Hi all, new to the forum and this is my first post. I have been going out regularly for a few years now working on my field craft and trying to get close to some of our more difficult wetland residents. The following pictures are all from a few days ago. I have observed patterns for a long time so I chose a spot that was likely to see some visitors and positioned prone on the ground in head to toe camo with a camo cloth draped over my head and down over the camera and most of the lens and waited. I shoot from the ground with the camera resting on the lens foot. I was rewarded with 3 different birds, one of which stopped to bathe and then took off and landed even closer. These shots represent some of the best from that session with these notoriously skittish and hard to photograph White-faced Ibises.
This was the second bird of the evening and it just landed right in front of me with my carefully chosen backdrop perfectly reflecting the setting sun. It preened and fed and preened some more with no concern about my presence.
800mm | f/8 | ISO 900 | 1/2000
800mm | f/8 | ISO 900 | 1/2000
800mm | f/8 | ISO 900 | 1/2000
800mm | f/8 | ISO 1000 | 1/2000
This was the first bird of the evening and after bathing further out I managed to keep it in the frame as it flew off to my left and got some frame filling flight shots followed by some great behavioural shots of it preening nearer the shore. The landing spot placed some low foreground vegetation in the shot and I was able to shift enough without scaring off the bird to get a bit of veiling green over the bottom of the image without any distracting stalks going up in front of the bird.
Welcome to FM Dalin. Your low angle produced some stunning photos and allowed you to let your subjects come close to you. Your camo may have helped yet just laying low and still is frequently all that's needed. The iridescence is captured wonderfully in 1, 3, 4 and the last. 3 is my overall pick for the better composition.
Wonderful images, beautiful color and BG's and POV. Perhaps #1 could have been presented in a vertical?
#3 is my pick and that was not easy as these are all excellent images!
Karl
morris wrote:
Welcome to FM Dalin. Your low angle produced some stunning photos and allowed you to let your subjects come close to you. Your camo may have helped yet just laying low and still is frequently all that's needed. The iridescence is captured wonderfully in 1, 3, 4 and the last. 3 is my overall pick for the better composition.
Morris
Thanks Morris. Yeah the camo is as much to hide me from other people and keep the bugs off me as it is for the birds. Keeping my face covered seems to be the most useful gain, at least for the most skittish species. I don't mind when the other photographers can't spot me out there even if the birds still can
G.E. Smith wrote:
Welcome to FM. Fantastic 1st post Dalin. These are beautiful. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Greg
Thanks Greg, appreciate the feedback. I'll have more to share soon.
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Karl Witt wrote:
Welcome
Wonderful images, beautiful color and BG's and POV. Perhaps #1 could have been presented in a vertical?
#3 is my pick and that was not easy as these are all excellent images!
Karl
Thanks Karl. Yes I have a vertical crop of most of these. I have a strong preference for horizontals and I like a bit of space. The space means I can almost always take a nice vertical crop which is what I tend to share on social media since most viewers will see it on a vertical phone screen.
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Ted ellis wrote:
Great images with great backgrounds Dalin. 👍
Thanks Ted, I've been working on being deliberate about backgrounds and for the first four there, the spot I chose was a specifically for that background and the way the light was reflecting. Fortunately that bird also thought it would look nice in that light and landed just where I had hoped lol
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Malka_1 wrote:
Amazing photos. Look at that metallic sheen!
Thanks Malka, they are amazing to see in real time as they turn that sheen just shimmers across the feathers. Love these birds.
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louie champan wrote:
Fantastic images of a beautiful bird, great job.
Thanks Louie!
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johnohio wrote:
Welcome Dalin. Wonderful first post. Hope you will become a regular here. Beautiful images !
John
Thanks John! That is the plan
I have to admit I was a little hesitant joining but you all are very welcoming. I started bird photography 5 years ago and I set my goal to be able to produce high resolution images that hold up as large prints. It has been a steep learning curve and I still have lots to learn. Thanks for the welcome
