Hello from Oak Harbor, Washington

[Susan B]

I love to photograph birds but am a new photographer. I need some help with cloudy days and dark birds.

 

[Susan B]

Thank you, Jake, for providing the two links. I used spot metering for the Red Wing Black Bird photo that I took and everything was kind of washed out, so I am wondering after reading the first link if I would have been better off using the evaluative monitoring? I usually shoot in Aperture Priority Mode and manually focus since my camera can't single out the birds very well. If you have any other suggestions, I would be very happy to hear them or read up some more. Susan

 

[squirl033]

redwings are always tough. if the sun is bright, there's too much contrast, and you lose detail in the bird. if it's too dark, the bird doesn't show up worth a darn, and there's no contrast. it's almost not worth shooting them in that weather.

if it helps, i use evaluative metering and aperture priority 90% of the time myself, and usually get satisfactory results if the lighting is decent. RWBBs are best shot on days with filtered sun, and preferably in late afternoon. it also helps a lot if you can get the shot with the bird isolated from the background and shoot fairly wide open - the bokeh helps the bird stand out. you didn't mention what kind of camera or lens you're using, but if it's at all gloomy, you'll probably need to bump the ISO to at least 400, maybe more, and open up to f/5.6-6.3.

with the weather getting better, i'm about due to hit my favorite birding park and see if i can spot some of these little stinkers myself...

 

[Susan B]

Made me feel better

Rocky, thank you for your comments, they made me feel much better. I have been trying like the dickens to try and get a rwbb and they are just thick right now. Maybe the weather will be better tomorrow.

I am using a Canon 30D with a 70-300 mm lens. I am a beginner so I can use all of the hints possible. Susan

 

[squirl033]

no worries... one other thing that will help is getting close. if you're too far away, RWBBs just look like little black blobs, no matter what the light is. i don't know how close you can get where you shoot these guys, but if you can get closer than 30 feet, it really helps....

here are a few RWBBs i've gotten over the years at Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland... as you can see, none were shot on really bright days, but none were taken on cloudy days, either... you need to find one of those "in-between" days, with filtered light, and you need to get close. shooting from 30 yards away just won't do it - these little guys are too small and too dark to shoot from a distance, so try to get inside 10 yards to get the detail in their feathers.

 

[Susan B]

An idea of what to try for

Rocky, your shots are fabulous! Thank you for giving me a better idea of how to try and get these little guys. Susan

 

[Susan B]

How do you get so close?

Hi Rocky, it is another cloudy day up here, what is a bird person supposed to do? Actually, I wanted to know if you have any secrets about getting so close to the RWBBs? If I get anywhere near them, they get very flighty. I have feeders up so I can get shots of them on the fence, but I am kind of a purest - I would love to get some shots out in the trees. Thank you, Susan

 

[squirl033]

i confess, the spot where i took these is a wetland park/wildlife refuge in Kirkland, and the blackbirds there will often land or let you approach very close, many times within 30 feet. with my 100-400 lens, that's close enough. i've actually been so close i've had to back off a step to get my lens to focus! i've also gotten shots into their nests, through the cattails, showing the hatchlings. i got pretty spoiled living a mile and a half from one of the top 3 birding sites in the state, but now that i live in Everett, i don't get down there as often... i expect most other places they're harder to get that close to... i've also "shot" herons (blue and green), bitterns, swallows, and other birds from very close range there... like swallows from 6 feet away...

 

[Tony S]

When shooting these guys in Aperture priority mode try setting your exposure compensation to under expose by 2/3 of a stop. The meter, even when using spot meter wants to make those blacks gray, so it tends to overexpose even if you have bright sunshine. That's just one of those things you learn about exposure playing around, under expose some for blacks, increase exposure some for whites and you will be pretty close in the end and avoid the gray washed out look.

LIke Rocky says, getting near some wetlands is a good place to catch the RWBB more relaxed.

 

[Susan B]

Thank you

Tony, thank you for the tips, I definitely can use all of the help I can get! Susan

 

[squirl033]

"The meter, even when using spot meter wants to make those blacks gray, so it tends to overexpose even if you have bright sunshine."

actually, i've found the exact opposite to be true. if you spot meter on the black, the bird will be properly exposed, but everything else will be far too bright; evaluative metering tends to underexpose the bird so it's just a black spot, while the rest of the scene is okay. in sunny-ish weather, i've found the best results metering off a relatively dark part of the image, such as a shadow area or a dark tree trunk (but not spot-metering on the bird), then using the exposure lock to keep that setting while i shoot. it seems to split the difference pretty well. better still, shoot on a "semi-sunny" day - one of those days when it's bright, but not harsh - and try to shoot in late afternoon, when the light angle is lower and the light's a bit more diffused.