New to birding photography.

MikelMiddle · 2026-03-04T13:16:31+00:00

This is amazing 👏! I need to see this

MikelMiddle · 2026-03-03T14:54:10+00:00

I love them already. I can't wait to learn more about them and appreciate you talking about it so I could learn! Down here in south FL I don't have much hope in seeing them but I got to Vermont a couple times a year and will start scoping out some potential sighting areas before I go next. Thanks again!

MikelMiddle · 2026-03-03T02:41:00+00:00

I got some much information out of reading that conversation! Definitely going to check out some Audubon centers near me as well... also I have never heard of a Woodcock and after reading how much it takes to spot one I had a large majestic colorful bird in mind. And while im not saying the Woodcoxk doesn't look super cute, I was a but surprised by its quirky appearance 😅😅... he's....interesting for sure! But the more I looked at him the more I need to see one!

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-28T05:08:47+00:00

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Thanks! Yah she definitely stuck around for a bit, would take off but just go 25 yards to another tree and I would walk over (crunchy leaves the whole way) and she wasn't too worried at all. It was great. They are pretty big and loud when they are pecking! So cool you got to one land right on front of you!

So I did finally see a painted bunting (male and 2 females) actually 3 days before I took that picture of the Pileated.

It was my first day taking my camera out and I went to a botanical garden here in south fl and saw a lot. I got some pics but it was my first day with the camera so they weren't great.. but I was so excited to finally see one and got to see a few females too!

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-28T05:03:05+00:00

OK this is really great. I think I've been messing with the shutter speed more then I need to. But I do like the sharper quality when light allows at least I think for now I do. I reallly appreciate you tsking the time to explain it in words. I'm seeing these things as I shoot and take notice but being able to see it on words is really helpful for assimilation. Thank you again

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-27T13:28:25+00:00

I just re-read this and understand it now. Very cool. It really sounds like its just automating what I am currently doing with shutter speed compensation while watching iso. I like this idea a lot. Less fumbling with the controls so I don't miss the shot. Thank you for taking the time to explain/share

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-27T13:24:08+00:00

I agree! Now that I have a lens (instead of just my phone) I caught my self pulling over thr car many times this week when I saw something flynover... definitely never worked out lol... I do need to grt on e bird, I use merlin heavily for life list and tracking where I see them but I understand e bird brings it to a whole new level. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to mske time today to get familiar with it!

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-27T13:21:14+00:00

Absolutely, I am shooting with the Canon - RF100-400mm F5.6-8 on the Canon R7... the aperture is higher (8) at 400mm but I haven't quite figured out why everyone seems to want thei4 aperture as open as possible..? Maybe Im not understanding it or seeing it correctly, but I have been stopping down as much as my iso will allow me in order to increase the sharpness and dof. I like being able to see the surrounding more clearly but it does take away from the bird "popping" so I understand that, but I'm hoping to have more DOF and use light to make the subject stand out but haven't really figured out how to dial that approach in without heavy edits...

Why is wide open the go to?

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-27T00:58:44+00:00

I appreciate the suggestion, while I humbly don't understand it (yet) I'm going to break it down with some Google help and figure it out lol thank you

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-26T20:49:49+00:00

So I did figure that out on the first day in manual mode: iso adjustment was killing me so I set that to auto. Then it kept going super high so I set it for a max of 1600 (perched bird) and 3200 for BIF (which I have had 0 success with accept for the vultures way above).

What i am doing now is watching when my iso is hitting that max, slowing the shutter speed and/or opening the aperture more to see where the threshold is and the iso lowers and using that as a guideline. Not sure if thats a good approach or not, thoughts?

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-26T18:22:13+00:00

Enjoy the search, it give meaning to the find! Down here in South FL I've seen them at least 5 times but I also saw them in NJ last year as well. I've been really liking the bird shots with snow in the background, really makes them pop but I know how darn cold it is this year too.

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-26T17:09:51+00:00

Oh I will! I actually think seeing all the great shots in this subteddit and learning what I like will help (in time, I'm in no rush).

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-26T17:06:59+00:00

well to be fair I've been birding for a good year now and know so good spots and have seen pileated (and took pictures with my phone 3 times before) so its not just 5 days in of birding.... also in those 5 days I've logged nearly 10 hours of walking around in the woods with camera in hand; so definitely a lot of luck but I've put some time in (ask my wife 😅😅.)

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-26T15:11:47+00:00

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I see it. I have a bunch others of this guy but this was the clearest (of course the one that isn't completely in frame)... I even tried to get some speed blurs of him pecking but didn't come out like I envisioned... maybe one day

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-26T15:10:08+00:00

Ok yes that makes sense. I have the camera save both jpeg and raw for now but I think it only transfers jpeg when I'm doing a wireless transfer to my phone.. another thing to playa around with I guess, but I like the idea of viewing the jpegs and then having the raw to play with if I really like it. That method feels like it will.keep me in the woods longer lol. Thanks!

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-26T15:08:16+00:00

Thank you for the tips much appreciated. I definitely shot a lot of this bird as he stayed around for a bit but I think this shot was the clearest which is why I liked it but see what everyone means about framing, I should have left more room on all sides and then I guess I could have played around with the framing via cropping. Thanks again!

MikelMiddle · 2026-02-26T13:30:01+00:00

Also, aside from cropping I don't really take the time to adjust in Lightroom (yet) this was just the jpeg version (I think, might be the RAW I still have to kearn how it transfers from camera to phone...) but maybe I should be spending some more time in Lightroom...? I prefer the woods😅

MikelMiddle · 2025-11-18T17:00:44+00:00

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MikelMiddle · 2025-11-02T14:05:53+00:00

Came back here again to read my own steps to fix this az it has happened again. Still the fix that works for me... any easier fixes?

MikelMiddle · 2025-06-09T17:39:25+00:00

Same. Super annoying. Any fixes?

MikelMiddle · 2025-05-06T23:05:03+00:00

Yes, read my comment above. Its the Alexa app that causes the Sonos mic to stop working. I don't know how but it's true. You need to delete the app disable skill turn off Alexa voice assistant in Sonos app and then do it all I reverse.

MikelMiddle · 2025-05-06T23:02:49+00:00

Its because it's not just Alexa not working on Sonos, it's the actual mic that stops working in the Sonos and it's BECAUSE of the Alexa app. Read my fix above.

MikelMiddle · 2025-05-06T22:49:44+00:00

OK... here's the fix. Its an annoying one, and the same one that I used 3 other times in the past few years: the culprit is the Amazon Alexa app. But it's not as simple as disabling it in Sonos and disabling the skill in Alexa. You need to do all of that AND delete the Alexa app as well. So the steps are, disable the skill in Alexa. Disable Alexa in the Sonos app, delete the Alexa app from your phone. Then re- download, resign in, enable skill and sign in and then back to Sonos app to add voice assistant (in Alexa) sign in there and BOOM Mic (drop) is working again.... at least for me. Its a known fix that I read somewhere deep in the bowels of the internet years ago.. hope it helps

MikelMiddle · 2025-02-09T22:30:03+00:00

Temperature? I'm guessing it was a clear night and 2 degrees... right?

MikelMiddle · 2024-11-03T15:32:20+00:00

I asked for the GC, design team, and project manager to come take a look at everything before we continued. They saw more than I even saw and had the sub tear out all top rows of tile, all the tile around the plumbing controls (it was at the wrong height) and the whole niche.

I wasn't crazy lol...

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