Bird feeders are great

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We recently got a bird feeder here and it has been a real success for them and practising my photography. I haven't posted a lot here recently but I thought I'd just post a few pics because I'm quite pleased with a few shots I've been able to get.
My technique is bascially to sit outside with a drink and wait for a bird to turn up and I get snapping. I was quite close..none of these are major crops.

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Fantastic stuff there Sleepyd, I have done the same for a while now, but I have reached the stage where the natural enviroment, is what i aim to get them on, so a twig or something, So maybe set up a hopping station same level as your feeders or something (advised to me by Ven)

Lovely shots though, well done.

Dan
 
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I do something similar by creating an outdoor 'studio'

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from my flat window. The branches can be changed any any props you want added. Its the easiest way to get pics like this:

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or this

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Let me know if you want any tips or hints
 
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Richard T said:
how close are you able to get? I can get about 8-9 feet most of the time. I even got in so close once that is was closer that the minimum distance for my lens at 5ft!!

I got around 6-8 foot away just sitting underneith an umbrella in my backgarden. It takes ages to wait for a bird to come along, but with the current weather this is certainly not an issue!

I quite like shooting wide open to get rid of the ugly background my garden creates. The 70-200F4L always impresses me how good it is when wide-open. Think the next step is to manufacture a saddler set-up with different food for different types of birds.
 
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Another trick is to use a wired or wireless remote, I use a wired one that enables me to put a net curtian between me and the camera setup. That way I am invisible to the birds and am able to shoot more natural behavior because of it.

The birds get used to the camera and one young starling even likes using my lens hood as a pearch!

The downside is that you can only target one specific part of a branch or feeder during each session and althogh this can be very frustrating the results are worth it
 
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