Backyard Bliss

Silvereyes

We feed the birds all year round.  Parts of the year there are almost no birds and other parts of the year there are lots.  This Winter there are more than lots!  Word has gotten around that the place to get food in Winter is here.  We feed the birds all year round for a couple of months where if the light is good I have the perfect opportunity to achieve the images I am wanting.

Silvereye

This Winter so far I have spent only two days photographing the birds in my back yard but both times have been pure magic.  I am sure it must amuse the neighbours to see me sitting out in my chair with my camera getting all excited about where they are sitting or what they are doing. I really don’t care!

Tui

Both times I have filled two cards – so around 2000 images and each time I have immediately culled them down to maybe a quarter of that amount.  These birds move so fast that you need to have the camera on burst mode, which means lots of unnecessary copies.  These are easy to cull out later on the computer.

Tui

You can’t just wait for the tui to poke out its tongue, you need to start shooting as soon as you get it in focus and if the tongue comes out then it is a bonus.  Sometime you can get more than one keeper out of the burst of images and that too is a bonus.

Silvereye

This is fun that doesn’t involve traveling, worrying about the tides or anything else.  It is just open up the door, look for the light and place the chair in the right place. I know I have a heap of images of these birds but each and every one is different and I am always striving to get a better one.

The Set Up
Silvereye

 

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