bird photo general chat thread

A couple of 33cl cans of Heineken pass perfectly in a Lowepro Flipside 300 as they are a kind of a lens size can. So yup I do count them as part of the kit.

Haha, got the flipside 400 and do the same, but with 500ml cans! (in the mesh side pockets?!)

Now we have the definitive difference between the bags, beer capacity

Ah but inside the bag the padding acts nicely as insulation keeping them cold

meeko031 wrote in post #16958778
...is it ok or have any of you used a reflector to shine a little light in birds that in shaded areas? I'm going to try birding next week for the first time. I'd appreciate any advice and tips for beginners!

thanks

Yes let the birds come to you,don't make the beginners mistake of chasing after your quarry.

Steve.

Philihase wrote in post #16963118
A couple of 33cl cans of Heineken pass perfectly in a Lowepro Flipside 300 as they are a kind of a lens size can. So yup I do count them as part of the kit.

Much of the time when I'm birding it's in hotter weather, often on the beach for shore birds. In addition to a "Lawrence of Arabia " style white towel on my head and neck, and tons of sunblock, I find the best "solution" for strong sun is a cool Blue Moon on my forehead, with an orange slice if I remember to pack it.

A slice of orange on the beach!
Need to change your avy to the Hoff Jake

*runs away from the admin*

Foggiest wrote in post #16963001
Down to the nitty gritty now!

How many count beer as part of their birding kit?!

I never did, until a couple days ago.

After a day of bird photography, I was completely spent. Carrying blind-building materials, a stool, and an 8 foot stepladder 1/4 mile across rocks and brush, then building a blind on a cliff face, had me exhausted. So, on the way home at the end of the day, I thought, "Boy, a couple of cold beers would take away a lot of these aches and pains". So I stopped at the local bar, sat down, and had a couple of heavy dark beers (Irish Stout, I think they called it). After about half an hour, the pain in my joints ebbed away, and I felt relaxed and ache-free.

I've never been one to sit and drink at a bar, but it felt so good afterwards, I might just make a habit of it!

Hehe, drawn to the dark side by Guinness

Heh! I did long days out there, then at the end of the day I'd park to sleep on some forest road and had a bit in a cooler!

Tom Reichner wrote in post #16960898
A very good point indeed. It becomes irritating when, at the bottom of the frame, you have a mass of blurred out foreground where the bird's feet should be. Pretty much a ruined shot, and getting just a couple inches higher would have resulted in the inclusion of the feet and legs - a successful image.


You can do that now, with the gear you already have. Just take the vertical arm off of the Wimberley, and re-mount it in an inverted position. Then hang the lens from the foot, instead of having the foot on the bottom of the lens. The height adjustment of the vertical arm will allow you to get the lens all the way down 'till it touches the bottom part of the Wimberley.

Tom, I've considered that but for the most part lower isn't better for the locations I shoot. In the right conditions I think I'd give it a try.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #16960883
Meek,

I have used a reflector with some success. Tony (above) is right - a reflector is good for set-ups, but for just walking around and trying to find birds to shoot, it would be quite impractical.

Nighthound is also right - you do need to set the reflector up carefully and get it at the precise angle in order for it to reflect favorably.

The reflector I used was 2 feet by 4 feet. I bought a piece of foam insulation at Home Depot. It has foil on one side, which I used to reflect the sunlight to a House Wren's nest I was shooting. I had to adjust it every 20 minutes or so as the sun angle changed throughout the day. And maintaining position during breezy days can be very difficult; I used all manner of items to hold it in place to withstand the breeze.

Here's a photo of the set-up. The reflector is at the bottom, and has a shadow of my camera on it. The nest tree is the one that's leaning. Here is an example of the results:
http://fineartamerica.​com …s-young-tom-reichner.html

Your set up is a great example of how a reflector can be very effective in a pre-planned/set location. How long were you able to shoot with benefit from the reflector. I'm guessing a couple of hours before the sun angle changed significantly?

You sure have some beautiful country out there Tom with amazing wildlife.

Steve

Nighthound wrote in post #16971176
Your set up is a great example of how a reflector can be very effective in a pre-planned/set location. How long were you able to shoot with benefit from the reflector. I'm guessing a couple of hours before the sun angle changed significantly?

You sure have some beautiful country out there Tom with amazing wildlife.

Steve

Steve,

That wren's nest is something I simply could not shoot - ever - with only the ambient sunlight, so I sorely needed the reflector.

The reflector enabled me to shoot from around 7:30am (when the sun finally cleared the mountaintop) until around 1pm, when the sun angle finally changed so much that I couldn't re-direct the light with the reflector. So basically, the reflector gave me 5 1/2 hours a day - for 8 days straight - to shoot, when without the reflector I wouldn't have been able to make good images at all (at least, not without some kind of artificial light or flash or something). But I did have to adjust the reflector constantly, in order to keep up with the changing sun angle.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #16971395
Steve,

That wren's nest is something I simply could not shoot - ever - with only the ambient sunlight, so I sorely needed the reflector.

The reflector enabled me to shoot from around 7:30am (when the sun finally cleared the mountaintop) until around 1pm, when the sun angle finally changed so much that I couldn't re-direct the light with the reflector. So basically, the reflector gave me 5 1/2 hours a day - for 8 days straight - to shoot, when without the reflector I wouldn't have been able to make good images at all (at least, not without some kind of artificial light or flash or something). But I did have to adjust the reflector constantly, in order to keep up with the changing sun angle.

Thanks for the explanation Tom. That's a great solution, it's great that you were able to make adjustments without disturbing the Wrens. I suppose I could do similar with the Kingfishers provided I waited for them to exit before I climbed out from under the camo drape to make the adjustment.

Kingfishers - what a special opportunity you have!
I would love to find a Kingfisher nest.

House Wrens are just about the least-spooky bird I know of; Kingfishers are one of the very spookiest. I'm sure you have to be much more careful about disturbance around the nest than I did with the Wrens.

Would it be easier to use a large studio umbrella? Or would you not get enough light reflecting from it, being not as good as a real mirror? It would certainly be easier to lug around then a big @$$ mirror though.