Random Photos

DennisN · Jun 7, 2023

Rive said:

When you make a bunch of photos of a noisy hole on a tree, some of them are bound to be lucky, right?

Lovely!

I recently have been experimenting with shooting flying birds, so I'd like to share a friendly suggestion:

(caveat: I don't know what kind of camera you are using, i.e. mobile phone, compact camera or system camera, but the suggestion below assumes you are using a camera that can be set manually.)

If you would like to try to get less motion blur from a flying bird (or anything else moving), do this:

Decrease the exposure time/shutter speed to ca 1/1000 sec (or less; less is even better).

Such a short exposure time will make the photos darker, so compensate by increasing ISO to let's say somewhere between ISO 1000 - 2500 (ca, your mileage may vary).

Rive · Jun 7, 2023

Thanks: will try. :thumbup:

We have upgraded to a real camera just recently - still learning it, though - but it was a dark (really dark!) forest on the darker side of a hill, with only the basic (cheap) zoom optics...
So at the end I think I've already managed to push my luck to the limits with that picture, at least for now

DennisN · Jun 7, 2023

Rive said:

but it was a dark (really dark!) forest on the darker side of a hill, with only the basic (cheap) zoom optics...

I understand. And I know it's extra difficult to shoot birds in the shade, as I've found they have a tendency to visually "melt" into the background.

DennisN · Jun 7, 2023

DennisN said:

If you would like to try to get less motion blur from a flying bird

Rive said:

We have upgraded to a real camera just recently - still learning it, though - but it was a dark (really dark!) forest on the darker side of a hill, with only the basic (cheap) zoom optics...

By the way, I looked for and found the article I read about wildlife photography.
It was that article that made me start experimenting with fast exposures and high ISO.
(I might aswell notify @Andy Resnick since he likes to shoot birds too...

)

Don’t be afraid of shooting at high ISO (amateurphotographer.com)
"Nature photographer Marsel van Oosten urges you to not be frightened of shooting at high ISO."
https://amateurphotographer.com/technique/expert_advice/shooting-at-high-iso/

(and there are some splendid photos in that article too

)

DennisN · Jun 7, 2023

I just saw this gorgeous photo in an article :kiss:

:
(the colors, the lights, the atmosphere, just wow

)

Misty sunrise behind a tall cathedral spire silhouetted against a yellow-orange glow, with a large tree on the right and a dark grassy field in the foreground.

"Sun rising behind Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire."

Point Conception · Jun 9, 2023

Jomtien Beach

Yellow navigation buoy with the marking P16 and a yellow cross-shaped topmarker, lying tilted on a sandy beach with high-rise buildings and the sea in the background.

Yellow navigation buoy marked P16 with a solar-powered light and a yellow vane on a sandy beach, with the sea and a distant ship behind it.

berkeman · Jun 9, 2023

Shouldn't that be out in Morro Bay somewhere?

DennisN · Jun 11, 2023

A bird taking off

DennisN said:

I recently have been experimenting with shooting flying birds

Here's my first success in shooting a flying bird.
(I've got better ones, but I haven't processed them yet, so I thought I'd share this first sequence for fun

).

I saw this seagull landing on a tall pole ca 50 meters away from me.
I had no tripod with me, so I placed my camera on top of a public wastebasket, targeted it at the seagull and focused. And then I waited patiently...

Sitting and enjoying the sun...

A gull perched on top of a dark vertical pole against a clear blue sky, facing left with its wings folded.

Calling out...

A gull with its beak wide open, calling, perched on top of a black pole against a clear blue sky.

Taking off...
(I had hoped to shoot it earlier in the takeoff, i.e. with its wings out while the feet were still on the pole, but I did not succeed in this try. The takeoff goes incredibly fast, so you have to be really alert and ready to shoot!

)

Seagull in flight against a clear blue sky, wings spread and legs trailing, with a dark metal pole at the lower right.

And off we go...

Seagull in flight against a clear blue sky, wings spread with dark-tipped primary feathers, with a dark pole visible on the right.

...to some new location...

A gull in flight against a clear blue sky, wings spread and feet trailing, with a dark pole at the right edge of the frame.

...where there's maybe some food.

A white seagull with grey and black wingtips flying against a clear blue sky, seen from below with its wings spread and tail fanned.

