Very nice series, Thao. This touched me because I, too, have been watching the crows and ravens raid nests at this time of year. The events anger me because the local population densities of these robber birds in Southern California have been increased by people feeding them. Crows and ravens are nice, but too many of them is unnatural and is harming the other birds.
Can I offer you the same suggestions that were given to me when I first posted? Some of your birds are slightly soft. (They could be sharper.) There may be two causes: (1) the camera is focusing on another object in the frame, such as the rocks; and (2) in some frames, your shutter speeds are a little slow for the action and long lens. You can probably fix all this by (1) using spot focus or object tracking (whatever works best for your camera) and (2) shoot on shutter-speed priority at greater than 1/2000 (with a higher ISO setting), or letting the camera auto-adjust the ISO. Also, because the birds are much darker than the sky, try pre-setting your camera exposure for the birds. Besides improving exposure, some camera focus faster if the exposure is pre-set. Trying to lighten the exposure in post-processing will also soften the image.
Are you related to Nguyen Thang? As far as I'm concerned, he is THE expert on flying bird photography in Southern California, and he generously gave me many valuable pointers when I first started doing flying bird photography many years ago. He could give you better advice than I just did. (He also posts here.)
---John
Thank you very much John for your valuable input. All your points are correct and very helpful for me. I used single focus point to the bird and set auto ISO too. The problem is the nest located too far about 150 yards from where I stand. I know the picture qualify is not great but the story is touch me. I will try to do the pre-setting my camera per your advice. Again your comments are appreciated John - Please more input to my next pictures
I'm not related to Thang Nguyen, but he's my friend and my role model - We may know each other John
-Thao-
Thanks Cheryle, Deanne76 and Stephaniespix for sending time to view my pix
