Thursday, March 5, 2015

Missing the Forest for the Trees

       A while ago I bought a new camera. It was a step up from the little old point and shoot I had to another point and shoot.  I wanted some zoom so that I could do a better job on some topics.

        I'm a birder so I want to get some better photos of birds. I will be satisfied if my photo is good enough so that the bird can be identified.

      So I've been practising a bit. I went to our local nature center. They have some feeders and they are very active. So for an impatient person like myself , the action is fast. There's also a convenient post I can lean against so that I can steady my camera. I park myself close to the feeder. So I've been learning a few things.

     Now I posted some of my bird photos. One comment was that "it was pretty good for shooting out a window." Then I saw something! I saw the brilliant reflection in the windows! I was concentrating on the bird so much that I missed other things in the photo. The person making the comment was looking at more than the bird.

    So I learned a little more about taking pictures. I will have to see more than I've been seeing.
These reflections were much brighter than I thought. 
The bird isn't interesting but the background is very busy

37 comments:

  1. There's all kinds of things you see like this. I had a photo of me taking a photo of the birds. Too funny. I love that phrase and haven't heard it or used it in a bit.I do run into birders some days on my walks and some of them have these zoom cameras with extra zoom equipment. Nice cameras, but too much weight to carry with me. My iphone works fine most of the time for photos, even though I do have a nice camera. I hardly use it anymore.I understand the "staying steady" part real well. ha,ha

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    1. The steady stuff is almost enough to send me to the store to buy a tripod!

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  2. You have to be quick, but I think the zoom will be fun. It is fun to get new birds as they arrive through the season.

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    1. I have to learn more about my camera to get quicker. The zoom already has been fun.

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  3. Isn't that fun?! Serendipity!

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    1. It was a big surprise when Carol Ann said nice shot out though a window.

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  4. I keep noticing that taped-up perch! I only took my cellphone with me yesterday on my hike and I was missing my camera's zoom. When the weather in fine, I need to carry it. :-)

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    1. I think the feeder was broken and so they taped it.

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  5. I have been using a pretty good DSLR or a few years and still have so much to learn. I have trouble with aperture and forget which works where, which is one of my problems in old age.

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    1. I for get the settings and I'm not organized enough to write anything down . Apparently some cameras save this setting. Hey, my camera saves settings! I'm going to look at the settings right now!

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  6. yes, it is very pretty! :) amazing what our eyes can miss.

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    1. I was shooting in an unfamiliar area so I got caught.

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  7. I'm afraid all my photography is done with my phone and I can easily see the difference in quality between my photographs and others like you with quality cameras.

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    1. It's all a matter of our priorities.

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  8. Oh beautiful red. Like the way you took it. Birds are so special. I think. Oh I can relate with a bird today. I actually can talk bird talk.March 6th here. Go to my blog today.

    Such a sweetie I took. Your sweetie too in a friendly One way. Must watch my peas and ques in blog-land.

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  9. Yes so often we see just what we expect or want to see and miss all the rest.

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  10. As my mom used to say about my piano playing.... Practice Practice Practice....

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    1. I understand! But then I didn't learn how to play the piano either!

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  11. Sometimes unintended elements in a photo can make it extra special.

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    1. Now an artist wauld never put anything unnecessary in the background!

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  12. Yay new camera. That isso cool! New camera brings in new experiments & better results. Also it leads to z lot of new discoveries. I remember my first camera was a hand me down from my husband. I started shooting here & there, finding any subject. Then I discovered macro photoraphy and I loved it.

    Refletions, they are interesting. This shot of yours is a nice one. Busy background indeed :)

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  13. They need a new feeder! Like TB said practice practice:)

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    1. This is the Nature Center and they sell feeders.

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  14. I like a good zoom on the camera. I just have a standard canon. Sometimes at dusk it is a little blurry, but who cares! I just ordered me a bushnell binocular with camera! Omg! I'm excited to see how it works! Should come today!
    Cheri

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    1. In your country you need lots and lotsa zoom.

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  15. It is a tendency to be so focused on what grabs us that we do overlook other things, particularly in photography.

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    1. That's exactly what happened to me and then I still continued to look at the bird until I was reminded of the background.

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  16. Great photos, those reflections are impressive.

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    1. Thankyou...and remember they were an accident.

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  17. Keep practising, I am not so worried about the reflections.

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  18. I bought myself a new camera and I to love taking pictures of birds. It is so hard for me to hold my camera steady also! Even leaning on something. I seem to do better when I have a fence post to sit it on or just use the tripod. I need to get out and practice some more with mine to. Thanks for sharing.

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  19. Hi Red, Whoever said you were impatient? Practising takes patience and you are doing it. :-) Nice work, hang in there. John

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  20. If you keep practicing, you'll learn more and more, and you'll also start to 'see' things you never noticed before. You'll have a great! Enjoy.

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  21. I gave up trying to photograph birds as my photos were never as good as I wanted them to be. It's just easier to feast my eyes on the actual birds and leave the photos to the experts and when I want to look at a photo, I look at and appreciate theirs. Yesterday I was driving through the countryside to a creamery to get cheese and there were eagles everywhere. Not much traffic so I just pulled over to watch and record memories with my eyes. Anyway, that's my solution to my lousy bird photography!

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