Thursday, September 20, 2012

More bird shots from the Canon 400mm f/5.6

The 400mm's sharpness is so visible in most shots like in this one. The feather details are still seen from this bird from about 20 feet away.

Fall is almost here and I am scrambling to get the most use out of my Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens. As you all know, the 400mm is not your everyday lens. You only use it for specific stuff like birds, and some sports. I don't do a lot of sports shots, so I mainly use it for birding.

Every weekend I try to go to my favorite nature centers to photograph wildlife. Some weekends I have luck some weekends I don't. Patience is a trait that you should have when birding and I have trained myself heavily to have lots of it when birding. If you have the right tools, the patience and the luck, then birding is a very nice hobby.

This bird was shot in our front yard. It didn't really mind having its photo taken.

A lot of times, I didn't even have to go to a nature center. All I had to do is wait in our front yard and the birds come along. So somehow it really is just pure luck. I have photographed closeups of birds in our front yard. Sometimes they get spooked by the flash, but a lot of times they really don't pay attention to it.

As I have said in a previous post, a nice thing to have when birding is a flash extender. Flashes when used correctly give the birds a lot of color and contrast. It's also a perfect tool to correctly expose birds when you are shooting them against the light, especially when they are flying.

 This fellow kept on coming back for the free food.

 I heard splashing then I saw this guy with a frog in its beak.

 This one just went into a branch above me and stayed till I pressed the shutter.

 This fellow was kinda shy.

This one kept on going back and forth the tree trunk and the feeder.

In the next couple of weeks I'm going to try to get the most out of my 400mm this season. Then I suppose it's time to put it away when the snow comes. Hopefully birds are still around when there is snow so I can continue to use it.

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