I tromped over to Golden Gate Park to try and get some photos of the hawks that live there. How in the hell do you ever manage to get a non blurred photo of a bird taking off or landing, or in flight? I imagine it takes more patience than I have!!
So I took some shots of the birds at Stow Lake....
Posted by Paul Duval on January 8, 2010 at 7:48 AM
Tony,
Not patience shutter speed think sports photographer. Very nice image of these birds here, it's has a quality I really like. Seriously higher shutter speeds will stop the action.
Paul
Posted by Lon Overacker on January 8, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Excellent Tony. I like the simple, almost graphic nature of this. The shadow/reflection is cool since you can see thru to the bottom and the bird's feet. Pigeon? Just for an alternate, you might consider b&w. You would lose the pretty blue in the feathers, but also lose the yuky green water (I guess that's a matter of opinion though!)
Not pigeons. I believe they are wood ducks. Thanks for the suggestions....I did try black and white but found that there was too little contrast in the feathers to be interesting.
The hidden heads really make this image for me. Nicely captured!
As for shooting birds in flight I haven't the slightest idea (other than luck for myself). Maybe Floris will chime in... he's got lots of experience with that kind of photography.
Posted by Rudy Ruberti on January 8, 2010 at 8:46 PM
Nicely done, Tony. And I'm with you on things that move.
Posted by Greg Cope on January 8, 2010 at 10:08 PM
I like the symmetry, and could see a bit off the right to place the birds a bit more on a third to stress that aspect a bit more. Also like Lon's b&w suggest. I like the transparency of the water just beneath the birds so you can see their feet.
As for ID - these American Coots (aka mudhen).
As for Hawk's in flight, lots of patience, a little luck, and lots of practice (aka the willingness to spend hours trying trying and coming home with absolutely nothing).
I like the way small one has bigger shadow and bigger one has smaller shadow. I also think B&W would be nice.
Greg Cope, has many great pictures of these Coots ending up as meal for Hawks. Whenever I see these coots, these picture of Greg comes to mind.
http://www.naturefocused.com/photography/red-tailed-hawk/dominant.html
http://www.naturefocused.com/photography/red-tailed-hawk/IMG_2_3257.html
Discussion
8 repliesSo I took some shots of the birds at Stow Lake....
Not patience shutter speed think sports photographer. Very nice image of these birds here, it's has a quality I really like. Seriously higher shutter speeds will stop the action.
Paul
Good eye!
Lon
As for shooting birds in flight I haven't the slightest idea (other than luck for myself). Maybe Floris will chime in... he's got lots of experience with that kind of photography.
As for ID - these American Coots (aka mudhen).
As for Hawk's in flight, lots of patience, a little luck, and lots of practice (aka the willingness to spend hours trying trying and coming home with absolutely nothing).
Greg Cope, has many great pictures of these Coots ending up as meal for Hawks. Whenever I see these coots, these picture of Greg comes to mind.
http://www.naturefocused.com/photography/red-tailed-hawk/dominant.html
http://www.naturefocused.com/photography/red-tailed-hawk/IMG_2_3257.html