Looking for advice on taking shots of birds after sundown

[jrobertson29365]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for advice on taking photos of birds just after the sun has gone down as I've found that there are a lot of birds in our city centre they are small birds that look like some kind of Finch or Tit but I'm not sure.

I'd be using my camera with a TAMRON 70-300 F4-5.6 Di LD Macro also not sure if I should use the small on camera flash or hot shoe flashgun.

Hope you all get what I mean as I'm not too good at asking questions correctly

Thanks in advance

Jim

[The_Camera_Poser]

I'm no expert, but I reckon using a hotshoe flash is going to help that. Also, you might want to pre-focus on one spot using a tripod, so that your camera is not trying to autofocus in bad light, with a consumer-grade lens.

I'd set up a feeding spot, set up a tripod, pre-focus on the feeding spot, set the camera/flash combo for f/5.6 and 1/250 sec, and see what you get.

I AM NO EXPERT, and I'm sure others will have better advice

Cheers

[jrobertson29365]

Thanks C_P I'll give it a try when I get a chance.

Jim

[The_Camera_Poser]

let me know if it works

[WingsofFury]

Hi Jim,

I'm not sure what type of camera you're using, but I shoot with just the regular Rebel XT. The picture I've attached below was taken right at dawn with just the regular kit 55mm lens and the in camera flash at about a distance of about 75ft. As you can see, the in camera flash isn't that great when it comes to illuminating anything at a bit of a distance. As a result of that, I would recommend that you use the hot shoe flashgun.

Keep in mind that the birds you photograph may not enjoy the bright shots of light as they have very sensitive eyes. Given the size of the lens that you mention, may I hazard to guess that you're shooting your subjects from a distance of about 10ft or so?

Attila