I am a happy member of Feathered friends community here from my 1st days on the blockchain -- even when the community thing was not implemented yet (it used to be the challenge before that).
Cause they are cool. They are shy and chasing them with your camera always a challenge. Yes, I am that sort of a man, I used to swallow the challenging baits, I know that. But this is a pretty fair sport, isnt it? The problem is you should have a decent lens arsenal, having 200-300mm is good but definitely not enough, some birdies require far more.
And the second problem is my personal: I live in a metropolis, which has quite a limited #biodivercity: sparrows, pigeons, ducks, seagulls, tits, crows, starlings, thrushes -- and pretty much that is all ... but mostly, it is pigeons.
Even when our astronauts will land on Mars, the first thing they will see probably will be a flock of pigeons waiting for some handouts :)
Of course, even this biodivercity level in my area is enough for reaching some photo highlights, if you are a vivid fan.
A Feathered Friends Palace, that I stumbled upon during my photo-walks at one of St.Petersburg's yards.
(But, frankly speaking, most of them prefer DIY -- do their houses themselves, like this coot duck.)
But starlings probably are my fave birdies to shoot, for various reasons, not the least cause they simply let me come very close, to the best distance possible.
I love watching scenes from the Secret Life of Birds through a telephoto lens very much.
This is one of this kind, exactly: feeding of a young toddler by his mom (or maybe dad? not in the know). This masterpiece I selected as my entry to photocontest this week, it was captured from amazingly short distance with my usual macro telephoto Sigma 150mm lens (not even 300mm!) Cool. By the way, my 12 y.o. babygirl have assisted me with this: she was feeding the birdies, luring them to a closer range, while I kept my finger on a trigger.
And of course, when it comes to free food, it did not pass without pigeons - a pigeon got into every frame of this scene :(
Perhaps thats all I wanted to show you today; see you next time!
| location: | St.Petersburg, Russia | 2021-2022 | natural light |
| camera/lens: | Canon 5D | Sigma 150mm | raw-conv |