Cardinals

My 70-200mm f/4L just does not have enough reach for these beauties. I think it is time to start saving up for something longer.

IMAGE LINK: http://static.flickr.c​om/38/139591667_6d91a4​93b9_o.jpg

Hi,
nice to see the male & female,
If your shot is clear & sharp, you can crop,and have a good picture, It is not always about how close you get.
What is your exif? as you don't seem to have a fast enough shutter speed in # 1, lighting cond. don't look to have been too good for you.
regards,
Clare

I agree with Clare, maybe fill flash would have helped with that first shot. I take it these are crops already, the first one has a bit of noise. You could clean this up with a free noise removeal program like Neat Image or Noise Ninja. A longer reach is always helpful when shooting birds, but you can use shorter focal lengths also you just need to do different things and build other skills like fieldcraft. You could try using a feeder and make small portable blind or a hide even.

You can take lovely environ shots with a shorter reach also, not having long reach isn't a disadvantage but rather just a different set of challenges. Work your weaknesses into strengths, save for that reach but still enjoy what you have. Shooting birds/wildlife isn't always easy but it can be extremely rewarding.

That is well said. Dont forget that Mitcon sometimes uses a macro lens for bird pics!

Thanks for the comments. I knew when I cropped it last night that I just did not have enough detail for the IQ to be good. I should have backed off on the crop a bit. It is hard to get close enough to the cardinals around here with a 200mm lens.

Regarding noise, is Noise Ninja or the others mentioned available for the Mac? I perform my photo workflow on a Power Mac.

By the way, the lighting was not great for these shots. It was very sunny outside, yet the birds were in a very shaded area.

Exif for the male:
shutter speed: 1/320 sec on shutter priority mode
f-stop: f/5.6
ISO: 200
focal length: 200mm
metering mode: partial


Exif for female:
shutter speed: 1/320 sec on shutter priority mode
f-stop: f/4/5
ISO: 200
focal length: 200mm
metering mode: partial

Thanks for the positive comments. I learned this weekend that patience is definitely a virtue. Another thing that I should have done was to use my tripod. I haven't gotten used to using it for shooting birds, but in the lighting situations that I had, it would have been better.

I found Noise Ninja and ended up purchasing the pro bundle just now. I played around with it a little to remove some of the noise on the male photo. It may be a little soft now, but it looks better without the noise, I think. Hey... it is a learning process. I appreciate the critique from everyone.

I always use a tripod now regardless of light. To get close to these guys I bought a 50.00 blind and after a little time they are coming 6' away. The first shot of the cardinal I posted tonight was at 200mm.

I just looked... truly incredible shots. I took a mental note of the blind idea. My wife and I are building a house out in the country. Actually, we hope to be there in a few weeks.

Anyway... our three acres is sitting right in the middle of 150 acres of family-owned land full of birds, deer, a panther or two. I can't wait to get up there.

Chris, I spent a few hours with my tripod this past Saturday. I have not put together a blind as of yet, but I did just sit still a lot. This requires a lot of patience. I need to put together a blind so that I can get closer to the birds.

Here is a link to one of the photos that I got this past Saturday.

http://static.flickr.c​om/47/143258616_584f5c​05ac_o.jpg