Some bird photography questions

Hello all,

I am new to bird photography and bird ID. We have some wonderful wetlands around us with a lot of species of migratory birds. I know there are a lot of fabulous bird photographers in the Nikon forum, so I thought I'd just ask you all some of my very, extremely, so much basic questions.

 

I shoot with a D750 and a Sigma 150-600. It's a pretty heavy lens and I have trouble nailing the focus. Any tips for how to steady the lens? I used my knee when I could, and tried to be as steady as possible. When shooting from the car, I could use the arm rest to stabilize. My husband was driving so he used the window and did better than I. (Yeah, so how do you crawl over your spouse to get the shot??? ;) How do you birders get so close to your subjects? I thought I was walking so softly and carefully, and PLENTY far away, and the heron would just get skittish and fly off. I'd prefer to use a tripod but most of the time that timing wasn't an option.

 

Reviewing my images, I do see that the mid-day shots with more difficult lighting also look more soft, so I get that lighting is important, too. We were just there when we were there.

 

I am thinking of getting a DX camera for bird photography to improve the reach. Since we're just starting this avenue, I want to buy used and spend as little as possible since this is something we won't be doing every weekend. I know the D500 is the obvious choice, is the D7500 worth considering for this? I'll be buying used so if there's something else out there that I haven't though of, let me know. (I'd love to spend under 800, under 600 would be dreamy, but I'm aware that's difficult.) I'm going to live with the Sigma lens for now. (TBH I'd rather get a Z6 kit before I add another DSLR, but suddenly the crop sensor has appeal for birdies.)

 

The appeal of doing this is to really improve my skills. I don't shoot usually shoot anything which requires me to learn new techniques, so this will be an adventure. I also generally always focus on my subject and recompose, so I need to really learn my focusing technique and continuous shooting.

 

Are there any fabulous books you recommend? Any other tips?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

~Julie

Do you have the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary or Sports? The Sports version is considerably heavier. For something like 600mm, I prefer to use a tripod. If you are shooting from inside the car, there are also window mounts. I would shut off the car engine, though. Years ago, I saw a couple in a car at some refuge on the East Coast. The man was driving while the woman was shooting from a window with a long lens, but the car engine was running at idle with plenty of vibration. My wife and I couldn't believe it, and I almost got out of the car to remind them to shut the engine.

 

As long as your husband is driving, could you shoot from the back seat so that you have access to both sides easily? (We used to have a car where the rear windows wouldn't roll all the way down, bummer.) Occasionally my wife shoots from the moonroof. That may work too.

 

If you would like to get a DX body, I would go for the D500 for the Multi-CAM 2000 AF, 10 fps, and two memory card slots. The D500 has one SD slot so that you don't have to get XQD, until prices come down. Both the D500 and D7500 use the same EN-EL15 battery as the D750. The Z6 and lenses are great for landscape, travel, people group shots, etc., but its AF is not as good as that on the D500, D850, etc.

 

I added Gaussian blur to the attached image on purpose.

 

Edited January 21, 2020 by ShunCheung

Any tips for how to steady the lens?

Monopod with a gimbal head.

How do you birders get so close to your subjects?

Carefully approach. Some use hides; I personally don't have the patience for that. Approaching by car - if possible - often gets one closer than if one was on foot. Draping a bean bag or similar over the window/door rim helps steadying the lens (turn off the car engine too).

I thought I was walking so softly and carefully, and PLENTY far away, and the heron would just get skittish and fly off.

Some birds in some areas are more used to humans than in others in other areas. It's virtually impossible to sneak up on any bird; at best they tolerate one's presence. If the bird changes its behavior because of your presence, then you definitely are too close and should back off.

I am thinking of getting a DX camera for bird photography to improve the reach.

Depending on the camera, there's no such advantage any more (D850 vs D500 are at par in terms of resolution, a D7500 or 7200 provide a few more pixels on the subject). To me it's a toss-up between the D7500 and D7200 - more fps on the former, slightly more pixels (and two card slots) on the latter. D500 is the obvious choice when it comes to speed and AF performance.

 

Are there any fabulous books you recommend?

Arthur Morris "Birds as Art" - both the older (film) and newer (digital) versions. He also has a blog that's pretty useful. And there's birdphotographers.net.

Do you have the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary or Sports?

I have the Contemporary, I probably just don't use it enough to be comfortable handholding it.

