I usually go out looking for rare birds on my walks with the zoom lens. But if a common house sparrow lands in a nice pose I'll go ahead and practice my camera skills on them.
The more you get familiarized with holding the camera steady and getting your focus right the better chance you will have to take a good photo when a rare bird is in the right location.
House sparrows are always easy targets and will let you get close. Probably because they think you might have treats for them.
They love to dive in and out of hedges with little internal squabbles inside the hedges. Too bad I can't get the camera inside the hedge to see the epic martial arts fighting going on in there.
Robins are usually the first common bird I see out on a walk so they usually end up being my first camera settings test subject. You can get the focal area correct and the lighting settings in place while they pose perfectly for a long time.
Mallards are another easy target, here I was testing the focal area on the left side of the live area rather than in the center of the field of view.
The red-winged blackbirds are another common bird in my area. They are easy to photograph but because of their jet black color and tendency to pose against the sky it makes it a bit of a tricky shot to keep them from becoming a silhouette.
It is better to try and circle around them so that the sun isn't behind them. This brings out their colors more, this technique is also useful on most other black birds.
Now that spring is in full swing around here I'm hoping to see orioles, ruby throated grossbeaks, indigo buntings and various warblers. But in the meantime I'm sure I'll be getting many common birds to test on.
Nice birds & good zoom lens ;))
This lens is really good when the light is bright out. Once it gets cloudy I get way too much noise and can't freeshoot, and I don't like hauling around tripods for longer esposures. Bright sunny day's can't be wasted with this lens.
wow very very interesting and wonderful work is great just go ahead ;))
Your pictures are cool and beautiful birds.
Thanks :-) these common birds are always good posers for the camera.
Oh really, very interesting to see them 😻.
Fantastic photos of the birds! Great timing!!
It really helps when they are so tame. The more rare birds are super flighty.
Thanks I'm just starting to get the hang of Ecency :-)
Thanks for sharing your beautiful shots and skills with the community @sketch.and.jam 😊
Practicing photos on the common birds hopefully will help when a rare one sits long enough for a shot.
Yay! 🤗
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This is wonderful. I guess it's a cool zoom lens. I often fail. because it cannot neutralize breathing. 🥰
Right my trick is to exhale while pressing the button to take a picture. Very similar to rifle hunting.
Good shots! What kind of camera are you using?
Its an olympus e-510 with a zukio 200mm lens and an extension ring. It's resolution is not as good as the newer cameras but on a nice sunny day it does amazing.
My helper friend can recognize bird songs and when he was here yesterday, he heard a redwing in the swamp. So they are back!
Haha that's a good skill to have. I've been hearing belted kingfishers but unfortunately I can never find where they are perching.
My first shot is always on sparrows to see if I have riight settings.
Although I am struggling with the settings when it is cloudy.
I think that common birds have a lot to show and I am looking forward to seeing more of them.
Of course I am sure you will have equally awesome photos of the rare birds.
The rare birds are extra wild around here, either that or they bounce around too much in thick weeds to get a clear shot.