Spent a couple of hours one evening last week trying to photograph reed warblers at a local lake. There is a good population of birds but tricky to photograph as they tend to move around lower down in the reeds and only occasionally sit further up a reed. I managed three shots in 2 hours, this being my first, taken in a hurry whilst setting up my tripod. I had to crop a bit more than I would like so not an ideal capture but roughly the shot I was after.
Canon 20D, 300 F4 L + 1.4x TC, ISO 200, f8, 1/640th, tripod (manfrotto 190+393 head).
Well worth a two hour stint for this one.
Perfectly positioned within the frame and the background is nicely diffused enough to give a good glimpse of surroundings but without being distracting at all.
Fine result.I like it.
Yep, nice shot though the head looks soft on my monitor - not sure if it is or not in the original? anyway, composition is spot on and I like the feel of the bird in its environment. Like John I don't have any of these - did once but lost the lot (thats a different story!)
Certainly not an easy bird to photograph and even harder at 420mm so I think you have done well here. The surroundings show typical habitat, and I like your composition although I wish for a slight head turn to profile, but appreaciate that the bird wasn't obeying you
Would like to see this a bit larger, did you keep the size down due to the amount of crop?
Hi Sean,I saw one of these the other day and when got setup,tripod etc he just popped down in the reeds,very frustrating I think you have done very well with this shot in getting the bird in right position in the frame......I like it
From a purists point of view, a more profiled head turn and catchlight would have been good. From a personal perspective, I find the reed movement a bit distracting. I do however like the perch, pose and composition and also appreciate how hard these are to get. As yet, I haven't any of these, so perhaps I should keep my opinions to myself
Discussion
6 repliesSpent a couple of hours one evening last week trying to photograph reed warblers at a local lake. There is a good population of birds but tricky to photograph as they tend to move around lower down in the reeds and only occasionally sit further up a reed. I managed three shots in 2 hours, this being my first, taken in a hurry whilst setting up my tripod. I had to crop a bit more than I would like so not an ideal capture but roughly the shot I was after.
Canon 20D, 300 F4 L + 1.4x TC, ISO 200, f8, 1/640th, tripod (manfrotto 190+393 head).
cheers
Sean
Well worth a two hour stint for this one.
Perfectly positioned within the frame and the background is nicely diffused enough to give a good glimpse of surroundings but without being distracting at all.
Fine result.I like it.
John
Cheers
Mark
Certainly not an easy bird to photograph and even harder at 420mm so I think you have done well here. The surroundings show typical habitat, and I like your composition although I wish for a slight head turn to profile, but appreaciate that the bird wasn't obeying you
Would like to see this a bit larger, did you keep the size down due to the amount of crop?
Barrie
From a purists point of view, a more profiled head turn and catchlight would have been good. From a personal perspective, I find the reed movement a bit distracting. I do however like the perch, pose and composition and also appreciate how hard these are to get. As yet, I haven't any of these, so perhaps I should keep my opinions to myself
Graeme