Not a bad try frank. Soon you'll be selling your soul for a 500/4 or 600/4 :-)
Those little bastards move so fast it's like trying to photograph electrons. The best advice I can give you is to watch them for a while. Birds are creatures of habit and will return to the same perch over and over again in the course of an hour or so. Watch as they hop from one perch to the next in the same order over and over again. Pick the perch with the best background and angle and just focus on that spot. Stare at it through the viewfinder ignoring the little guys as they tease and mock you from other perches. Then as soon as one hits the perch, fire off as many frames as you can. That's how i got some of my favorite shots like this one: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bNuA-oAASYY/SXZe0S7BO8I/AAAAAAAAAB4/8FtMwrSKfss/s1600-h/black-crested_titmouse_IMG_1866.jpg Christian ------------------------------------- http://404notfound.blogspot.com http://birdofthemoment.blogspot.com On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 07:12:34AM -0400, frank theriault wrote: > I'm rather obsessed with these little guys, but they're rather hard to > get. Small, quick, they let me get ~almost~ close enough to shoot > with 200mm, then take off. In several months, this is about the best > I've gotten: > > http://knarfdummyblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/american-goldfinch.html > > I need longer glass, because this just isn't sharp enough (heavily > cropped). I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I need more > mm's. 300, 600, whatever. First I need more money. To get that I > need a better job. > > I'm getting sucked into the vortex, the black hole. > > AAAAaaaarrrggghhh! > > Hope you enjoy. Comments welcome. > > cheers, > frank > > -- > "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- Christian ------------------------------------- http://404notfound.blogspot.com http://birdofthemoment.blogspot.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.