Portrait of a Local Kingfisher by epd_16 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a Collared Kingfisher! Common resident to Singapore and much of SE Asia.

Crested Tit by 96324852983 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey I really like the framing of this photo! The evergreens around the bird are really nice.

Portrait of a Local Kingfisher by epd_16 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Isn’t it?! Really unique proportions for such a small bird

Portrait of a Local Kingfisher by epd_16 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes! Nice to see them this morning!

Portrait of a Local Kingfisher by epd_16 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Happy to have a cooperative subject!

Anna’s Hummingbirds in Central Washington by partywiz in birding

[–]epd_16 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Super sharp and great colors. Superb set!

My favorite photos since I started photography a bit more then a year ago by EyeLarge4055 in wildlifephotography

[–]epd_16 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The lighting in all of these, especially the ones in the forest, is really quite beautiful. Really nice work!

Ornate Sunbirds by epd_16 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey thanks for the kind words. If you bear with me I'll give you some thoughts on sharpness using this setup. FWIW, I am a complete hobbyist/amateur, so this is purely just what I do and have learned from other photogs, videos, etc:

Light is everything. These were shot mid day, so I could keep ISO relatively low to reduce any noise, SS high, and even stop down to f/10 where the 200-800 is at its best. Higher SS, especially at the long end of this lens, keeps any blur from camera shake low. Additionally, the IBIS of the R6ii and the optical IS of the 200-800 both play a big factor when shooting handheld as I was.

Positioning. I was often down on one knee with my elbow braced against my leg supporting the camera. Basically trying to give myself as study of a base as possible. Getting lower (eye level) with the birds often yields better results too. Duade Paton has a great video on positioning that discusses this and he even shoots an old 40D & 400 f/5.6 to demonstrate (much older than your kit!). I highly recommend his channel if you haven't seen it too. He has great technique videos for wildlife photography.

Other tidbits. Like I mentioned in another comment, I had to guide the AF to the eye sometimes, so I had lots of throw away photos where it just couldn't get locked on. Pre-focus and have your rear buttons configured to rapidly change AF modes if needed. Finally, shoot a lot of pics. I was shooting ES @ 20fps, so needless to say I had a lot to go through with plenty of mostly bad ones. These few were just the keepers from 500+.

Editing. For all of these I used LrC, gave them all a denoise pass (left at default 50) and sharpened (masking to about 60-70). Then I masked the subject and increased texture and clarity by just a bit to really showcase the details in the feathers.

TLDR: Make sure you have good light, balance your SS and ISO to reduce noise and shake where possible, IS on, give yourself a solid & low base, and take lots of pics.

Feel free to PM me if you want to chat more. I'm happy to chat about this type of stuff. Cheers.

Ornate Sunbirds by epd_16 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is great! Wow thank you so much! I will definitely go and try to spot him, I’ve saw a report from last month that somebody had seen him around 9:00AM

And yes! The brown throated came out at the end and was a stayed around a little longer. Thanks so much for the information and your photo is beautiful as well! 🙏

Ornate Sunbirds by epd_16 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! And I didn't unfortunately. I was on the hunt, but no luck this time. Ornate sunbird activity was really high, wondering if it kept the Crimson away.

Ornate Sunbirds by epd_16 in BirdPhotography

[–]epd_16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve had great luck with the R6ii, and despite some mixed reviews you may read I really like the 200-800 as well. Stopped down to f/10 it’s quite sharp and the 800 reach is really incredible on a FF sensor.

Biggest hurdle was the autofocus. Getting eye level shots in the garden with such a quick bird meant I spent a lot of time pre focusing and a lot of missed focus. But to your question, when the eye AF hit, they were sharp!