1st real try at bird photography.. plus an extra

[mr.photoguy]

Well it was a nice day today in new york, so I decided to take a drive out to Orchard Beach. There is a woody area there with plenty of wildlife, and as the weeks pass, and summer grows closer it will only get better.
Well I tried to photography this bird below, (I believe a Robin) and let me tell you .. Now I know why most guys use 400mm lenses with these types of birds. They are extremely skittish. This bird was totally aware of my presence the whole time.
Out of 20 shots. only 3 were acceptable. Handheld with a monopod (cheap one).

Image 1
http://www.pbase.com/brucescott/image/41414936.jpg
exif:
1/160s @ f4.0 200mm iso 1600
70-200 f4 w/1.5 extender
Image 2
http://www.pbase.com/brucescott/image/41414938.jpg
exif:
1/25s @ f4.0 200mm iso 1600 ..
70-200 f4 w/1.5 extender


Here is a bonus image also...
http://www.pbase.com/brucescott/image/41414996.jpg
exif:
1/60th @f4 200mm iso 1600
70-200 with out 1.5x extender.

I saw this guy out there fishing.. as I was leaving the orchard beach parking lot. I looooooooooooooooooove fishing, so without even thinking the first thing I yelled out was .." YOU CATCH ANYTHING" lol .. I am so crazy.. anyway he answered, I snapped a few more shots. Then we got to talking .. Very cool guy.. Very cool guy indeed.

I hope you like them ... comments, and critique always welcome ..

Thanks
bruce

[WhipMaster]

Nice Shots! But why did you use 1600 iso In the bird shots?

[robertwgross]

I'm guessing that he used 1600 because he almost had to.

If the aperture is mostly wide open already and the shutter is getting too slow, then you've got to push up ISO.

---Bob Gross---

[mr.photoguy]

Yes - Bob is right. I was running out of light, and running out really fast.
At 400/800, and even 1600 I had slow shutter speeds.
The bird was moving around a lot, and looking for worms. I tried to get a shot with the worm in his mouth, but maybe next time.

[psk4363]

For first attempts at bird photography these are very good. Well done.

Barry