Waterfowl Photography

[Tulelicious]

This is a question for all you guys that dabble in Photography while in the blind. I've been taking my Camera (a Nikon D50 and Quantraray 18-200mm lens) out in the blind with me this year. I have found a difficult time taking pics but usually end up with one to two I like each trip. My biggest trouble is the action shots.

So my question is what tips do you guy have to take more quality pictures in the blind? What kind of equipment do you use? Do you actually set up tri-pods sometimes? Do you manual focus? I'm just wanting to improve my shooting (with the camera). I really feel like if I left my gun at home a trip or two I really could focus on the photography but MAN how do you do that? Do you guys go to that extreme?

Just looking for some friendly advice for a hobbiest? PM's are more that welcome if you dont want to give up your secretes to the world.

[Wingman Or.]

IMHO.... You can either hunt or take pictures but it's almost impossible to do both.

#1.. Light is by far the biggest factor. The better the light the better the pictures. Get the sun at your back and your pictures will be exponentially better. It may sound simplistic but I'm amazed how over looked it is.

#2. Get behind the action if you can. You can see much more and (at least for me) it's easier to anticipate what will happen next.

#3. Use a layout (Blind or Boat). The closer they are the better the detail.

Just one guys opinion... I'm sure you will get many others to think about.

[Tulelicious]

A couple more questions that poped into my head What Lens do you shoot? do you shoot in Raw and use Photoshop as like a darkroom? (this is what I do and I can improve my pictures greatly) I think my biggest issues have been keeping things in focus but after reviewing todays pictures I realized It my be my shutter speed is not fast enough when shooting.

Anyway thanks in advanced for you advice.

[Ni!]

A few thoughts:

1 - The 18-200 lens is pretty slow, so you'll probably need to boost your ISO in order to get reasonable shutter speeds. For close-in waterfowl action you'll want to be at 1/200th of a second or above.

2 - Light, as mentioned above, is crucial. Also crucial when photographing birds is the sky. Gray skies produce gray pictures. Blue skies, especially those that have fluffy white clouds, are great backgrounds that really enhance your subject. If you can combine frontlit thunderheads and patches of blue with the warm light of the sunrise (or sunset) frontlighting or sidelighting the birds, you'll be getting a lot more keepers.

3 - Close is good, but it's also frustrating since your autofocus has to work harder and keeping birds in the frame is tougher. You'll have to learn what setup works best for you, but there will be a sweet spot for your camera/lens combo that gives you the best chance at framing and focusing while still putting you close enough to get a meaningful shot. (Make sure your autofocus setting is set to AF-C. That's the continuous focus mode which is best for active subjects.)

4 - Use Aperture Priority and set the aperture to the largest aperture the lens will go. (With your lens, that will be f/6.3 at 200mm.) This, combined with the higher ISO, will give you the fastest shutter speeds you can get.

5 - I wouldn't worry about getting a tripod. The tripods that pro bird photographers use cost a couple thousand bucks, and they work best with really long lenses. Just work on your technique and use fast shutter speeds and you'll turn out some good pictures.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Remember to share some pics here if you get some more good ones.

[Tulelicious]

Originally Posted by Ni!

Remember to share some pics here if you get some more good ones.

Here are some I took today. Good advice on the ISO setting. That is something I always forget about.

[Ni!]

Those are nice shots. When you're photographing in mid-day like that you generally don't need to worry about shutter speed. You're getting 1/800th to 1/1600th on those shots, so you're fine there. The best colors will generally come with the softer light of morning and evening, and that's when you can really make your pictures pop. It's also where shutter speed becomes more of an issue. There's a lens correction feature in photoshop that can remove the vignetting you can see in your first picture, but that's not really a big deal. Thanks for sharing those.

[Wingman Or.]

A photo is like a piece of art. At the end of the day the only person that needs to like it is the person that made it or in this case took the photo.

I really like the snows.... Not because it's necessarily a great photo but becasue it has something in it that different. It immediately caught my eye. Not sure if that was intentional or not but the goose in the middle of the frame does not have black on the underneath side of the wings. I love the out of the ordinary.

[steelheadslayer]

Bryan, nice shots. Did you guys get any birds? We need some pics of them also.

[Don Fischer]

A tripod on flying birds is a handicap. Best thing is a very fast ISO and wide as necessary aperature. I know some guys on another site that got photo's of flying ducks you would not believe, Fast ISO! Light on the subject makes a ton of difference. You can't get a good enough lense. Those same guys are using min 70-300 lense but prefer the 80-400 VR lenses. You need all the speed you can get to stop the wings in close and as wide an aperature as possible to blur the background. Then to get the good photo's you need to shoot a lot of frames looking for the few good ones. I'll see if I can bring over a photo. They've already given me permission to move them.

