Today I went to Badger weir park near Healsville east of Melbourne and I saw lots of signs of Lyrebird scratchings but i didn't see any. There were lots of crimson rosellas, king parrots and common bronzewing pigeons. I didn't get any shots of a male king parrot but they were around
Spotted pardalote seen near home a few days ago
Common Bronzewing Pigeon at Badger weir
Female King Parrot
Another female King Parrot
Crimson Rosella
Enjoy!
Nice selection of shots. Amazing colours on the Crimson Rosella.
Lovely shots Owen.....beautiful birds. I am very jealous of the Pardalote! Apparently I saw some when I was out with Andy but I am none the wiser LOL
I like that common Bronzewing too ...nice colours. Glad to know that you have found some good spots around you to go birding.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Thanks CeeCee and Birdie. I ahve explored lots of places around melbourne but there are still some new places to get to. king parrots are my absolute favourite parrots so I was rapt to see them and I love crimson rosellas as well.
Pardalotes can be sneaky little birds even if they are so colourful.
Cheers, Owen.
Hi Owen.
At Badger Weir, the easier place to spot a Lyrebird is at the end of the parking area, and close to the big water storage tank. Especially in the morning or evening.
Keep trying... you will find them..:)
Bryan
A lovely place to visit and a nice set of shots. Lyrebirds are often on the grassed area behind the toilets. Looks a bit sus if you're loitering around the toilets with a long lens, though. ;-)
Cheers,
George
Melbourne, VIC
Thanks for the info Bryan and George. I will remember the spots if I go there again.
Cheers, Owen.
Lovely sharp shots of all the birds, even the tiny pardalote. I'm glad you got to see some of your favourites
Thanks Birdgirl. I don't see king parrots often so it was a nice surprise.
Cheers, Owen.
I have been stalking lyrebirds for years. I have seen a few and even had the chance to marvel at them as they reel of their impressive range of impersonations. However whenever I try and take a photo of one the light is so bad that my shutter speed is virtually non existent!! A blur doesn't count as a photo unfortunately.
Very nice images Owen. You did well mate! :)
nice shots,love the little pardalote.
berldo,you might want to invest in a flash extender !
I missed your comment Birdlo. When you are photographing in a forest, it is often good to use manual mode and use flash as the main source of light to illuminate the image. This also works with photographing at night and the flash provides light and (believe it or not) shutter speed is not that important. That is due to the fact the flash fires on then shuts light off extremely fast, even faster than the fastest camera shutter speed, so even a slow shutter speed set on camera (say 1/60th) will not blur the image. Now, the other thing mentioned by sparrow is the flash extender. All you need to do is google Better Beamer Flash Extender. They cost around US$40 plus postage and I don't think are available to buy in Australia. :-( Excellent investment for a hot-shoe mounted flash and I have used one to illuminate a bird (for an ID shot) from around 50m away! Up close within a range of 20m or less it's awesome!!
got mine on ebay/us the best $45 i ever spent!
Thanks guys. Akos I found your information very useful because I can't get a good shot in gloomy conditions because my flash is not powerful enough and the shutter speed is alway too slow in a dark forest.
Cheers, Owen.
Owen, one thing to be mindful of is that sometimes the ambient light may allow an exposure that could create a blurred subject. Eg, you may shoot manual mode, set aperture at f/5.6, shutter at 1/60th, but the ambient light exposure may also dictate those settings at your chosen ISO. You need to make sure to either close down aperture to get more depth of field, or choose an exposure setting that ensures that ambient light does not affect the final image - or increase the shutter speed (make sure flash is set to high-speed synch, or shutter is not faster than the camera flash synch speed).
Owen, I dont know about your Pentax but my Canon restricts the shutter speed to 1/200th sec max anyway with flash......even in Manual mode. That is because if you choose a faster speed it will not expose the whole frame and you will get a dark shadow over one side due to the flash synch.
Naturally the distance from the subject is the all important factor here as if it is an on-camera flash like mine..then it is limited to a relatively short distance depending on your ISO. I manage to get shots at times with very low light by using the tripod, flash and high ISO .
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Adrienne, my 430EX has a HSS mode (high-speed synch) whereby I can use any shutter speed for flash. If you use manual flash, that is when the camera synch-speed will influence by having the black lines (which are shutter blades). So if you have a dedicated flash then synch at faster shutter speeds is possible. But only then. I always have HSS on when using fill flash in the day and I've never yet had the black shutter blades in the frame. :-)
Just note that if you are using a built-in flash, then the maximum synch speed is restricted to whatever it is stated in the camera manual. Usually around 1/125th to 1/300th of a second. However, if you have an external flash like a Canon 430EX, 580EX, Nikon SB600, SB800, SB900 etc you will get HSS. :-)
Love the lot of them Owen, top shots mate.
Thanks Tassie. Funnily enough I went to another weir close by and saw no birds there in a regrowth forest.
Cheers, Owen.
Good shots Owen. I have never seen that pigeon where I live. Thanks for sharing.
In regards to the flash photography. I never even thought about using a flash outdoors when birding until a few weeks ago somebody here mentioned they used some fill flash. I thought what a top idea. Unfortunately I only have the built in flash and when I tried it out last week in some low light conditions I really didn't like the results. I may post some shots just to get some feedback. I am a total noob when it comes to flash photography.
Maybe Akos can write an article about it on his website like he did for shooting to the right :)) Hint hint nudge nudge. Its ok though I know how busy everyone is.
And I think I will order that flash extender and an SB700 for my d7000. Thanks for all the great info all.
I was born to live and I live to die.
Thanks Alex. i am a total goose with flash photography and low light conditions.
Cheers, Owen.
it's always better to stick with the same brand as your camera but i use my extender on a yongnuo flash ($75 on ebay)on my old d200 i could use high shutter speeds but on my new D7000 i am only able to get 250th so far this has not been a problem
Hi sparrow,
Yeah the Nikon Speedlights are obviously the better ones if you have the cash for them. I have been researching and I am seriously considering the Nissin Di866 for Nikon. It does high speed sync as well so on the d7000 you can get higher sync speeds that just 1/250. It DOES have to be mounted on the hotshoe on the camera though. It does not do HSS remotely. They are about $275 on ebay. Still not cheap but less than half the price of the Nikon.
I was born to live and I live to die.
Nice shots Owen, used to go there a lot when we were kids, happy times!
Thanks Cath and Shane. It was my first time and was very interesting. Do you have any idea what they use the aqueduct for?
Cheers, Owen.
Ace
Please don't waste money on a non-camera branded flash! I.e. if you have a Nikon DSLR, buy a Nikon flash! Same for Canon. I personally would not use any brand other than the above two for (serious) nature photography. You have all the bells and whistles, accessories since these two are at the APEX of photography equipment. Others don't even compare. Not to say you cannot take good shots with other brands, but if you want flexibility, good and consistent results then stick with Canon (first for me obviously) or Nikon. In the end, it really is the photographer that makes ALL the difference, however, having the best possible equipment for starters (that you CAN afford without divorce or whatever LOL) ensures you won't start off on the back foot. My best piece of advise is YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Feel free to e-mail me off line for more help. :-)
Yeah Akos, when I started off photography I always thought why buy Nikon when others make same for cheaper until I started seeing the end results. I have been buying Nikon lenses only since then. I think I will probably end up with an SB-700 as a flash. I think it should do the job. Might not have the power of the Nissin but at least I will get consistent results.
I was born to live and I live to die.