 

would shut off the car engine, though.

Yes, we do! We live in an air pollution pocket, so we do it by habit. Plus the engine noise...

 

As long as your husband is driving, could you shoot from the back seat so that you have access to both sides easily?

Oh duh, yes that's a good idea. He got the best shot of the weekend with MY CAMERA. I couldn't get the shot from my seat, and I was afraid to get out of the car. This little short-eared owl (I think) was just sitting by the road! Anyway, I handed Scot my camera after he finished with his. Still not the same as doing it myself. And we do have a sunroof, it never even occurred to me to use it. Boy, am I dumb. Guess we'll have to go back next weekend! ;)

 

Monopod with a gimbal head.

Great suggestion, I like the idea that one could even leave it partly extended in the back for quick action. Do you have a particular brand you like to recommend?

 

The Z6 and lenses are great for landscape, travel, people group shots, etc., but its AF is not as good as that on the D500, D850, etc.

Yep, that's what I've read. I mostly shoot the former, so the mirrorless has appeal. I know it's not a good option yet for wildlife/birding.

 

The other reason to have an extra body was just convenience. I found myself wanting to shoot a landscape and would end up switching lenses a lot. So it would be easy to attach a DX to the big lens and leave it that way. I'm not a rich person, though, so it's kind of a stretch.

 

Arthur Morris "Birds as Art"

Cool, I'll look now. Thank you!

Arthur Morris "Birds as Art"

The correct title is "The Art of Bird Photography" (older book, reprinted) and "The Art of Bird Photography II" (digital copy): Art of Bird Photo..." (2) Book Bundle

Morris was a Canon Explorer of Light for a long time, so his writing is mostly referencing Canon gear and some advice needs to be adapted to fit the use of Nikon or other equipment. Morris switched to Nikon a few years back and now has moved on to using Sony.

 

The blog is called "birds as art": Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Birds and wildlife are much less scared of vehicles than of exposed humans. Use the car as a mobile hide if possible, and a beanbag to nestle the lens/camera on through an open window.

Camera/lens weight is an issue for me, too, and a monopod is a major help. It doesn't have to be an expensive one - my first was the best monopod $20US could buy at Walmart. Look for one that collapses down enough so it can be used at its shortest length inside your car for shooting through the window on the opposite side. You can even use the long end of the lens to move your husband out of the way if necessary :^) A ball head can do nicely even though a gimbal is better (but gimbals tend to be expensive for well made ones). Even a bare monopod with no head on it provides a surface on which you can rest the lens to improve steadiness, and it will make the monopod assembly shorter for use inside a car..

 

I also recommend the item below for shooting out the window beside you. It's intended for hunting - the bottom can rest on a tree limb, fence rail, etc and the rifle barrel goes in the slot on the top to steady the rifle. Turn it upside down and the slot goes nicely over a half open window, and provides a nice beanbag surface to steady a long lens. Purpose-built window camera supports tend to be expensive. I got this at Sportsman's Warehouse for $16.

 

There's one other thing that a photographer has to do when using a long lens - practice,

practice,practice.

I am not a bird photographer, but …

 

Dieter's suggestion of a monopod is excellent.

 

If you do regular physical exercises, especially if you go to a gym, add exercises to build upper body strength - especially shoulders.

 

I use to shoot target rifle. I find that using a long telephoto lens is somewhat like firing a target rifle off-hand, unsupported. You might try turning slightly sideways to your subject, rest your upper arm on your body, and support the lens with your hand and fingers. In this position breath control is essential - deep breath, let it all out, deep breath, let half of it out and squeeze off the shutter. One of the best books for position shooting that I have read is Competitive Shooting by A.A. Yur' Yev. The book is out of print and quite expensive used, but you may be able to get a copy through your library system.

 

On the theme of shooting a camera is like shooting a rifle, both the kneeling and sitting positions are much more stable than the standing position. (I have omitted the prone positions since grass and other natural obstacles would get in the way.) You might experiment with them. Whatever the position, remember breath control.

Do you have a particular brand you like to recommend?

I use an older Manfrotto monopod (434B) and a 10-year old Jobu Design gimbal: Jobu Design BWG-J3K Jobu Jr.3 Gimbal Kit with Swing-Arm HM-J2; there's an updated version now: Jobu Design Jobu Jr.3 Deluxe Gimbal Kit with Swing-Arm HM-J3D

 

This is a new small gimbal Wimberley Professional Photo Gear - The Wimberley MonoGimbal Head - watch video here:

I don't like the fact that it's offset.

