PetKal wrote:
Geez, Conrad, that last shot is hysterical.........blows my mind that a BCNH would let you approach that close.
That must be Wing's own stunt heron.
Haha! I tell you Peter I was only about 9 feet from that bird! I had to back up a couple times because of the minimum focus distance of the 400mm. I caught him yawning a lot!
Conrad: you did very good with those birds, the yawn one is a winner! I wish I was 10 minutes drive from all those birding locations as you are but for me, it's anywhere from 45-60 minutes.
Petkal: No stunt herons, just drug the pond they nest next to.
wing tong wrote:
Conrad: you did very good with those birds, the yawn one is a winner! I wish I was 10 minutes drive from all those birding locations as you are but for me, it's anywhere from 45-60 minutes.
Petkal: No stunt herons, just drug the pond they nest next to.
I tell you guys, there were so many birds in this area! (Photogrpahers too!) I think there was 1 photographer for every BCNH in the palm trees! Funny stuff. Its tough to get the exposure right in the middle of the day for sure. That combined with all the foliage made for a real steep learning curve for me using my flash to fill in all the shadows without overexposing (which I did way too often) I will be going again tonight and try again with early evening light to see if I could get it any better. Sorry you live so far Wing! Time to move to Palo Alto!
PetKal wrote:
So is it that a few bags of Gravol in the pond has a stabilizing effect on them ?
There is so much [people] activity there Peter. The birds are behind a low fence nesting up in some short palm trees that they got used to people I suppose. A couple times I tried flailing my arms to get them out of some dense cover but they are just not afraid of anything!
n0b0 wrote:
First of all, what the heck is BCNH and second of all, I'm not sure 400mm 5.6 is any good in low light situation.
1. Black Crowned Night Heron (BCNH)
2. 400mm f5.6 should be ok in this particular spot. We were talking about the afternoon light being too harsh is all. Not sunset or anything.
n0b0 wrote:
Ah ok, thanks Conrad. When you said "early evening light", I thought you meant dusk.
Oh no no... when the actual sun disappears behind the horizon the 400mm is useless in my hands! Haha!! I'm trying to make a "better beamer" from scratch to help with that. Hehe...
Nice to meet ya David! And no I'm not buying one. I'm MAKING one! Haha! This weekend I'm heading to a hardware store and seeing if I can build one of these things for 5 bucks! Hehe...
Conrad Tan wrote:
Oh no no... when the actual sun disappears behind the horizon the 400mm is useless in my hands! Haha!! I'm trying to make a "better beamer" from scratch to help with that. Hehe...
Hey so what's your name n0b0?
Conrad you do not need a flash.... you need to photograph them at the right time of day.
I personally would never subject a bird to a flash... JMO
Now I am really curious as to how many nature photographers are using a flash...hmmm
noelle wrote:
Conrad you do not need a flash.... you need to photograph them at the right time of day.
I personally would never subject a bird to a flash... JMO
Now I am really curious as to how many nature photographers are using a flash...hmmm
Apparently fill flash is commonly used to photograph birds especially in early evening light. I spoke with about 8 photographers ALL of whom had flashes attached and firing away.
I'll work on it! 
I wish I was 10 minutes drive from all those birding locations as you are but for me, it's anywhere from 45-60 minutes.