Went for a walk and managed to take a photo of a bird I hadn’t been able to photograph yet: A Spotted Flycatcher!

Its German name, Grauschnäpper, translates to “Grey Snatcher” — probably because it likes snatching flies and other insects!

      • Myaa@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Ofc! How long have you been doing nature photography? I recently got into astrophotography and realized some of my lenses might have some overlap with nature photography so I’ve been thinking of diving into it!

        • mjohanning@beehaw.orgOP
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          1 year ago

          I started last year with a really inadequate camera and lens. Only this year did I get a better setup. What kinds of lenses do you have?

    • mjohanning@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      Thank you very much! :-)

      I used a Canon EOS R10 with a Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 at 600 mm and f/8.0. Larger apertures aren’t that sharp with this lens, unfortunately.

      • Hotchpotch@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        I’d have guessed it was a larger aperture due to the isolation of the bird (Freistellung). Does this effect come from the long focal length?

        Larger apertures aren’t that sharp with this lens, unfortunately.

        Even at the center?

        I’d love to photograph birds too, but i don’t have the patience :) So i keep doing cows and trees and other slow moving stuff. Rocks are cool too.

        • mjohanning@beehaw.orgOP
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, anything above f/8.0 tends to be a bit too soft for me at 600 mm. At the lens’ lowest focal length of 150 mm, using f/6.3 tends to yield the sharpest results. Also remember that the larger the aperture, the smaller the number (f/6.3 is a larger aperture than f/8.0).

          The effect is greatly exaggerated by the focal length, yes. The background is mostly trees that are like 20 metres away.

          And yeah, photographing birds can be a bit tricky. So fast!