 

If I didn't already own the Jobu, I'd probably go for this one for use on a monopod: Fotopro E-6H Fotopro E-6H Eagle Series Gimbal Head Compared to the Jobu, it is kind of pricey though. And I consider the Jobu adequate as long as you don't want to use a 400/2.8, 500/4 or 600/4 on it (or something similarly large and heavy).

 

Zoom lenses and gimbals don't go together all that well - unless the zoom action doesn't change the length and hence the center of gravity of the lens/camera combo; otherwise there's always only one focal length at which the combo balances perfectly.

Thank you everyone, for the fantastic advice!

I did order the two books by Arthur Morris and will look forward to them.

Bald eagles are coming to Utah, evidently Feb is their peak month. People are already posting fabulous pictures and it literally looks like they are three feet away. So I will be striving. And practicing!

Thank you!

Julie

Welcome to bird photography!

 

The addition of a D500 would be a huge plus for you as well as better support for your camera and lens. Support comes in different sizes, shapes and types. I use a bean bag (Gura Gear sabi sack) when shooting from a car or other vehicle as these "moving blinds" are great for nature photography. I use a monopod with a Wimberley mono head and a tripod with a wimberley gimbal head.

 

Go to Steve Perry's site, Backcounty and check out all of his videos. His two books on Nikon AF and Nature Photography are both excellent.

 

Backcountry Gallery - Wildlife And Nature Photography By Steve Perry

 

Send me a private email and I will send you some additional info as powerpoint handouts.

 

I shoot with a D 500 and a Nikon 500mm lens and a Nikon D 810 with a 300mm pf lens and other lenses too.

 

Joe

You say you go out at weekends - any chance you could go out during the week sometimes, or do you suffer from employment ? The reason I ask is that fewer people are around (generally) on weekdays, so there is inherently less disturbance of any wildlife. @dieter mentioned 'patience' - I think that is an often overlooked factor in successful wildlife photography.

 

Most of my birding (and nature photography) is done on Nature Reserves, from purpose-built hides (I believe other areas call them 'blinds' - whatever, they are wooden sheds with viewing hatches in !), and just sitting and waiting for the wildlife to get closer sometimes pays off. A bean bag on the edge of the viewing hatch offers a modicum of support as well. Best of luck, anyway, and we look forward to seeing the results.

Hi Yardkat - Birding is fun and a challenge. Having lived for 10 years at the edge of a wetland I found bird photography very satisfying. A couple of things I learned. Patience is a virtue. Knowledge of birds and their behaviors is very useful in photographing them. Whenever possible, encourage them to come to you rather than vice versa...this can often be accomplished by use of a feeder or even fruit placed on a tree. Stalking works, but demands physical endurance...Doug Herr was a master of this in bird photography. In addition to the good advice others have given, I found that a 400mm lens is about the shortest focal length for any distance work, and a firm support for the lens/camera combo if you want sharp shots. Good luck and have fun at it.

any chance you could go out during the week sometimes, or do you suffer from employment ?

 

Haha, Yep, I definitely suffer from some employment. In fact, I even work weekends, which makes things difficult. This weekend just lucked into a Saturday night free, so we took off for the weekend. So if I can ever get out, it's Sunday and that's if I don't have a million other chores. Depending on the year I can get busy enough that it's a long time between photography sessions.

 

Knowledge of birds and their behaviors is very useful in photographing them.

Yes, I'm learning tons just by going out a few times, and I follow a couple local birding groups on Facebook and am learning a lot from their conversations, too.

 

Go to Steve Perry's site, Backcounty

Yes! I'd found his youtube page a while back regarding setting up focusing on the Nikon cameras, and found him again last night looking at gimbal heads. Very clear, makes it look easy. :)

 

This is all great info, thank you so much, I have a lot to think about now.

~Julie

Yardkat,

Your lens and camera combination is fine.

Patience is a virtue in this endeavor.

Long lens technique has not changed much with the advent of digital.

You need to make the camera and lens weightless by supporting the lens on a car window or a tripod.

If you shoot from a car window I would bring a pillow or pillows to sit on so your at the proper height and comfortable.

Your car is the perfect blind.

