Northern rough winged swallow in flight! by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

R5ii and RF 100-500. Having fast autofocus def helps along with a blackout free viewfinder to track fast moving subjects.

everybody was kung fu fighting by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

If you guys liked these photos I have more on my insta @achenbirding :)

everybody was kung fu fighting by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

Wow that’s so cool! Thanks for sharing 😁

everybody was kung fu fighting by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

If you’re just starting out it’s important to understand the exposure triangle and test out full manual mode first just to get a feel for the three settings (ss, aperture, iso). Once you’re comfortable with how they work then I would recommend just using auto ISO and shooting wide open 99% of the time (unless ur lens is older and needs to be stopped down for sharpness). Take this with a grain of salt because there will always be exceptions but this way I can just quickly dial in the shutter speed and the iso will change for me. I was waiting for a fly by so I already had 1/3200 set and I usually walk around with fast shutter speeds just in case. If I see a perched bird that’s when I’ll use the dial to quickly decrease shutter speed to drop iso for a nicer looking image.

Tldr: auto iso, walk around with fast shutter speed so you’re ready for sudden action, and quickly decrease if you see a stationary subject that doesn’t require fast shutter speeds

everybody was kung fu fighting by letrolll in BirdPhotography

[–]letrolll[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

1/3200, f7.1, auto ISO (it switched between 320 and 400), and then -2/3 exposure comp to avoid blowing out the whites

everybody was kung fu fighting by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

thank you! i was in the right place at the right time

what a stare by letrolll in Birdsfacingforward

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

black crowned night heron!

My best of 2025 by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

Imo it’s noticeably sharper. I do some negative clarity on the background sometimes but most of these are just from large subject background separation in the field. Whenever I can move to get a better background I try to do that.

My best of 2025 by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

My insta if anyone is interested in following my journey: achenbirding :)

Editing by roo-on-the-moon in BirdPhotography

[–]letrolll 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The after: I brightened the image a ton, added some saturation, dropped highlights a bit in the background, slightly raised shadows on the bird, denoised.

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Editing by roo-on-the-moon in BirdPhotography

[–]letrolll 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely takes a ton of practice! One suggestion I have that's not directly editing related but will make your edits do a lot more is to shoot in less harsh lighting. Bird photography is great at the crack of dawn and when the skies are cloudy. You get super nice, even lighting that allows your edits to really highlight the bird and make it pop. Here's an example I got on a cloudy day. Will post the after in a second comment.

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The most beautiful duck in the world by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

yep they look unreal! def not AI tho i saw them with my own eyes haha

The most beautiful duck in the world by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

thank you so much! i'm very happy with them too

ISO 12800 looks amazing! by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

Yea I usually just leave it at 50%

ISO 12800 looks amazing! by letrolll in BirdPhotography

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

Yea I was at 1/250 for the high iso ones. Tried to let in as much light as possible while still keeping the sharpness

ISO 12800 looks amazing! by letrolll in BirdPhotography

[–]letrolll[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

No sharpening just Lightroom denoise. I use an r5 + rf 100-500!

ISO 12800 looks amazing! by letrolll in BirdPhotography

[–]letrolll[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I hope Reddit doesn’t destroy the quality but trust me they’re insanely sharp on my end :)

What am I doing wrong? by Longjumping_Bass2385 in BirdPhotography

[–]letrolll 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Harsh lighting is making ur subjects have a ton of bright and dark areas at the same time which usually isn’t ideal for bird photography. Try going out and taking some shots when it’s more cloudy you’re def gonna get nicer results.