Well let's see:







The gentlemans name is Harlen Cooper and his web is coopers design. Actually works on the North Slope and photography is his hoby. All shots hand held. Fast shutter, 2000+, stops the wings and wide aperature for a narrow field of view which blur's the fore ground and background.

Enjot them!

[sprigkiller09]

Originally Posted by Tulelicious

So my question is what tips do you guy have to take more quality pictures in the blind? What kind of equipment do you use? Do you actually set up tri-pods sometimes? Do you manual focus? I'm just wanting to improve my shooting (with the camera). I really feel like if I left my gun at home a trip or two I really could focus on the photography but MAN how do you do that? Do you guys go to that extreme?

Wingman and some of these other gentleman have hit it right on the head. Ill add too it a bit.

So you first question about more quality pictures in the blind...

If you are talking about dead birds. It takes time. Smooth out feathers, adjust posture, wipe blood off etc.
For anyother blind type photo. Try different settings to see what works best on that particular day. The valley is plagued with bad light and it will take time to figure out how your camera shoots on those less than desirable days. Getting to know your camera is HUGE!! I am still merely an acquaintance to mine soo much to learn.

Second question: My equipment: Canon 40-d with 100-400 L series lens. ANd often times will use a 1.4x teleconverter.

Third: No tripods are not helpful to me at all. That is personal preference. I know alot of guys who like mono-pods but i just try to make adjustments on the camera or lens (IS) so i dont have to use one.

fourth: Manual focus i do sometimes use. Basically because if i use my teleconverter i dont have a choice. Personally i love shooting manual. Makes the photos more personal to me. Auto focus is nice in alot of situations though. I use manual about 80% of the time.

I am a mere age of 23 so no i dont exchange my camera for a gun....YET!!! One of these days i will. If i shoot a limit there are times were the camera gets use in the blind. Usually when i am scouting, or making a special trip for photos is when my camera gets the majority of its wildlife photography use.

Think of waterfowl hunting like crack. Pretty addicting but then you throw in photography into waterfowl hunting and you got meth. . Good luck and let us know how you are doing or if you have other questions feel free to PM me.

[beardbuster]

My next lens is going to be a 80-400 2.8. It's expensive but you need fast shutter speed which cant happen without more light entering the lens.

I am shooting a 70-300 in 5.6 and it's not fast enough. I had to switch my ISO to 320 which meant that the photos may become a little grainy. I prefer to keep the camera on 200 or lower for sharp photos.

I am seriously looking at purchasing a D300 to keep the longer lens on. The less you can switch lenses the cleaner your shots will be as well. And like others mentioned you cannot hunt and photo at the same time. I took photos in between shooting sessions and then put the gun down to capture the other shots. You have to be committed to carrying the camera with you to get good photos.

Sorry if some of this information is redundant, I skimmed through the other responses. But, there is some solid information posted above too

[Ni!]

Originally Posted by beardbuster

My next lens is going to be a 80-400 2.8.

I've never heard of such a lens. Who makes it?

[Wingman Or.]

Originally Posted by Ni!

I've never heard of such a lens. Who makes it?

I think I heard my buddy talking about a "Nikkor 80-400mm" that was the first one I had ever heard of but I think it was a f/4.5-5.6 I think??? He is a Nikon guy and I shoot Canon so it went in one ear and out the other.

[Ni!]

Originally Posted by Wingman Or.

I think I heard my buddy talking about a "Nikkor 80-400mm" that was the first one I had ever heard of but I think it was a f/4.5-5.6 I think??? He is a Nikon guy and I shoot Canon so it went in one ear and out the other.

I've got that lens, (it's for sale, btw) but an 80-400 f/2.8 would be a monster - and super cool. Not that I could afford it if they made it.

[Tulelicious]

Originally Posted by sprigkiller09

Think of waterfowl hunting like crack. Pretty addicting but then you throw in photography into waterfowl hunting and you got meth. .

So so true, Man I was out on Thursday with our limit of sprigs, Had tons of drakes working the lake so I put down the gun and pick up the camera only to see a greenhead. Doh, I will still have a hard time putting the gun down but I know I need to if I want to get better at shooting.

Thank you all for the advice it will all be applied the next time I'm out. There is some good info on here for me to soak up. Keep it coming and I would love to see some of your Killer shots as the season goes on.

