How do I....?????

[bluesguy]

I have p;aced several bird feeders in my back yard that is becoming a food source for a variety of birds and several squirrels, Problem is that I also have a big sliding window/door.
When I slide it back to attempt to take pictures, the critters hear it and scram, so the question is: How do I take pictures through the slider/door without the glare, etc. from it?
Can't always hold the camera and lens snug against it waiting for a photo opportunity.
Perhaps some of you "old" hands can provide some advice. Since winter time is fast approaching here in Michigan, did not want to freeze my butt off in some kind of makeshift blind.

bluesguy

[A.M.D.A.]

Try the following:

Option #1. Use a tripod and set up the camera with its lens snug against the glass.

Option #2. Screw on a circular polarizer filter onto your lens, this helps eliminate reflections when the filter is slowly twisted.

Option #3. Over the course of several days, note the time which the critters arrive. Then, get up early one morning just before that time, and wait a few minutes for them to start feeding comfortably.

You can also go outside when the birds are there, they will fly off for only a short time - especially if the ground is covered in snow and your feeders are the only source of food around.

When I used to have my own feeders out, I noticed that birds will very quickly come back.

[mjs1973]

I have run into this situation many times with the sliding door and regular windows. I dress warm, and open the windows or door and sit and wait. It's nice if the room you are in can be closed off so your heating bill doesn't go through the roof! One problem with this (besides the heating bill) is that the warm air inside the house mixing with the cold air outside can create some distortion in front of your lens. Think of the shimmer you see on a highway on a hot day.

What I started doing last year was to set my blind up outside. I have a little propane heater that I put in there to help take the chill out of the air. It works great and I'm looking forward to doing it again this winter.

[Canon_Bob]

I'm with Mike on this. I use a portable blind, and just set up "up light" from my feeders. Put up some nice posing branches, and fire away!

[bluesguy]

Thanks for all the replies and advice. Looks as if I am going to have a cold butt to 'git er dun"
Any advice on f stops for best results? Also lens?


bluesguy

[mjs1973]

When using my blind by the feeders I was able to get very close to the birds. Less than 10' in many cases so a super long lens is not needed. I had to add an extention tube to my 170-500mm lens because I was so close it wouldn't focus. Depending on how close you get, I would thing that your 70-200mm lens should work pretty good.

The f/ stop is up to you. It depends on how large of a DOF you want, and what is in the back ground. If there are a lot of branches and things in the BG, I think a larger f/ stop works best to help blur those branches out so they are not as distracting. If you have a cleaner background such as the sky, you can stop down a bit more to get the entire bird in focus. It really boils down to what you want your images to look like.

[paulnj]

Set the camera up outside the sliding glass door and use a shutter release Run the shutter release inside the door and close it snug. When you see a bird on the area you prefocused on and switched over to manual focus(so it doesn't loose focus).... SNAP

[Loupey]

Buy some warm clothes.

Feeder birds that we get, although not very varied, are fairly tolerant of humans. They scurry away easily but come back soon if anyone just sits still for a while. So just pull up a chair, sit, and wait.

[bluesguy]

Again, thanks for all the replies and advice.


bluesguy