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BIRDS!!!!

for now , i would like the critique, and i'll give away my secrets for taking these photos later.

for now, enjoy and critique...please

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet:


Gallah:


thanks for looking.

i think from a critique POV its reasonably obvious ?
#1 the birds are a little messy in their positions and the crop is squishy.
#2 a little too much of the bird is cropped out.

what is amazing, for the second one in particular, is the amazing sharpness and clarity. the feather detail is just fabulous. what a great job you did on the exposure aswell. i'm assuming you used your telescope for this so very interested to know how you lit the bird so well, is it a torch ?

lol, that is full frame actually, no cropping done at all, and i quite like the tight focus, not that i can change that without moving the telescope mount around (it weighs somewhere in the order of 30kg) not hard to do, just a hassle and more often than not, scares the birds away.

i like the way the birds are haphazardly positioned in the first pic as it adds a bit of character to the shot and draws you into their world. if you've spent time observing birds you know how mischievious and hilarious they can act. i quite like it myself, but each to their own... that being said, i wish i had a bit more room between the right-hand bird and the edge of frame, and i would have liked the tail feathers of the bird i front to have been in frame.

in the second shot, i would agree with your assessment. but i love the expression in the birds eye.

as for lighting...natural light, most likely done in direct sunlight of an afternoon. i can't quite remember the full details of the shot.

and like i was saying in my moon thread...some of these telescope give the 'L' series of lens' a run for their money, at a good 1/3 the price, though the aperture isn;t as good as an 'L' and it is manual focus, but image quality...

unbelievable...

and thanks

Nice series, love the galah!

I think the galah Shot is exelent Mate
Had a look at the link in your Moon thread bit confused at the moment but still very intrested in the telescope thing

Cheers Cobby

ok well here's two pictures to try and illustrate my telescope setup.

this pic is of the mount setup and ready to use, with an eyepiece attached for naked eye viewing of the heavens.


and this pic is a close up i've taken of the 350D attached to the scope at prime focus. with the 2x extender. for birds and wildlife, i don't use the extender.

Josh, nice clear shots through the 80, looks like an eq5 pro mount - nice and sturdy.

What is a setup like that worth? Scope, tripod and converter for Canon bodies?

Terrific shots.

What has wings and makes a lot of noise ?

Well, it got to be a chopper

Cheers,
CD

norbs wrote:What is a setup like that worth?

My thoughts exactly, like, I see it, I like its results, I want... But can I ever afford...

Agree with much of what's been said re C&C, also I find the right parrot out of focus a distraction.
Just checked the exif info - F stop 0. Cool ! Never seen that before.
And the zoom is also 0 - is that like Infinity on a Canon?

yep, no aperture and no zoom it because it's a manual affair, so there is no information being from the 'lens' for the camera to record in the EXIF. which also means that the light meter on the body doesn't work quite right, so you've gotta set up the exposure yourself. easy enough with trial and error.

mount is worth about $1k, scope ~$600, Camera adapter ~$40 so not an overly cheap setup, but for the image quality that comes out of that scope, i'm not complaining, plus...it doubles as a telescope

thanks for the comments guys!

Awesome sharpness! That is a heck of a setup. I should have not given my telescope away!