Have any of you guys ever gone out after the season and set up like your hunting but shoot with the camera? I would suspect that it would be perfectly legal to do as long as you didn't have a gun or ammo with you. I have always thought that would be a great way to sharpen your decoying, Calling and photography skills.

[Wingman Or.]

Originally Posted by Tulelicious

Have any of you guys ever gone out after the season and set up like your hunting but shoot with the camera? I would suspect that it would be perfectly legal to do as long as you didn't have a gun or ammo with you. I have always thought that would be a great way to sharpen your decoying, Calling and photography skills.

Perfectly legal and a ton of fun. Might get some funny looks depending on where you are and how big you set up but the truth is you could set up in the city limits if you wanted.

[sprigkiller09]

Originally Posted by Tulelicious

Have any of you guys ever gone out after the season and set up like your hunting but shoot with the camera? I would suspect that it would be perfectly legal to do as long as you didn't have a gun or ammo with you. I have always thought that would be a great way to sharpen your decoying, Calling and photography skills.

SOOOO much fun. Until you see that collar or leg band that you wont be able to shoot. DOH!!! Luckily that has only happened once. I would highly recommend it though.

[Tulelicious]

Originally Posted by Wingman Or.

Perfectly legal and a ton of fun. Might get some funny looks depending on where you are and how big you set up but the truth is you could set up in the city limits if you wanted.

Man how funny would that be to see some guys in camo and layout blinds, throwing out decoys in some city park duck pond? Do you spread bread around your layout blind when doing this?

[Wingman Or.]

Originally Posted by Tulelicious

Do you spread bread around your layout blind when doing this?

Close... Bread bags as wind socks....

[Tulelicious]

I just came up wiht another question for the photoshop guys. What tricks dp you do to make those pictures pop. I know I know if you take it correctly then you shouldnt have to adjust anything. But I know that everyone has some photoshop tricks that can really enhance a photo. Care to share them?

Here is one from my hunt today. I didnt get to take any action shots cause I just Couldn't put the gun down.

[arkansasbasser]

[Don Fischer]

Originally Posted by Ni!

I've never heard of such a lens. Who makes it?

I just went and looked at your web site. You have some super photo's in there. I've done a lot of birds from set's on my deck but have never got a Gosbeck in. Have the rest tho and a few other's.

Those sheep are great, love the one laying in the grass! Have wanted to photograph them a long time but haven't made it yet..

You guy's want to see some nice stuff, click on his web site!

[Wingman Or.]

Originally Posted by arkansasbasser

did you take that photo?

[beardbuster]

Originally Posted by Ni!

I've never heard of such a lens. Who makes it?

I just looked it today and it is a 5.6. I was drooling over the 80-200 in 2.8 which is the one I am hoping to get.

[SandyRiverFisher]

Im not even a duck hunter, but this thread got me interested in seeing if I could get some action shots of a bird flying, so I went out today to give it a shot. Got some pics, but the only waterfowl I found were not inclined to fly anywhere. Did get some action photos of the dogs though, so I figure if I ever see a duck in the air I might have a chance.

Im no pro, in fact, I dont even think Id classify myself as an amateur. I just like to play with the wifes camera when shes not around. These shots were on a canon 20D with a 70-300 1:4-5.6. These turned out pretty good, but a lot of my pics dont. We use Corel paint shop pro to brighten them up/adjust them as necessary.

[arkansasbasser]

Originally Posted by SandyRiverFisher

Im not even a duck hunter, but this thread got me interested in seeing if I could get some action shots of a bird flying, so I went out today to give it a shot. Got some pics, but the only waterfowl I found were not inclined to fly anywhere. Did get some action photos of the dogs though, so I figure if I ever see a duck in the air I might have a chance.

Im no pro, in fact, I dont even think Id classify myself as an amateur. I just like to play with the wifes camera when shes not around. These shots were on a canon 20D with a 70-300 1:4-5.6. These turned out pretty good, but a lot of my pics dont. We use Corel paint shop pro to brighten them up/adjust them as necessary.

Those are great pics man. Love em!

[Don Fischer]

Did you get that mallard shot at that river park down town? I take my grand daughter thru once in a while to feed those ducks. Getting them to fly is next to impossible!

[arkansasbasser]

Originally Posted by Wingman Or.

did you take that photo?

I wish.

[Wingman Or.]

Just thought I'd ask... Wasn't sure and thought I might have seen it before someplace. It's a great shot for sure.

[SandyRiverFisher]

Originally Posted by Don Fischer

Did you get that mallard shot at that river park down town? I take my grand daughter thru once in a while to feed those ducks. Getting them to fly is next to impossible!

