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6 Comments |
njkerosky Ultimate
 
njkerosky November 07, 2014
Outstanding capture!!!
Annettesphotos
Annettesphotos April 30, 2017
Sorry so late getting back to you but had a major back surgery and life just getting in the way!!! But thank you so very much for your wonderful comment it truly means the world -to me!!!! Being self taught and trying to get my name out there is huge for me and comments like yours are super encouraging to keep me going, and when my life lets me get to it I'm. Going to get a website set up b, I'm on Facebook if you want to check it out under just my name and again THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
JulesB
 
JulesB November 26, 2014
A spectacular shot... this is outstanding. What's your location?
Annettesphotos
Annettesphotos April 30, 2017
Sorry so late getting back to you but had a major back surgery and life just getting in the way!!! But thank you so very much for your wonderful comment it truly means the world -to me!!!! Being self taught and trying to get my name out there is huge for me and comments like yours are super encouraging to keep me going, and when my life lets me get to it I'm. Going to get a website set up b, I'm on Facebook if you want to check it out under just my name and again THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
Annettesphotos
 
Annettesphotos April 30, 2017
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique.
davidsloan
 
davidsloan May 05, 2017
An exquisite well timed capture of this beautiful Bird.
Mtneye Platinum
 
Mtneye April 22, 2018
All of your bird images are stunning!
Annettesphotos
Annettesphotos July 11, 2018
THANK YOU SO MMUCH THAT IS VERY ENCOURAGING!!!!!
lindasimmons_2210
 
lindasimmons_2210 July 11, 2018
Annette is a very talented photographer and her birds are stunning❤️❤️❤️
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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this shot in my backyard where I had something special set up to attract ALL types of birds, I'll tell you about later.. And it did attract the Jays, both sexes of Cardinals, of course House Sparrows, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, a few Bluebirds, and eve the male n female Red-Bellied Woodpecker. So there was high action going on at ALL TIMES of the day.

Time

I took this shot about mid - day due to the need for the correct lighting 1st and foremost, yet also after I put my ultimate attraction out there, I had to be ready for the quick and and outstanding amount of of action that came almost immediately!!!!!

Lighting

When it came to the lighting, I had to wait for that noonish time of day because of the way the sun came around the side of our house to get that direct wonderful natural sunlight, and before the sun went on around to set due to the huge maple trees in our yard that would completely cover my area in shade, especially what I chose for my backdrop, or most of it aside from the way this Blue Jay decided to SOAR!!! I had to make sure I had some good direct sunlight so I could turn my ISO down as low as possible, around 320, and yet turn my speed on up to catch some of the best swooping and fighting I haven't caught since.

Equipment

I'm not a rich person so on Black Friday I bought a bundle with my very 1st camera EVER, which was a Nikon D5100, of course it had the normal 18-55mm lens, but I was using the NIKKOR 55-200mm ED, DX, VR lens And since I was not far away at all, sitting at our dining room windows, far away enough to get all the diving and fighting, but close enough to get some really great detail. And I never use a tripod unless it's of portraits or certain scenes in nature.

Inspiration

I'd had my camera long enough that I had caught some early spring bathing in one of my birdbaths that had turned out great, and as my brain wouldn't let me go to sleep one night after getting the thrill of capturing action shots and going back thru each picture to see what ALL I'd captured, with the thrill as if opening up a Christmas present with each shot, I had to find a way to catch some more action shots yet even better, in flight pictures. So I came up with an idea to buy at least one big bag of shucked whole peanuts, that I knew every single bird I had seen in what little time I had my camera, would love. But I still had to find a decent looking way to capture them. Kinda the idea "Build it and they will come!!!" I bought this beautiful bird house and put it in the ground on a 4x4 post, and I soon realized that setting it up in that light and snapping away that I was going to need way more than one big bag of nuts and even used some cheaper black sunflower seeds, because I was getting many amazing shots and I was hooked to the fun of it. Then we I got all the different spices coming and going and of course all the Blue Jays I could get in every kind of in flight and fighting positions possible and mixed with the Cardinals, I had to take it down. But I knew that beautiful ornamental grass and down below it a row of huge green n white leafed evergreen brushed would be the best backdrops in our yard. This shot really made my heart race cause I really knew it was super special, I guess I got lucky!!! Oh if you look closely you can see a peanut in its beak.

Editing

No this is way before Windows 10 easy editing, and being self-taught there was no way I could even attempt photoshop which was in its infancy at that time, so all I done was crop off the tip top of the birdhouse feeder in the bottom left corner.

In my camera bag

I have since had to upgrade just a bit to a Nikon D5300, really most of all because I wore the D5100 out... Lol But I still carry the same kind of lenses, I did wear the 55-200mm out and had to get another one of those too. But I carry extra cards in case I want to shoot something odd or really just different, of course my extra charged battery, a few filters, plenty of lens wipes in my compact different items used to clean my lenses and camera, and a shoulder strap to hold and carry my camera, which is perfect for not having to use a tripod on 90% of my shots, but I do keep my tripod in my car just in case. That's really all you need.

Feedback

Well I've gotten my name out there but slowly and that's partly out of my control due to many health problems (12) surgeries from 2010 to 2017, but I'm not using that as an excuse nor do I want that in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER used to make me ANY more special. And I really really really dislike for ANYONE to pity me. Also though on the other hand if you love photography or anything for that matter, you WILL find a way to use your imagination to create things with your camera, or even your cell phone for that matter. Cause it's really doing what you love, similar to being in love with someone, you'll find a way to be with that person and constantly trying to make things better, and making the time to work on the things you want to improve. Read all about your camera before you take one picture, know it before you use it and don't cheat and use the automatic controls, that's the other thing, read everything you can on the 3 basic things to use a DSLR... shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, and I don't mean read a few things about it, read and take notes so if you're in the middle of trying to take a picture of something and you can't figure out what you're doing wrong, go back and read over your basics and try again, and one really great thing about a DSLR (also know what your abbreviations stand for) is that there is a delete button... Lol Work smarter not harder!!! Yes it's easy to to get discouraged, but if you truly love photography then you'll find yourself putting it down but sometimes within the hour and maybe you need a day or two, but you will be picking it up again and reading more, writing more notes about things I guarantee you have missed before or that makes sense that didn't before. It's all going to boil down to if you just want to learn photography or if you're really wanting to be a photographer!!!!

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