Gear: Sony A6000 + Sony 55-210mm (at 210mm)
Settings: f/8, ISO 800, 1/1250 s exposure time
Additional settings: Fastest burst mode (11 frames per second in RAW) & continous autofocus and subject tracking)

jtbell · Jun 11, 2023

DennisN said:

Maybe it looks dark blue on that photo due to partial transparency of the flag (i.e. the light from the blue background sky comes partly through, just a guess), and/or I did something weird when I edited in Photoshop .

This reminds me of the back-and-forth about colors in flags in my entry in one of the old photo contest threads.

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/pf-photo-contest-flags-of-nations-5-26-6-1.948232/

Point Conception · Jun 11, 2023

Sunday night party+ the old songs dialed up: Stand by Me

Photo taken at night of a person with blonde hair in a white crop top and green skirt with a waistband reading ESUN, arms raised toward a wall, with a lit candle on a ledge behind them.

Person in a light green top and green pants reclining on a lounge chair on a rooftop at dusk, legs raised, with a city skyline and a potted plant behind them.

Side view of a shirtless older man with curly white hair standing in a dimly lit room with colored red and green lighting, wearing a floral print shorts, with plants and bottles visible behind him.

Night photo on an open rooftop terrace: a young woman with blonde hair in a white tank top and green trousers leans over a table eating from a bowl, with a glass of white wine, a phone propped up, and city lights in the background.

DennisN · Jun 12, 2023

Fly, fly, away...
...here are some newly processed photos of seagulls taking off and flying which I got pretty happy with

.

Takeoff!
(here I got it with at least one foot left on the pole

)

A white seagull with outstretched wings, mid-takeoff, lifting off from a grey metal pole in front of a purple clapboard building.

...and away.

A white seagull with black-tipped wings spread wide in flight, legs dangling, against a purple clapboard wall with a window behind it.

(Settings for these two photos: f/8, 1/4000s exposure, ISO 1000)

Note: When I think of it, these kinds of photos could perhaps be taken with a prime tele lens too (i.e. a lens without zoom). If one would set it up on a tripod and set the focus beforehand, it might work. And without image stabilization, one might be able to use a remote shutter control to start the image capture. Hmm... maybe something to try...

Another creature up in the air:
(it looks like there is some damage on its left wing)

A white-headed gull in flight against a clear blue sky, wings fully spread, seen from the side with its head turned forward.

"I can at least pretend I'm an eagle"

A white seagull with black-tipped wings seen from below in flight against a clear blue sky, wings fully spread.

(Settings for these two photos: f/9, 1/4000s exposure, ISO 1600, and
actually shot handheld; luckily the camera has image stabilization and a tracking autofocus mode...
...I would not be able to get these two shots without it )

Tom.G · Jun 13, 2023

There used to be 3rd party/public domain software to replace the original camera Operating System, at least for Canon cameras.

One of the features was motion detect, great for snapping Humming Birds and Orioles at the feeder outside the living room window!

Point Conception · Jun 13, 2023

Jomtien Beach

Choppy green-grey sea with white breaking waves rolling toward a shoreline, with dark blue hills along the distant horizon under a cloudy sky.

Three white seabirds in flight, blurred, against a pale sandy-brown beach surface.

A white seagull flying low over choppy green-blue sea, with breaking white waves in the foreground.

Waves breaking on a sandy beach with tall high-rise towers and low hotel buildings along the shoreline under a cloudy sky.

DennisN · Jun 13, 2023

Tom.G said:

One of the features was motion detect, great for snapping Humming Birds and Orioles at the feeder outside the living room window!

If you've got such photos it would be fun to see!

BillTre · Jun 15, 2023

Moving Picture:

Point Conception · Jun 15, 2023

Friday 0730

Green leafy plant in the foreground beside a metal grille, with a calm sea, distant hills and a small white boat seen through the window, and a terracotta roof below.

Dracaena plant with long, broad, glossy green leaves in the foreground, with a calm sea, distant shoreline and buildings with tiled roofs behind it.

Photo of broad green leaves of a tropical plant in the foreground, with a calm sea, distant hills and rooftops visible behind them.

pinball1970 · Jun 16, 2023

Ben Nevis, one the three peaks. My very good friend and work colleague completed the challenge at the weekend.

