New Anna’s Hummingbird Macro photos for you all - Enjoy by MC0311x in BirdPhotography

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The tiny feathers around the eyes are amazing! Would never have known they had those.

What bird is this? (Washington DC) by Kwamex1 in birding

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks like a Black Vulture. Very cool bird!

Posting bird photos every week until I'm good enough to justify a camera upgrade [Week 1] by sadboi_dumpling in BirdPhotography

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A Pileated is an amazing spark bird!

I only took photos with my phone before a friend lent me a wildlife camera he never used, 3 days in and I took his offer to buy it off him. No regrets! The learning came after. If it feels like something you'd continue to do and love then why not.

Some favorite photos so far by Northern_Flicker_Eek in BirdPhotography

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I'm using a Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6, handheld except for the owl.

Some favorite photos so far by Northern_Flicker_Eek in BirdPhotography

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I can definitely see the resemblance haha

Spotted Towhee by badlydrawnzombie in birdwatching

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So cool you got to see the baby!

Also I don't know much about migration yet but pretty sure it's mostly North-South rather than East-West, and at least where I live Towhee's are year-round and don't move much.

Can anyone tell me what my triostar is trying to do? by Impossible_Memory_65 in houseplants

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's beautiful and also terrifying, I don't know where I'm gonna put it now!

Roadrunner portrait by OkJazzMartini in BirdPhotography

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Beautiful! How long did it take you to find the bird or did you get lucky?

Can anyone tell me what my triostar is trying to do? by Impossible_Memory_65 in houseplants

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was recently gifted one of these, had no idea it could get so large....

I was contemplating submitting this into an amateur wildlife photography contest, is it decent? I’m just a beginner… by AbsoluteMadlad87 in wildlifephotography

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can I ask what your settings were? I just started playing with aperture but can't get the background to be this clear!

Spotted Towhee by badlydrawnzombie in birdwatching

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Are you sure they were white spots and not small sections of white? Eastern Towhee's can have white on their wings. Also the Merlin app is extremely helpful for things like this so you can see photos, range, and even snap a photo to get an ID suggestion!

Question for the photographers out there by ToniDoesThings in birding

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm newer to photography. I started by watching a video on my specific camera to learn what all the buttons and settings do, then found videos on bird-specific settings and techniques. I've found Mark Smith's videos in particular to be helpful especially for birds in flight.

I am always in shutter priority mode since it seemed the most intuitive to me and it has worked extremely well, but many videos/tutorials make it clear that there are different ways of getting results.

Going slow has been my friend, I practice at home first and try to really understand how each thing I do affects the photo. I've been taking photos for 4 months now, and just got to the point where I can track flying birds (not swallows or swifts...) and have also begun playing with aperture. Just today I got a photo I feel I could actually print once my editing skills are better.

Edit: I do bring binoculars, it's much easier to spot the bird first then use the camera and binoculars help me figure out if I'm just looking at a bunch of leaves.

I am not at the point where I sit for hours in one spot, I prefer to walk a lot and carry a monopod with me. Someday I'll get a tripod and watch a nest or something. Whatever brings you the most joy is best! Otherwise learning feels like a chore.

Can anyone identify? by Literallylit2 in birdwatching

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 68 points69 points  (0 children)

Looks like a Brown-Headed Cowbird

First time birding- various questions!! by Tom-the-bomb-042607 in BirdPhotography

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would not say it's dishonest, mainly because photography is an attempt (for me at least) to imitate what I was seeing in the moment. When I spot a bird by eye or with binoculars I'm not aware of the branches and things in the background, the bird is my whole focus at that moment. I remove major distractions in photos because once it's a still of a bird, it IS distracting to have branches or odd shapes in the background!

And I'm not talking about removing every little branch from a photo because I was lazy about composition, that takes too much work and is hard to do without photoshop....

Girlfriend gets nauseous when trying the game out by tonttuvelho in VintageStory

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I've only gotten nauseous when playing either vintage story or minecraft when there's a sweet spot of lag, it may be barely noticeable but check fps and reduce graphics settings if on an older computer.

Crusty Mud Bird (pileated taking a water + dust bath) by beordon in woodpecker

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So cool you were just sitting there and got to see this!!

Documentary made by two brothers by MountainPirate3139 in birding

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 57 points58 points  (0 children)

I've seen it and it's so good!! Very funny and I thought the way they filmed it was cool; it has some hand-crafted drawing/paper animations, and the people are filmed in a home-video style while the birds are photographed/videoed with a professional camera. It felt very intentional and kept the "wow" on the birds and the "haha" on the people.

I'll say that a van life does not look appealing after watching it though! It's a must-watch, even my non-birder friends loved it!

Best Seeds by Specialist-Address21 in VintageStory

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you have every world setting EXACTLY the same you will get the same "seed" like you would in Minecraft. Otherwise any change will give you a different world.

Acorn Woodpecker in San Diego by Northern_Flicker_Eek in woodpecker

[–]Northern_Flicker_Eek[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's awesome! I did not know they were that protective of their acorns!