Kauai Birds

Hi everyone, I'm new here. My name is Randy, I'm from the Seattle area and I'm not much more than a beginner at photography. I'm also a birder, so a lot of my pictures are birds, especially owls.

I've been birding for two and a half years, and I had a bridge camera (Lumix DMC FZ28) most of that time so I got a lot of fun pictures, some of them fairly good quality. A couple months ago, I got my first DSLR, admittedly the cheapest possible, but its good for practice. Its a Canon T3 with a Tamron 70-300 zoom (no IS). Its not quite as easy to use as the Lumix, but in the right conditions, the pictures are noticeably better.

I'm planning to get the Canon 400mm f5.6 prime lens in December, but I wanted to get some practice before then, so I got the Tamron 70-300 for now ($130). Its been a great way to start.

Here's how I shoot right now. In the sun I use 400 ISO and Aperture Priority, closed down one or two stops because either me or my camera seem to be lousy at focusing. I also moved the exposure down -1 since white things seem to get blown out. In the shade I use 800 ISO or higher, and shutter priority, usually 1/400, but slower if I have to. I switch from auto to manual focus based on the difficulty of the subject or how pissed I am at the autofocus. I do a lot of post-processing, fill light, contrast, saturation, etc.

Three weeks ago we went to Kauai for vacation. Its really a great place for photography. Lots of sun and lots of things to photograph. Here's a few of my bird pictures from that trip. Please feel free to critique. I know I have a long way to go.

Japanese White-eye, 300mm, f6.3, ISO400, 1/800
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b...0/IMG_3512.JPG


Hawaiian Goose (Nene), 300mm, f6.3, ISO800, 1/2500
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...0/IMG_4391.JPG


Great Frigatebird, 300mm, f7.1, ISO400, 1/2500
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8...0/IMG_5424.JPG


Hawaiian Gallinule, 300mm, f6.3, ISO400, 1/1250
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J...0/IMG_4281.JPG


Zebra Dove, 300mm, f6.3, ISO400, 1/1000
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...0/IMG_4948.JPG

Thanks for viewing. Critique welcome.
Randy

Very nice images - sharp & well detailed; the only nit that I have is the Hawaiian Gallinule; this particular image is overall too dark. I attempted in Photoshop to edit this bird; not so sure that's its any better?

Really nice captures.Why do you always use high ISO, in bright daylight?Best wishes.Yod

I use the high ISO to get faster shutter speeds and hopefully more crisp pictures (I don't have IS). However, I'm not sure if 1/2000 is necessarily any better than 1/1000. But it seems that with the newer sensors the high ISO doesn't have much drawbacks unless you really need to crop a lot and then you start to see the noise.

I also hate that the birds often fly in and out of the sun. With 400 ISO I can follow them into the shade and not get a completely hopeless picture. Maybe I'm just too lazy to change the settings.

Very well done . I look forward to some owls and western US species too.

The two-headed Nene is lovely. Seriously, Nene is the endangered Hawaii State Bird. This goose can fly, but prefers not to. I've only seen/photographed it on the ground. Such Nene habits make it vulnerable to introduced predators/dangers, including humans with cars. Among my favorite Hawaii road signs is the one that says:
"Nene Crossing". Doubtful whether either species understands this.