Sunset over mountains with a low sun on the horizon, a stone-paved footpath running along a grassy hillside in the foreground, and a loch below the slopes.

DennisN · Jun 16, 2023

pinball1970 said:

Ben Nevis, one the three peaks. My very good friend and work colleague completed the challenge at the weekend.

Awesome photo and gorgeous surroundings! Scotland... mmm... :kiss:

DennisN · Jun 18, 2023

A seagull juvenile on a sidewalk:

Fluffy juvenile seagull with mottled grey and white downy feathers standing on a paved surface, in a sepia-toned photo with shadows on the ground.

Fluffy juvenile gull with grey-brown speckled down and dark legs and bill, standing on a pavement in warm, low sunlight.

Point Conception · Jun 18, 2023

I was looking for birds around these small fishing boats. Nada

Small wooden fishing boats with blue and orange hulls drawn up on a sandy beach, with flags and tall high-rise towers behind them under a blue sky with clouds.

Averagesupernova · Jun 18, 2023

Sorry folks, I only have critter pix.

Three cats on a weathered wooden stump surrounded by green grass and nettles; a grey tabby in front reaches up with one paw, and darker cats sit behind it.

DennisN · Jun 19, 2023

morrobay said:

I was looking for birds around these small fishing boats. Nada

A very colorful photo, though!

Point Conception · Jun 19, 2023

The view across Naklua bay up to the deep water - Lam Chabang port. + My Thai massage friend who just returned from her rice farm up-country

Wooden stilt house with a dark green metal roof and a lit warm-yellow wall, built over the water on a wooden walkway, with small fishing boats and distant ships on a calm grey sea at dusk.

A woman with long dark hair in an orange top and brown skirt crouches barefoot on a striped mat, looking at a phone in her hands in a bright room.

Rive · Jun 19, 2023

DennisN said:

Decrease the exposure time/shutter speed to ca 1/1000 sec (or less; less is even better).

Such a short exposure time will make the photos darker, so compensate by increasing ISO to let's say somewhere between ISO 1000 - 2500 (ca, your mileage may vary).

Not quite there yet, I think o0)

Blurred brown sparrow lying on its side in loose dry soil, kicking up a cloud of dust during a dust bath.

(Common sparrow taking a dustbath...)

... but closing

Concentric ripples spreading across dark water, with a small water strider with long thin legs resting on the surface near the centre.

pinball1970 · Jun 19, 2023

DennisN said:

A seagull juvenile on a sidewalk:

View attachment 327998

View attachment 327999

Scruffy little thing isn't it? What species? @Astranut Although you tend to get back on the late side!

pinball1970 · Jun 19, 2023

Rive said:

Not quite there yet, I think
View attachment 328064
(Common sparrow taking a dustbath...)

... but closing
View attachment 328065

I didn't know sparrows did that. The insect is using pretty decent physics knowledge to do that. Impressed

DennisN · Jun 19, 2023

Rive said:

(Common sparrow taking a dustbath...)

That's a cool photo with a lot of action in it

!
I don't think I've seen a bird do that (whatever it's doing).
In that case I think I prefer your photo with motion blur actually, because of the action.

DennisN · Jun 19, 2023

pinball1970 said:

Scruffy little thing isn't it? What species?

Seagull (a juvenile).
Cute, fluffy and quiet now, but give it some time and it will grow up to become a screechy rascal.

If I remember correctly, seagull parents finally leave their juveniles completely alone so they learn how to make it on their own. The one on my photo was completely alone.
Tough love.

nsaspook · Jun 20, 2023

Rainbow arching over a river and treeline beside a two-lane road with yellow centre lines, under a cloudy sky, with a chain-link fence and power lines in the foreground.

Rive · Jun 21, 2023

DennisN said:

That's a cool photo with a lot of action in it !
I don't think I've seen a bird do that (whatever it's doing).

Just as a reference (random stuff from the internet), this is the actual action:

The distance and circumstances are ~ the same what I had.
A closer one.

A photo, as 'others do it':

A sparrow lying on its side in fine gravel, one wing spread up and its head pressed down into the ground, dust-bathing in sandy soil.

You are right, mine conveys more of the action o0)

Though I think I still have much room for improvement.

Sparrow lying on its side in a dusty, gravel-like ground, wings ruffled and feathers fluffed, appearing to dust-bathe. Watermark reads 2012 underneath.

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