Need Help In Bird Photography.

[Goldenstars08]

Hi all,
I am very new to bird photography. So I have a few questions to ask.

1)What lens did you use on your DSLR?
2)What F-stop should I use?
3)Where are the places to go for bird shooting in Singapore? I don't mean Jurong Bird Park....
4)Any other tips and equipments that are needed?

Many Thanks in advance...

[ortega]

try this

http://forum.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=175299

[Goldenstars08]

Thanks for the link Ortega.
I Think I am Super late...

[ortega]

give it a try, no harm mah

[fWord]

Heheh...I'd like to learn as well. But of course, I'm also late for it. Had a scuffle with the organizer before because of a misunderstanding, so it probably won't work out either.

PS: It was nice meeting you the other day at Sungei Buloh, GoldenStars!

[JediForce4ever]

Originally Posted by Goldenstars08 Hi all, I am very new to bird photography. So I have a few questions to ask. 1)What lens did you use on your DSLR? 2)What F-stop should I use? 3)Where are the places to go for bird shooting in Singapore? I don't mean Jurong Bird Park.... 4)Any other tips and equipments that are needed? Many Thanks in advance...

1) Birders normally use a lens above 400mm(best is ard 600mm)
Just my two cents.

[chngpe01]

Originally Posted by fWord Heheh...I'd like to learn as well. But of course, I'm also late for it. Had a scuffle with the organizer before because of a misunderstanding, so it probably won't work out either.

What scuffle??? Disagreement in forums, not only in CS, are common, if you consider that a scuffle, then again it is rather disappointing, cos I don't.

Neither have you tried nor have I rejected, so what makes you assume that it won't work. Learn to loosen up, life is too short for all these sort of thing.

[espn]

Originally Posted by chngpe01 What scuffle??? Disagreement in forums, not only in CS, are common, if you consider that a scuffle, then again it is rather disappointing, cos I don't. Neither have you tried nor have I rejected, so what makes you assume that it won't work. Learn to loosen up, life is too short for all these sort of thing.

Does that mean you'll let me carry your equipment for you ?????

[kcuf2]

Originally Posted by Goldenstars08 Hi all, I am very new to bird photography. So I have a few questions to ask. 1)What lens did you use on your DSLR? 2)What F-stop should I use? 3)Where are the places to go for bird shooting in Singapore? I don't mean Jurong Bird Park.... 4)Any other tips and equipments that are needed? Many Thanks in advance...

1) a lens that is about 400 to 600mm like wat our brother has mentioned. [If u dun mind a smaller bird in ur pic and not particular abt the quality and details of the bird, u can settle for a cheap 300mm lens eg. nikor 70-300mm f3.5-5.6g(abt $250) or sigma apo 70-300 f3.5-5.6 dg macro($340) ]
2) F stop around f8 is pretty ok in my opinion. but to go to high f-stop numbers, be sure the surrounding light is bright enough or mount on tripod and shoot at slower shutter speed but u risk not able to take flying birds pics.
3) jurong bird park is a good place actually, especially the lorry sanctuary. u can also go bukit timah hill, sungei buloh wetland reserve, botanical gardens[this 4 is the most recommended] or u can try our several reservoirs.
4) for birding, a tripod or monopod is indispensible as hand shake effects is amplified when using long lens. And especially so if u wan to shoot low shutter speed at high f-stop numbers, unless u compensate with high iso.
u also need a good ear to listen to bird calls to know where they are, and make sure u keep a lookout -> always using peripheral vision to spot any moving things.
Wear green, beige and duller colours clothings to the place. White, red, yellow all this colours are too bright and ättractive and might scare the birds away. And dun wear black -> mosquitos love black colour and many will stick onto ur black clothing or bite u
Bring insect repellant[u will regret if u dun bring, trust me the mosquitos are infantry mosquitos and they dont attack alone, they attack in herds of >10 in some places] and lots of water n some food, sungei buloh for example there is no vending machine inside the jungle.
and dun forget ur camera and lens, and ur camera cleaning kit especially the blower and lens cloth, and some spare dry cloth to wipe ur sweat and dry ur bag, umbrella[u never know when it will rain]
If u have, its also good to bring binoculars to quickly spot birds, and then mount ur camera setup and shoot them!
And lastly, if possible bring ur friends along and enjoy and share ur heavy stuffs load!

Hope the above helps

[chngpe01]

Originally Posted by kcuf2 1) a lens that is about 400 to 600mm like wat our brother has mentioned. [If u dun mind a smaller bird in ur pic and not particular abt the quality and details of the bird, u can settle for a cheap 300mm lens eg. nikor 70-300mm f3.5-5.6g(abt $250) or sigma apo 70-300 f3.5-5.6 dg macro($340) ] 2) F stop around f8 is pretty ok in my opinion. but to go to high f-stop numbers, be sure the surrounding light is bright enough or mount on tripod and shoot at slower shutter speed but u risk not able to take flying birds pics. 3) jurong bird park is a good place actually, especially the lorry sanctuary. u can also go bukit timah hill, sungei buloh wetland reserve, botanical gardens[this 4 is the most recommended] or u can try our several reservoirs. 4) for birding, a tripod or monopod is indispensible as hand shake effects is amplified when using long lens. And especially so if u wan to shoot low shutter speed at high f-stop numbers, unless u compensate with high iso. u also need a good ear to listen to bird calls to know where they are, and make sure u keep a lookout -> always using peripheral vision to spot any moving things. Wear green, beige and duller colours clothings to the place. White, red, yellow all this colours are too bright and ättractive and might scare the birds away. And dun wear black -> mosquitos love black colour and many will stick onto ur black clothing or bite u Bring insect repellant[u will regret if u dun bring, trust me the mosquitos are infantry mosquitos and they dont attack alone, they attack in herds of >10 in some places] and lots of water n some food, sungei buloh for example there is no vending machine inside the jungle. and dun forget ur camera and lens, and ur camera cleaning kit especially the blower and lens cloth, and some spare dry cloth to wipe ur sweat and dry ur bag, umbrella[u never know when it will rain] If u have, its also good to bring binoculars to quickly spot birds, and then mount ur camera setup and shoot them! And lastly, if possible bring ur friends along and enjoy and share ur heavy stuffs load! Hope the above helps

Just to add, a sigma 50-500mm is a good starter lens about 15% of the 500mmf4 prime and probably 70-80%(my own estimate dun flame me nor debate on it) of the quality of the prime.

Monopod, my personal view is get a tripod, period I have an unused mono pod since 3 years ago finding a reason to use it for bird photography. Look out in the world of Nature for future sharing session, if the first one is useful for the participants I will conduct one in Mar.

[pai]

ouch. die die must use tripod ah? saturday's session need to bring?

[Goldenstars08]

Originally Posted by fWord PS: It was nice meeting you the other day at Sungei Buloh, GoldenStars!

Me too...

[fWord]

Originally Posted by chngpe01 What scuffle??? Disagreement in forums, not only in CS, are common, if you consider that a scuffle, then again it is rather disappointing, cos I don't. Neither have you tried nor have I rejected, so what makes you assume that it won't work. Learn to loosen up, life is too short for all these sort of thing.

Naw...I am just being cautious here. I've dealt with some difficult people before and experience has taught me to play it safe. However it's great that this is all alright with you.

It's also late. I'll look out for your upcoming session in March.

[fWord]

Originally Posted by Goldenstars08 Me too...

There's some vague thoughts that I might want to go there again this weekend, maybe tomorrow. But it'll only be towards later in the day because I've got something else on in the morning. Will you be going back there anytime soon?

[Goldenstars08]

Thanks all for your reply and help...