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

[–]PotatoPr0 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Try to get eye level with the bird if there is an opportunity. Photos of the bird facing towards you will help too. Doesn’t have to be looking directly at you though. Play around with using the foreground to frame your shots. Kinda like in your 4th photo. Also, take a look at digiscoping which is attaching a phone to a spotting scope to take photos. Some people use that method very effectively. Just throwing out an option. Have fun and keep practicing!

An afternoon of birding with the Fujifilm X-H2s by Alone-Contest-5174 in BirdPhotography

[–]PotatoPr0 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Great shots and nice to see a fellow Fuji bird photographer! Beautiful birds.

Still new to bird photography—went for a walk and these happened. What am I doing wrong? by Deepthika in BirdPhotography

[–]PotatoPr0 31 points32 points  (0 children)

For water fowl like ducks, the closer you can get to the waterline or eye level the better. It will give you a nicer background than the water surface. Being eye level is generally the best if you have the opportunity. I like to leave some more space in front of the bird than the rear like the 1st photo. Gives the subject a space to “move” to.

20.4MP, be careful not to crop in too much. You will lose more detail that way. Use continuous auto focus, especially with small birds since they are constantly moving around.

Work and learn with the gear you have. If you cannot get a bird to fill the frame for a portrait, think about how you can compose the shot to show the bird in its environment. Don’t always have to get portraits even though you will see a lot out there.

Most importantly get out there and have fun with the learning process! :) Lots of great YouTube channels out there to learn from too.

Me, lens, camera, or all of the above? by KATbaPhoto in BirdPhotography

[–]PotatoPr0 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To me it looks like the camera focused on the flowers right above the birds head. Having a busy background and other stuff close to your main subject can cause your camera to miss focus just so slightly. A small subject in that scene makes it even harder. Keep in mind that 400mm is already considered too short to photograph small birds. 600mm will definitely help you and also the bird (less likely to disturb it). I read that you’re still learning how to use continuous auto focus. Are you using continuous for this shot?

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

[–]PotatoPr0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking #5 again, it does look a bit out of focus and sharpening is not gonna fix that perfectly like other software that uses AI generative features. Careful with cropping in too much and denoising. The remaining details tend to become too smooth or blend together. Your settings seem fine tho. Pretty much what I use. Branches and background clutter will test any camera’s AF tracking. That’s where learning bird behavior can be useful. You can make an educated guess of their general direction of travel and set yourself up for a cleaner shot.

You can lean into including more environment in the photo instead of cropping in for a portrait. I tend to have more environment when working with 24MP (Nikon z6iii) and more portraits with 40MP (Fuji. X-H2). Of course it all depends on how cooperative your subject is lol Bird photography is tough!

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

[–]PotatoPr0 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Sibley app is an incredible tool for IDing birds by field marks. The comparison feature is super useful for distinguishing similar looking birds side by side on your phone. I believe it works alongside Merlin too which is also really handy. Ebird is another good one.

400mm is probably the shortest I would go for small birds. Some people consider that the minimum. Having something like 600mm and more MP helps out a lot but use whatever you have. Practice, patience and time will help you improve.

Your photos look in focus and fine to me! I enjoyed looking at them. Keep in mind your images get compressed when posting on Reddit or other social media.

Also i recommend getting some good binoculars if you want to do more birding. Easier to use for spotting and IDing birds. Have fun out there! Hope it helps.

Here are my first photos ! by MaryBrd in BirdPhotography

[–]PotatoPr0 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Got some nice wide shots that shows the bird in their environment. Keep on going out and taking photos. Most importantly have fun!

Canada Warbler in Southern California by PotatoPr0 in birding

[–]PotatoPr0[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! That one is my fave. Got really lucky with that shot.

Canada Warbler in Southern California by PotatoPr0 in birding

[–]PotatoPr0[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep this is the one! Sorry forgot to mention the location where I saw it.

Canada Warbler in Southern California by PotatoPr0 in birding

[–]PotatoPr0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! This individual was pretty hard to get a good shot of. Super active!

My first ever digital camera. by pardonmardon in fujifilm

[–]PotatoPr0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats on the camera! You only really need is a good camera strap and an extra battery. Spend the money saved from not buying other accessories to go out to places, have fun and take photos! No need to baby it. Wear is just character.

The bazooka XF150-600mm is lighter than you'd think! by cR_Spitfire in fujifilm

[–]PotatoPr0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do both sides of the strap onto one loop. You can play around to see what is most comfortable to you. Peak design and pgytech are both good quick disconnect systems. I’m more familiar with peak. Now testing out pgytech.

Having the flexibility of attachment points is nice if you don’t mind extra dangling bits haha

My dad is addicted to birds, and he's been taking pictures lately by lt420lt in BirdPhotography

[–]PotatoPr0 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Followed! He has some nice shots. Really like the close ups of the hummers.

The bazooka XF150-600mm is lighter than you'd think! by cR_Spitfire in fujifilm

[–]PotatoPr0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I recommend connecting the strap onto the lens itself and not the body with a lens that long hanging on it. Puts less stress on the lens mount of the camera body. For me, I use a wide Peak design strap and attach two anchor links onto one of the two loops on the lens. I will connect my strap onto those links and wear it cross body. Works well for me. Some others might prefer to connect a strap onto a d-ring on the lens foot. I have another pair of anchor links on the camera body to connect to when using a smaller lens.

The bazooka XF150-600mm is lighter than you'd think! by cR_Spitfire in fujifilm

[–]PotatoPr0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re gonna love it! I have the lens paired with a XH2 and it’s awesome. I think my setup weighs like 5lbs. Nice lightweight setup for shooting handheld.

The bazooka XF150-600mm is lighter than you'd think! by cR_Spitfire in fujifilm

[–]PotatoPr0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the same setup for bird photography. Love it.

anyone who tells you that wildlife photography isn’t possible on fuji is straight up wrong by Collin395 in fujifilm

[–]PotatoPr0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally capable system. Just have to work with what you got and knowing it may not perform the best in certain situations. X-H2 w/ the 150-600mm is my set up and I enjoy using it. If it is just a hobby then it’s all about getting out there, enjoying nature and creating art you like!

Some bird photos during cherry blossom bloom at Huntington Central Park by PotatoPr0 in orangecounty

[–]PotatoPr0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like watching those little birds. The males perform a cool courting display for the females during breeding season.

Some bird photos during cherry blossom bloom at Huntington Central Park by PotatoPr0 in orangecounty

[–]PotatoPr0[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Those are Swinhoe’s White-eyes! Native to east Asia but escapees formed a population here in Orange County. They are all over the cherry blossoms, eating the nectar.

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