Red Breast
Photo of a Robin taken at firburn ings
Photo of a Robin taken at firburn ings
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Mar, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photograph at Fairburn Ings, Castleford, West Yorkshire. Fairburn Ings as a nature reserve run by the RSPB (The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). It is a large area of waterways and woodland trails with a great variety of birds and wildlife, apart from the usual ducks, geese and swans there are birds like the Willow Tit, Lapwings, Snipes and my favourite the Kingfisher.Time
This photo was taken around 5 oclock in the afternoon, we had just been watching the kingfishers, I did get a few photos of them but because I did not having a long zoom lens I was a bit disappointed that I could not get a good close up shot of them. We walked just a few yards further down the trail when we came across this robin sitting in this tree.Lighting
The light was dropping a bit so I set the ISO to 800 to try and get a higher shutter speed, as I was taking the photos handheld. The shutter speed was still only 1/80 of a second which would still be too slow for any moving birds, so I had to hold the camera very steady.Equipment
I took this photograph with a Panasonic G3 camera with a lumix 45 to 150 zoom lens, I did not use a tripod or flash.Inspiration
I kind of come across this Photo opportunity with a bit of luck really, the Robin just sat on this branch and let me get very close to it, I started clicking away even had time to alter the setting on my camera and start taking photos again. It just sat there seemed to be posing usually you only have a short window to catch a photo of a bird as they do not sit for long and fly away when you try and get close.Editing
I did do some post-processing in Photoshop altered contrast ect and sharpened the bird and branch but masked out the background so to make the bird stand out more. I also use topaz filters in some of my photos but did not on this image.In my camera bag
When taking this image i had a Panasonic G3 but now I have upgraded to a G7 which as more features like 4K photo. I have a standard 14 to 42 zoom lens and a 45 to 150 zoom lens. Also I carry with me some extension tubes for close ups of flower or insects, a mini tripod, spare batteries and a remote timer. I keep a tripod in the car which I use with the timer if its dropping dark. I would love to get the new 100 to 400 lumix lens which would be great for this kind of photograph but they are very expensive.Feedback
The best advice for taking animals or birds is to be quiet and patient, it helps to have a good zoom lens and to try and have your camera set up ready to capture a image you may only have seconds and you do not want to miss a photo opportunity because your fumbling with your camera, learn how to use your camera so its second nature and try and keep the shutter speed high as to capture any moving animals.
