Having spent most of my youth watching birds around the Saltholme Pools and Greatham Creek areas, I made my weekly visit to the new RSPB reserve. A truely magnificent state of the art centre that has transformed the area.
I tried out the new camera, and managed to get some reasonable shots. I'm still trying to figure out what button does what.
Anyway here are some of the highlights of my day.
A Curlew, practicing his green cross code.
Moorhen
Reed Bunting, Could be a Juvenile bird of last year or a Female!
Juvenile Male Reed Bunting
Adult Male Reed Bunting (out of focus)
Skylark
Mallard Drake
Mallard Drake with er indoors
Wigeon
The elusive Water Rail, one of three that I saw for the first time in 40 years of birding.
The best till last, another Water Rail.
I actually took over three hundred photo's of many species. A lot of them weren't very good, I hope you enjoy some of the better ones.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
Hi Buzzard
Not that I'm an expert on photography or your particular camera but it does look like you've got the buttons just right - lovely photos. Love the Wigeon - didn't realise how lovely looking they were.
That's the beauty with today's camera technology you can afford to take lots of photo and see at your leisure whether they are good or not without worrying about the expense of having them developed and then finding out they are no good.
We had a few problems with our camera (Lumix G10) it did so much that it blinded us really as to what it could do. I've read and reread the manual and user guides on the internet. In the end we tried to make it easy. We set the camera to the IA mode (Intelligent Auto) for a particular day or scene and then tried to match the exact settings on other modes i.e. manual so that we could improve the zoom potential which the IA was lacking in - does that make sense?.
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Can you run that past me again LOL
It does make sense, this is what I'm attempting to do rather than using all of the auto functions. I'm trying to achieve the best DOF and exposure, focusing etc manually. The light and visibility has been rather poor with all the snow and cloud. I know quite a lot of photographers who don't bother if the light is poor!!!
I need to get on a course of some kind, rather than reading mountains of jargon I would rather have someone show me. How to take photo's with the light behind or infront, how to take photos of birds in trees etc etc.
Thanks Buzzard, you can give me some lessons with my new camera ! Lovely to see a water rail that is not trying to stay hidden and a curlew without having it's beak constantly poking in the sand / mud flats. Just love the reed bunting. In fact I genuinely love them all but my feet have gone very cold, looking at the ice the poor things are standing on.
Hi Buzzard,
Congratulations on the water rails. You must still be on a high after seeing them for the first time in 40 years.
I am no photographer, but I can appreciate other people's work, and your pictures, to me, are as good as any I have seen.
I am like you. I can't learn by reading. I have to be shown or told. On this forum I rely on photos like yours to show me what the birds look like.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
I know what you mean - we found the IA setting on our camera was perfect (ie exposure rate, sharpness and F setting) all but thedarned zoom capability. The camera cost a bit in the first place and to get a separate zoom lense would cost a fortune which we couldn't afford. So we thought if we could duplicate the IA settings (they show up on the screen) then we could maximise the zoom manually which is what we wanted especially for taking close up shots of wildlife. Unfortunately I don't have very steady hands (heridatary complaint) and the manual setting isn't very forgiving for this doubly so when taking really closeup shots. However a tripod has helped alot and my photos are coming out quite well now.
Hi Buzzard, those photos are brilliant. I think you are doing exceptionally well with your new camera. And the two great things about digital are 1. you can see the result there and then and 2. it doesn't cost anything to scrap poorer quality in favour of better quality - whether taken at the same time or at a later date.
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
LOl at Mallard with Er Indoors
fantastic photo's Buzzard. There should be a course on at your local college. Some courses start after Christmas, you may be able to get on it asap instead of waiting.
Good set Buzzard
I particularly like the mallard drake, who's obviously auditioning to be a scraper for you windscreen!
Love your pictures, and 'birds' in the snow too.
The Wigeon is lovely and one of my favourite birds - love the colouration of the head area.
Your Juvenile Reed Bunting pictures are beautiful indeed. (smile}
Cannot wait until our next trip our to the reserves and back into the real world of birds.
You are giving me an itch to get out, and about once more {smile}
Kathy and Dave