I would have a medium sized bean bag filled with what ever is heavy enough to provide stability but also light enough to allow you to man handle the bag on and off the window. Buck wheat hulls work well and are not as heavy as beans but easy to lift onto your car window. Beans are heavy but stable and foam pellets from the UPS store are light and not as stable but easier to lift.

If you have good tripod and ball head I would start with that and add a Wimberley “side kick” to turn your tripod ball head into an action head.

I think monopods are OK and that’s all but a good tripod and action head that brings your cameras eye piece to eye level is a more stable choice that you can stand back from and relax.

If you shoot with a bean bag you should put your non camera hand on to of the lens at a point over the bean bag and let the weight of your arm press the lens onto the bag. If you shoot with a tripod place your hand onto the lens barrel directly over the tripod head assembly and let your arm press down from its own weight. In both cases using a bean bag or tripod consider using and eye cup and press your cheek and eye brow against the camera.

If your going to shoot with DX both the D500 and D7200 have very good ISO performance and image quality but the D500 is a much faster frame rate and bigger buffer.

I bought my D500 as a refurbished but even now a couple of years later the price is quite a bit lower.

I still use the D7200 for close ups.

On hand holding sometimes that affords the best opportunity to get a shot or at least a reference image but I don’t think hand holding a 600mm lens will consistently get you the quality you want.

Taking critically sharp images will allow you a little more room to crop.

Don’t shoot in the middle of a sunlit day. Shoot in the afternoon after 3 PM until sun set and in the morning get up before day light and drive to your destination. Start shooting before sunrise and end at 930 or 1000 AM. The best light is always on the edges and not in the middle of the day. When I lived in San Diego I would make numerous 100 mile trips starting at 3 AM to the Sunrise Highway in the Laguna mountains or Ansa Borrego to be in the desert with big horn sheep or a desert bloom or the Tamarisk grove to shoot long eared owls in beautiful light.

I have a slow 100-400 mm lens but my current heavy long lenses are my 600mm f4 and an older 200-400 f4 with a quick auto focus. Both lenses will take teleconverters with 600mm being one of the sharpest lenses aI have ever owned.

Your 150-600 Sigma in most cases will do very well.

You need to go out a lot and once you have found a great location return again and again.

If you know and bird photographers to hang with that is good but I belong to and have always enjoyed going out with Audubon Society birders who know a lot more than I do.

You can help with a bird count and learn a lot from those folks sometime to make the most of your efforts.

Good hunting.

Probably the 'best'* way to get sharp-reach, without bottomless pockets, is the Nikon D500 and the Sigma 60-600mm S.

 

Unlike the Nikon 200-500mm and the Sigma 150-600mm C, it's pretty much at it's sharpest wide open at the longer end.

 

Sigma S 60-600 mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM review - Image resolution - LensTip.com

 

It's got pretty good stabilization for the small perching bird on a post, and combined with the pretty full AF point coverage of the D500, BIF should be OK.

 

The only downside is the aperture 'slowness'..... oh, and it's big & heavy!

 

The window bean-bags with a slit to kinda fold over the glass is my favourite, although I often stay further in the car and rest the lens as-opposed to the foot on the bag so the lens doesn't protrude out of the car, like some imaging Bazooka.

 

* Only my opinion here, but any AF lens suitable for birding that ends in f4 is going to hurt the bank-balance!

Hello all,

I shoot with a D750 and a Sigma 150-600. It's a pretty heavy lens and I have trouble nailing the focus. Any tips for how to steady the lens? I used my knee when I could, and tried to be as steady as possible. When shooting from the car, I could use the arm rest to stabilize. My husband was driving so he used the window and did better than I. (Yeah, so how do you crawl over your spouse to get the shot??? ;) How do you birders get so close to your subjects? I thought I was walking so softly and carefully, and PLENTY far away, and the heron would just get skittish and fly off. I'd prefer to use a tripod but most of the time that timing wasn't an option.

 

Note that when shooting from inside the car, the difference in air temperature between the car interior and outdoor space may cause some image quality issues. In winter I've noticed that if it is cold outside and I try to shoot from the car window, the image quality is likely to be low. Also whenever shooting the other side through the interior, the quality may be affected in a negative way. What you can do is turn the AC off and open the windows so the air temperature difference is reduced.

