim!! This is a fantastic first set, good on you!! The kids starting arguing I heard said quite well once "this is like shooting with a marching band" You did beyond great considering

Keep them coming, please.

Tim

thanks Tim I appreciate it! Little kids and nature photography don't go so well together, do they? The "I'm bored!" after 20 minutes in the field puts a damper on it. Oh well, we do the best we can.

Hey Jim, I was thrilled to see you finally putting up a post. I think these look terrrific. I'm really liking #1. The light object in the BG, giving that halo effect, worked out great. I agree with Socrate that a vertical crop would seem to fit better. I also like the border.

That 400 is a very sharp lens indeed. Even with a 1.4x TC on it, you still have nice sharp images with some great detail.

Great job!


Dave

Welcome to the forum Jim and glad to see you have decided to post some wonderful shots. They all look terrific! Nice work on the isolation, BG, lighting and poses.

Did some recropping based on some wise FM'ers' advice...

Such a cute bird that I've only seen once. Good job and keep them coming.

Jeanette

Great looking first post, looks like your settings worked wonderful for these shots....welcome aboard....

Welcome Jim. Great first post. My fav of the bunch is #1 (and in vertical crop better).
Dan

Welcome aboard, great start. The last crop of the first picture (blue BG) is my favourite.

Rob

Great re-works Jim IMO, it move you from being too centered and the verts emphasize your subjects nicely So load up some more and bring them to us buddy!

Karl

David Israel wrote:
Hey Jim, I was thrilled to see you finally putting up a post. I think these look terrrific. I'm really liking #1. The light object in the BG, giving that halo effect, worked out great. I agree with Socrate that a vertical crop would seem to fit better. I also like the border.

That 400 is a very sharp lens indeed. Even with a 1.4x TC on it, you still have nice sharp images with some great detail.

Great job!


Dave

Thank you, my friend! The halo effect was completely accidental, of course - but it's great when things work out that way. I agree about the 400, a really sweet, light lens for shooting in good light.

jkermani wrote:
Such a cute bird that I've only seen once. Good job and keep them coming.

Jeanette

Thank you, Jeanette! I've lived in CA for 16 years and saw my first Bluebird about 2 years ago in Yosemite. Then, last weekend I'm on a casual hike with my kids in the open space behind our neighborhood in the East Bay, and on a particular ridge there were 6 to 10 of them flitting back and forth between these plant perches. I have hiked back there for years, never saw one. And then there they were! Not skittish at all. Posed nicely for me.

z06jim wrote:
Great looking first post, looks like your settings worked wonderful for these shots....welcome aboard....

Thank you, I appreciate your comment. I've learned so much from all you good people at FM, it's nice to finally share something.

danjacquitaylo wrote:
Welcome Jim. Great first post. My fav of the bunch is #1 (and in vertical crop better).
Dan

Thanks, Dan! Much appreciated.

Rob Tillyer wrote:
Welcome aboard, great start. The last crop of the first picture (blue BG) is my favourite.

Rob

Thank you, Rob, much appreciated. I think that's my favorite too.

Hey Jim, I really like the new crops. You have improved upon some already good shots!


Dave