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nfl-deckchair, you served me well, but it’s time to move on
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nfl-fan wrote:
she thought I was raving mad sitting in this mini-camo tent thing. When I went into the house I put on my camo jacket and camo balaclava
Seems like there’s a whole fashion spread available-
can’t wait to see the camo eveningwear part-
though the camo daywear combo for lounging around the house, with the balaclava detail, seems quite fetching too-[quote=Great shots John one and all. You’ve probably mentioned this elsewhere, but what lens are you using to capture these ?[/quote]
Would love to know as well John if you don’t mind
Brendan
Sorry chaps… forgot to answer that.
I use a Canon 100-400 L lens… used at the 400mm setting 99% of the time… with the IS turned on.
I’d like something faster… but I’d rather jump in the river than fork out out Turklish Lira for one of those Canon fixed focal L lenses.
I tend to use it on the Canon 400D because the shutter is a lot quieter than the 40D when released and doesn’t frighten the birds so much.
Depending on the required shooting position and the available light I use a tripod sometimes and hand held others.
Did I mention that I ordered the Camo fingerless gloves as well? Not exactly the time of year for them… but they will come in handy when it gets cooler.
PS. It might be worth noting that I bought all the camo gear cos I want to be just like my idle… G.I. Joe Elway… Protector of the Saltees… and all round great guy.
Ive often tried birds, and i get ok shots, the odd one, perhaps 1 in 50 or more is almost as sharp as thses but its a rarity. Ive wondered what i can do to improve and sure I can work on my basic focusing and framing technique but it goes to show that to get the top quality you need to be willing to go that extra mile ( i.e sit in a Camouflage tent wearing a balaclava being perfectly silent!) and also the tools are important, such as a Canon 100-400 USM L series lens over my cheap and cheerful sigma 70-300.
Thanks for the tips John, with photos like these for inspiration and details on how they were taken Il get there someday.
now…how do I remove 2k from my bank account, and sneak a 100-400 series lens into the house without being noticed…..
Well…
I’ve taken some decent photos with a sub €100 Canon 90-300… the equivalent of a Coca Cola bottle with a mount… and I’ve taken some good ones just sitting on full show in a deckchair.
Things that are important are good light, low ISO, fast shutter… and most importantly patience. Patience is the most important thing.
J
Howaya John,
Just wondering about how you go about setting up your hide. Do you set it up and get straight in, or do you wander off for a while and get in really quick when none of the birds are looking?
How long do you hang around before the birds come back?
Great pictures. Would make a nice collection if you et yourself a goal of getting 1 print of each species that visits your garden.
Hey John
had just stumbled on your flikr yesterday before seeing this post and i was saying to myself that guy is going to be king of N&W with these :) :)
some great pictures super sharp and lovely coloured birds complimented superbly by the backgroundsputs my garden to shame as seems to be only house sparrows visiting us :( and even my pics of them are pretty dreadful
well done
Alright lads…
Thanks for the feedback… it must be the catchy title that’s luring everyone in?
Triple B – The hide only arrived yesterday. I went up, what birds were there initially fled. I filled up all of the feeders (1 nyger, I peanut, 2 mixed seed). Then I set it up the hide (20 seconds), hopped in and about 10 minutes later the first few birds returned. After about 30 minutes numbers were picking up. After about 45 minutes the place went mental. The hide was only about 8 ft from the feeders.
There’s a large numbers of House Sparrows & Tree Sparrows which have only shown up in the last 6-8 weeks. Lots of regular Greenfinch. A pair of regular Chaffinch. A regular Robin. A regular Wren. A pair of regular Yellowhammers. A pair of regular Goldfinch. 3 Pheasants – 1 Adult Male, 1 Adult Female, 1 Juvenile Female. Then loads of other birds in the surrounding fields… lots of Wood Pigeons and Blackbirds…. and other un-identified.
I might head down to Tacumshane Lake this weekend… the same place where griangraf photographed some of his recent posts. This will be a lot trickier though… I’m not familiar with the area, the feeders aren’t going to be an attraction and I wouldn’t be familiar with a lot of the birds down there and their habits… so a challenge… and we’ll see how it goes.
J
Do we get to see a pic of the hide — and of the redundant deck chair?
[Super bird pix, btw]
With all the birds calling to your garden it’s no wonder none of the rest of us are getting a look in. I don’t know if a photo of the hide would be of any use as we couldn’t see it with the camo. ha ha
As always, excellent pics of the little critters. I’d be interested in seeing a pic of the hide and details of where you got it. Don’t need your sis’s photo of you in the gear though, I think you can spare us that.
As for the cricket/birdwatching comparison? I go comatose at the mere mention of cricket but I could watch the birds (feathered!) for hours.
David
Another great set John. Assuming that all of these were shot at 400mm and you with a crook arm you did well with the available light to get these. What porta-hide did you invest in? Thinking of getting one myself but don’t want anything too big or cumbersome……….Mikka
Alright lads –
This is the chair I bought –
http://www.bushwear.co.uk/nostyles.php?ProductID=316920&ClassID=182
As mentioned by John Griffin on another thread.
The crowd who supply them are based in Scotland. £20 (GBP) for Private Courier Delivery… make sure they put your contact number of the package… Couriers are lazy b*stards… if they don’t have a phone number they won’t bother to stop and ask someone in the area do they know where your house is.
I might have to produce some commerative pics of the old deck chair sometime.
J
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