Migrating birds

[andi_h]

<p>Greetings all! I posted this at fred miranda but I can use all the

help I can get!</p>

 

<p><a

href="http://deandi.com/adventure/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi/harlingen/20050818.titoi">Last

night I took these photos</a> and I'm going out to capture this

amazing event again tonight- I could use some pointers on how to get

some more effective shots.</p>

 

<p>The four trees the birds are roosting in are on a single corner in

Jackson Street in downtown Harlingen. As you can see from some of the

shots, Jackson pretty much runs east/west. I tried to shoot into the

sunset for most of the.... "flocking"? The moon was rising from the

other side of the street, of course. None of the buildings downtown

are particularly tall, but there isn't a good vantage point from which

to get a more unobstructed view. I used a tripod on all, Nikon D70 on

all.</p>

 

<p>Shot 1: Well before sunset. 70-300mm lens, 270mm, 400ISO, 1/500th @

f/5.6<br>

Shot 2: 8:20pm (sunset at 8:06). 18-70mm lens, 18mm, 400ISO, 1/30th @

f/4.5<br>

Shot 3: 8:21pm. 18-70mm lens, 70mm, 640ISO, 1/80th @ f/4.5<br>

Shot 4: 8:21pm, 18-70 lens, 38mm, 640ISO, 1/80th @ f/4.2 with

speedlight<br>

Shot 5: 8:40pm, 70-300 lens, 210mm, 800ISO, 1/125th @ f/5 with

speedlight</p>

 

<p>Any suggested shots for tonight? Suggested camera settings? I would

like to be able to freeze the motion in the sky without using the

flash but I know that means bumping up the ISO. I have a hard time

shooting in sunset light, I never seem to get the right "look".</p>

 

<p>I'd also like some tips on shooting the moon- I'd love to get the

birds silouetted across it, but that means waiting until it's nearly

dark in that part of the sky and the moon is rather high (that's when

the birds are really flocking). How to expose properly for the moon

and still get the birds sharp?</p>

 

<p>Any suggestions would be most appreciated, I'm hoping to really

improve on these this evening!</p>

 

<p>Thanks in advance! </p>

 

<p>Andi Hazelwood<br>

<a href="http://www.titoi.com">Titoi.com</a></p>

[andi_h]

<p><img src="http://images.dpchallenge.com/images_portfolio/9939/orig/219541.jpg"></p>

 

<p>Here's one where I attempted to show motion, but I'm not crazy about the results. 18mm, 200ISO, .4sec @ f/7.1</p>

[marymac]

Andi -

 

Thanks for sharing these photos - we don't get Purple Martins much in the SF Bay Area and certainly not 30000 of them at a time! I like the shots without flash best (2nd and 3rd shots) though it's good to have flash for that last shot so you can see how densly packed they are in the tree. One thing you could try would be to take some prints of these pictures to the businesses right there and see if they would let you get up on their roof to take more pictures this evening. Or you could try wearing a jacket and getting under the flock and shoot straight up as they pass (bird silhouettes against the dusky sky). If you don't like the colors you're getting you can probably do color corrections in Photoshop (or whatever software you use) to get the look you're trying for. Good luck! - Mary

[greg s]

Andi, Very cool! I like shots 2 thru 4. If it were me I would show up before sunset and plan ahead for the best composition of birds with the foreground, which I'm sure you will be doing anyway. :) I'd try to stay in the 1/80 sec or above range.

 

Not sure if there are any options for using the headlights from a car for lighting... you may want to see what the possibilities are.

 

Have fun! -Greg-

[andi_h]

Thanks both for the responses! Greg, I did attempt to get some car lights in a few different shots, but the timing was all off- the birds would swoop away, the car would show up then drive off, the birds would swarm back. Perhaps more luck tonight. It's amazing how fast the sun goes down when you don't want it to, I was really aware of the approaching darkness as I waited for the right shot to appear.

[greg s]

Andi, I was thinking more about you using your car (won't drive off) if the angle of light isn't too low. An old award winning photo here once employed lights from a pickup truck to illuminate part of the foreground for a shot of a comet. FWIW... -Greg-

 

WOuld love to witness the event, camera or no camera. :)

[andi_h]

<a href="http://www.deandi.com/adventure/birds/" target="away">Just in case anyone is interested in seeing the following night's action...</a>

 

Thanks again!

[andi_h]

<p>I note that people still visit the link in the original post, even though it's out of date- too bad I can't edit it to post the current link! For those who read this far down in the thread, <a href="http://deandi.com/adventure/node/199">here is the updated link</a> and <a href="http://www.deandi.com/adventure/birds">here is what I captured</a> the following night. Now that I've lived in Australia for over a year, this seems like a lifetime ago! Cheers.</p>

 

<p>Andi Hazelwood<br>

<a href="http://www.andihazelwood.com">AndiHazelwood.com</a></p>