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“Best luck I’ve had is early mornings near open fields, just sit still and be patient. Binoculars help a lot for spotting them first.”
This is well said, Sam. Birds tend to be active where there is a merging of the habitats: between trees and grassy areas, grass and water, water and trees, or all three. Your comment also reminds me of that useful saying “First ear, then eyes, then binoculars” but you could also add “and then camera”!
One more tip for a good view: when possible, get between the bird and the sun.
Hey Miss Lydia, I had a quick question: In order to submit photos for this assignment do we have to submit photos for each of the 5 categories?
I was wondering, because even though we have plenty of birds to photograph in our area, I don’t have the equipment or lenses to get good bird photos unless I am really close to the bird. This would make it challenging to get decent photos of birds in the eagle category especially since they are more often seen at a distance. Thanks for the help!:)-Joanna
I got a new camera because my old one broke but that means I don’t have a telephoto lens that can fit on my new camera
and I defiantly don’t have money to bye a new lens
any tips to photograph birds with only an 18-45mm lens or is it impossible?In order to submit photos for this assignment do we have to submit photos for each of the 5 categories?
@joannapotter, yes, the idea is to submit photos from each category! @don3 can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the photo does not necessarily need to be close up. The assignment details state, “…anything in your picture that captures their ethereal nature would be good…Donald would appreciate anything that helps illustrate their universally wide-ranging plumage, habits, or habitats…Our avian subjects are often associated in Scripture with the heavens or sky, being referred to as the “fowls of the air”. So if you can, try to keep a sense of what is buoyant, light and free, as opposed to earthbound or cluttered.”So, if you can photograph a bird of prey (like an eagle) in flight, that would certainly be a great option!
And @tahliaco, this may help answer your question as well! If you’re able to photograph birds in their greater context, whether flying, hopping on the ground or in water, that’s where a wide-angle lens could be used successfully. That would be my suggestion for starters!
Way to go. Persevero.
I am not a professional photographer; however, seeing hawks at our place over the week has reminded me often of this topic on birds of prey. Today, through the lens of the binoculars, I found a common Red-tailed Hawk. When it flew out of view behind some leaves that were closer to me, the image that I came away with was bright backlit greenery in the foreground with the hawk “way out there” in distant and unreachable heights. Though the hawk was not close up, it would have been an excellent picture. A few days earlier, a pair of them were circling in front of an enormous cloud. Again, from a photographer’s standpoint, I immediately thought how impressive a photograph of that composition would be, despite the birds themselves turning out small and dark, if that spacious cloud filled the frame behind them.
Things along those lines show the “eagle” type in its element. Rather than being your typical field guide photo, I need a snapshot of the soaring feeling that is unique to that type. It is worth repeating the objective: look for the variety that birds show between all five types.
Thank you for sharing that example, Donald! Well explained.
And, everyone – we’re in the last week of the assignment! Please let us know if you have any more questions that have not yet been covered!
I’ve been enjoying birding!
We can submit more then 5 pictures, correct? Up to 10? Just as long as we have all five kinds represented?
-HannahThat’s correct, @blessingscaptured. As stated in the details, “A maximum of 2 batches may be submitted per photographer.” So that would be up to 2 batches of 5 photos, totaling 10 photos.
Thank you, I missed that part in the details. 🙂 Would we have to have two of each kind of bird? A couple of the kinds I’m short on.
The idea is to submit at least one full batch – one photo of each bird type, totaling 5 photos. And then if you submit a second batch, that’s bonus!
If you’re not able to photograph at least one bird in each type before the assignment deadline, do submit what you can. But it should not be more than 2 of each bird type.
So, for example, you could submit up 2 pictures in, say, the Eagle type. However you should not submit 1 Dove, 0 Ravens, 2 Eagles, 4 sparrows, and 3 Chickens. While that would total 10 photos, it would not fulfil the assignment details. But you could submit 1 Dove, 0 Ravens, 2 Eagles, 2 sparrows, and 2 chickens.
That being said, I hope you’re able to photograph at least one in each type by Saturday to get at least one full batch!
Does that help answer your question, though? 🙂
Thank you for explaining it! That does answer my question. Submit whatever you have but not more then 2 of each type.
@blessingscaptured, yup! You got it.
Appreciate your all’s willingness to take on a collage project with such details! I appreciate the input from New Zealand, Hawaii, etc. as well; @laura-aome, @tahliaco, anyone from Australia, there still may be a couple leads worth pursuing.
With the Ravens, I call to mind what Scripture says about them (being let out to go “to and fro” after the flood, bringing bread and meat to Elijah, calling out, having no storehouse …). What sets them apart from other birds is intelligence and this may account for some of those habits mentioned in Scripture. I am sure there are some seabirds which could be an equivalent to a Raven. I also read that Cockatoos and Keas exhibit strong intelligence if those are find-able.
Perhaps it is a wild goose chase, but there is a third avenue that may work. DNA studies show that the Raven (Corvid) family could include many southern exotic birds such as Drongos, Bellmagpies, and … the New Zealand Fantail (Link: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/nezfan1/cur/introduction). They are supposed to be relatively common. Do you see these where you live? If you do find one, I can count it for a Raven, and I would certainly want to hear whether such a tiny sparrow-like bird would show any Raven type mannerisms!
God bless you all to keep your eyes and ears open. If the birds seem too wild and free to photograph, just remember that’s why we are chasing them this month. It’s worth it. We will see what the Lord will bring.
Thank you again Lenspiration as well! I am looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.
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