No, these were up by Benham. Last time we were there ducks were flying everywhere, this time they were glued to the water.

[Tulelicious]

Thank you all for the tips, there is some good info up here. Keep posting up your photography skills. Stats about the photo would be helpful if you have them. I know its hard to keep track sometimes but with all this talk about the iso settings I would love to see some of that info applied to the photos.

Thanks again for all the helpful responses.

Bryan

[Wingman Or.]

Originally Posted by Tulelicious

Stats about the photo would be helpful if you have them. I know its hard to keep track sometimes but with all this talk about the iso settings I would love to see some of that info applied to the photos.

Thanks again for all the helpful responses.

Bryan

I deleted my last post and reposted with the information that I have. Hope that helps. YES these birds were that close


Focal Length: 150mm
F-Number: F/8
Exposure Time: 1/2000 sec.




Focal Length: 300mm
F-Number: F/7.1
Exposure Time: 1/2000 sec.



Focal Length: 260mm
F-Number: F/7.1
Exposure Time: 1/2000 sec.



Focal Length: 260mm
F-Number: F/5.6
Exposure Time: 1/1250 sec.



Focal Length: 300mm
F-Number: F/6.3
Exposure Time: 1/2000 sec.



Focal Length: 210mm
F-Number: F/8
Exposure Time: 1/2500 sec.



Focal Length: 200mm
F-Number: F/8
Exposure Time: 1/2000 sec.



Focal Length: 250mm
F-Number: F/7.1
Exposure Time: 1/2000 sec.



Focal Length: 180mm
F-Number: F/8
Exposure Time: 1/2000 sec.




Focal Length: 240mm
F-Number: F/7.1
Exposure Time: 1/2500 sec.



Yep I had the money shot and the wrong settings on this one for sure..

Focal Length: 225mm
F-Number: F/11
Exposure Time: 1/500 sec.

[Tulelicious]

Thanks Wingman thats just what I was looking for. Great Pictures by the way and yes they must have been on top of you. Wow

Can you pull that data off of Photoshop our your camera? Or do you actually log each photo?

[Wingman Or.]

Originally Posted by Tulelicious

Can you pull that data off of Photoshop our your camera? Or do you actually log each photo?

The fastest way that I have found (if you have it) is to open up a photo in Microsoft Office Picture Manager and right click the photos and go to properties. Then go to camera properties and expand.

[Tulelicious]

Wingman Are you shooting Raw, JPG or TIFF? Or something else?

[Wingman Or.]

Originally Posted by Tulelicious

Wingman Are you shooting Raw, JPG or TIFF? Or something else?

These were JPEG but if I'm really serious I will shoot RAW. Meaning if I'm going out for one shot and one shot only I will set it up for RAW then sit back with my preset settings and wait for that one I want.

[Ni!]

There are plugins for your browser that let you read the exif data in photos posted on the web. Do a google search for Opanda, or if you're using Firefox, look for Exif Viewer 1.45, which is the one I use. It's a pretty easy way to see the settings that other people are using for the pictures they take.

[Wingman Or.]

Here is a little variation of both light and subject.

Focal Length: 300mm
F-Number: F/7.1
Exposure Time: 1/500 sec.



Focal Length: 180mm
F-Number: F/11
Exposure Time: 1/500 sec.




Focal Length: 300mm
F-Number: F/5.6
Exposure Time: 1/1000 sec.




Focal Length: 300mm
F-Number: F/8
Exposure Time: 1/500 sec

[Tulelicious]

Originally Posted by Ni!

There are plugins for your browser that let you read the exif data in photos posted on the web. Do a google search for Opanda, or if you're using Firefox, look for Exif Viewer 1.45, which is the one I use. It's a pretty easy way to see the settings that other people are using for the pictures they take.

Ni

Thanks for that info. That is a pretty cool little tool. you have some great shots on your website.

Wingman

Nice pics. I love that wigeon in Flight.

[xstreme357]

how far away from these birds are you on average when your taking these shots?

[Wingman Or.]

Originally Posted by xstreme357

how far away from these birds are you on average when your taking these shots?

Me? IF so the answer is as close as possible without spooking the birds... 50 yards on the outside. Some 35 yards and as close as 15 yards on some of them.

[Tulelicious]

Its been a bit but I got out yesterday and took some shots. Here are the results. Thanks everyone for the great input on this thread. Now all I need to do is Practice Practice Practice....

[Wingman Or.]

Couple from the last 4 days at the coast.

Look at the sprig on this guy.....