 

I haven't had much luck trying to walk closer to animals. What has worked best for me is taking my time, watching the subjects for several hours at a time, and coming back to the same location several times, in good weather and lighting conditions (by good, I mean photogenic). Once the animals are used to your presence, if the location is such that there are few people, sometimes they will surprise you and come and check you out from a close distance. Then, you get those shots which make people wonder "how did you get so close?" What I find is fascinating is that during daylight, it rarely happens that I get close to the animals, but at dusk or down (I'm more a dusk than dawn person, unfortunately) they will both let you closer and come closer on their own. And so then to get good results in those conditions, it is helpful to have a lens that can be used at a wide aperture with good results. By filling the frame, the image quality is at its best, and surprisingly low light can be used for photography.

 

Reviewing my images, I do see that the mid-day shots with more difficult lighting also look more soft, so I get that lighting is important, too. We were just there when we were there.

 

When shooting over water, in particular, the evaporation can degrade image quality over medium to long distances, and the sun accelerates this. A low sun is typically good for photography. It's best to be "there" when the conditions are good.

 

I know the D500 is the obvious choice, is the D7500 worth considering for this? I'll be buying used so if there's something else out there that I haven't though of, let me know. (I'd love to spend under 800, under 600 would be dreamy, but I'm aware that's difficult.)

 

The D7200 has a 24MP sensor and may be possible to get for that price. The D7100 is not worth getting due to the very small buffer, but the D7200 has a decent buffer. The D7500 has a 20MP sensor and is faster than the D7200.

 

The appeal of doing this is to really improve my skills. I don't shoot usually shoot anything which requires me to learn new techniques, so this will be an adventure.

 

That sounds like a lot of fun.

Edited January 22, 2020 by ilkka_nissila

If you can spring for the D500, the AF is so much better than my neglected D7200, both in terms of first acquisition and tracking.

 

Guess the D7500 may be better, but I've never even seen one, let-alone tried it....:)

If you can spring for the D500, the AF is so much better than my neglected D7200, both in terms of first acquisition and tracking.

 

Yes, but how do you get a D500 for under $800? I might be interested.:)

Yes, but how do you get a D500 for under $800? I might be interested

 

A girl can dream, can't she? :) (just kidding, i am a realist.)

 

When shooting over water, in particular, the evaporation can degrade image quality over medium to long distances, and the sun accelerates this.

 

That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that but it makes sense. When I'm at/around the Great Salt Lake I always feel like it's hazy. That's partly our air quality. I've tried to google "why is the GSL hazy" and the results are all about our air.

 

A low sun is typically good for photography. It's best to be "there" when the conditions are good.

 

Yes, yes. I do know. I'm just not always there at the right times, but I do know. :)

I might be interested

There's been about half a dozen on Ebay UK going for ~£600/650 (amongst the £1K ones)..... and what with the £:$ parity game...:)

 

Interestingly, if you check the 'sold' listings chronologically there's a notable trend to getting cheaper over the last couple of months.

Edited January 22, 2020 by mike_halliwell

I would love to do bird photography but the birds usually flee in the woods fifty meters ahead of me when they spy my large white lens and my body movements.

 

I think the answer must be to use a "hide" and let the birds come to you. :oops:

when they spy my large white lens

Sounds like a need for one of those camo Lenscoat thingies...:)

I would love to do bird photography but the birds usually flee in the woods fifty meters ahead of me when they spy my large white lens and my body movements.

 

I think the answer must be to use a "hide" and let the birds come to you. :oops:

I'm lacking in the proper camo clothing. ;)

Quick extra thought: if birds (or other wildlife) are skittish about human silhouettes, bear in mind most car sun visors flip around to partially block the side windows. I've done the "sideways visors and lie down in the car" thing, although I also had to deal with members of the public convinced that I was shooting kids at a nearby playground rather than squirrels... being surreptitious works for all species. I used the arm rest in the middle of my car and shoot across the passenger seat where possible, which might spook things less than something poking out of a window.

 

If you're travelling, I've discovered that car hire places sometimes have hybrids available, which helped for sneaking up to wildlife in Yellowstone under quiet battery power - I'm under no delusion of being invisible, but some things hide when they hear a car. If you can afford a Tesla, that works too, if you can charge it!

 

I sometimes worry that for all my expensive camera gear (not that I can go longer than a 200-500 with a TC14), someone with a P900 (or new 950, or even a P1000) may well get a better shot...