Birds are tough, I was visiting friends in Florida and we went to the Merritt Island wildlife sanctuary. I brought along a tripod and my Vivitar S1 600mm. I spied a Pileated Woodpecker in a tree and set up the tripod just about got the lens focused and composed and the damned bird flew to a tree about 25 ft further away, I slowly and carefully moved until I was at the right distance, set the tripod down just about got the lens focused and picture framed and it flew to a tree about 25 ft further away... This happened about 5 times, the woodpecker then squawked loudly and took off across a marsh, my friends were laughing their heads off, I hate Pileated Woodpeckers...
D. Glenn Arthur Jr. wrote: > I finally felt well enough to use the borrowed extension ladder > to get up on the roof and look at what the roofers had done. > Then I got sufficiently distracted shooting birds and helicopters > that I forgot to take pictures of where the roof is sagging. > Oops. > > More stuff I've learned about shooting birds: > > If they're moving downwind and are faster than a pigeon, fuggedaboudit. > > There's a nest inside my chimney (about five feet down, I think). > > Lying on my back does help for tracking them across the sky, but > makes seeing what direction they'll be coming from harder. (This > shouldn't be as much of a problem when I try to shoot the sentry > bat next month. In past years, it has established a pretty stable > route and held to it flight after flight, night after night. But > it'll be a factor if I try to shoot feeding bats.) > > That cardinal is bloody fast, and sneaky. But I might have a > start on figuring out the robin's pattern. > > If I have to think about it, the bird is already out of the frame. > > Raptors are convenient. They just hang there in a thermal, > waiting for me to shoot. > > I don't think I'm ever gonna get that damned dragonfly. Yes, > I know that's not a bird, bat, or helicopter; it did zip past > me at a womdigious speed a few times. > > > At one point I had the 100-300 zoom on, 'cause, well, I was > planning to shoot birds with it ... and two sparrows decided > to loop around my ankles. That lens doesn't focus that close. > The rest of the afternoon the sparrows stayed too far away to > shoot at all. I tell you, they're doin' it to me on purpose ... > > Earlier, I watched a small black bird launch itself into a > headwind and get stuck. It stayed stuck in place in midair > long enough for me to get a long lens up and pointed in the > right direction, but not long enough for me to focus after > that. (But it was a really cute sight.) > > > The weather was working against me on the medevac helipad. The > air doesn't look as hazy as it did last week, but I still got > a lot of fog in the frames where I tried to shoot it, about a > mile away (uh, 1.2 miles, I think, but I can check it with my > odometer the next time I go downtown). The same shot just after > dusk with the camera not braced as well a couple days ago was > clearer. (This afternoon I rested the camera on the chimney; a > couple nights ago I was leaning out a window.) I have to check > again after I copy the photos onto my computer, but looking at > the LCD there didn't seem to be much difference in fogging > between the lens I don't have a UV filter for and the lens that > had a UV filter on it, so I think it's just summer humidity. > OTOH, the police helicopter came near enough for me to get the > best shot of it I've managed yet. > > -- Glenn > > -- Vote for Cthulhu. Why settle for a lesser evil... -- Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
