giving forum another go

[avkomp]

hi Folks. decided to give the forum another go.will try not to offend anyone this time round. just calls em as I sees em though, pass on some critique or tips based on a bit of experience.
never been my thing to insult anyone. just trying to help. anyway lets see what happens

[LJG]

Good on you Stephen, welcome back.

[avkomp]

hi Lloyd. time will tell I guess. only always tried to help like I said. just whacked up a hooter from tonight cos I can.
love owls. birds of prey pretty much my fav thing to photograph. hopefully I not spam toe forum too much either

[seaslug]

hi Folks. decided to give the forum another go.will try not to offend anyone this time round. just calls em as I sees em though, pass on some critique or tips based on a bit of experience.
never been my thing to insult anyone. just trying to help. anyway lets see what happens

Welcome back, your expertise and brilliant bird pictures definitely has a place on the Forum.

Everybody needs to realize that in most cases we don't know the people or their reasons for wanting to post their pictures. What for you might be a very ordinary shot may well be the shot of the year for the poster if you only knew the story behind the shot. With wildlife I always take into account whether it is a wild creature in it's natural environment or a captive animal on display to the public when I make some judgement as to the value or otherwise of the shot.

To me the camera settings are just one aspect of getting a special image.. to be there.. at the right time and to record natural behavior is just as much, if not more important as knowing how to take a picture.

I love your Owl shot and can assume you've spent many hours observing the group and thinking about how you might be there at the best time to capture it. Where was it?

[Isac]

Welcome back avkomp. Your photos and CC are always welcome here so just do what you do. I'm sure we can all learn from your experience.

[avkomp]

Welcome back, your expertise and brilliant bird pictures definitely has a place on the Forum.

Everybody needs to realize that in most cases we don't know the people or their reasons for wanting to post their pictures. What for you might be a very ordinary shot may well be the shot of the year for the poster if you only knew the story behind the shot. With wildlife I always take into account whether it is a wild creature in it's natural environment or a captive animal on display to the public when I make some judgement as to the value or otherwise of the shot.

To me the camera settings are just one aspect of getting a special image.. to be there.. at the right time and to record natural behavior is just as much, if not more important as knowing how to take a picture.

I love your Owl shot and can assume you've spent many hours observing the group and thinking about how you might be there at the best time to capture it. Where was it?

thanks for the kind words.. I understand what you mean about images being the shot of a lifetime for someone. all I do when I say that this is for example under exposed, or perhaps if you took 2 steps to the right, then the composition may be better. stuff like that may not have occured to the poster and someone looking at the shot without the excitement may be able to help in getting a better shot. with the exif you might see that a different mode on the camera may have worked better or something.

as for the owls, we check in on them over summer and see all is well. you get a feel for the territory that they may be roosting in.
as breeding season approaches you start seeing them roosting closer together and finally they will mate and the female takes to the hollow.
we managed to fnd their nest by seeing what the are up to at dusk and looking in that general direction.

the powerful owls are shy around the nest initially so you cant bother them or they may abandon the nesting, but after the chicks hatch, you can monitor them a bit.
I found a spot where you can observe the nest from a safe distance. you cant get too close to the nest at all or they may well attack. not sure that you can move around much either or they might attack too or at least be put off.

the perch in the posted owl shot just happens to be the perch he goes to to guard stuff and it is engageable from where you monitor the nest. he goes to other places to call mum or whatever but shots not always possible. you pays your money and you takes your chances. it turns out to be a great perch to shoot him on mostly as it is around 15m from the camera and in the clear. you get full frame shots with the camera turned vertically. I never picked it as a good spot. just got lucky, in fact the first pic I ever took there came after I thought I was about to be massacred.
to minimise any disturbance, I photograph in the dark there with no light. the video at very high iso shows what is going on for monitoring purposes.
but this night I figured that I could a take a still, so I did
click. my immediately turned his head to the sound and flew straight at me and I ****. but he landed on this perch and did the head bobbing thing they do to identify stuff (owl eyes not move in the orbits, so they move their head to identify stuff) so I stepped out of cover and let him see me. you see the immediate relaxation,. oh it is you. no probs. and went about preening etc.
I go to the same spot in the same clothes and I believe he knows me. well away from the nest with long lens and all is well. I can video him feeding the female or the kids. etc
later in the season I can get some flash pix too and they seem ok with that..

There seems to be quite a few of these things around suburbia along creeks and the like.
this guy is one of a few pairs at terrys creek in epping.

[Phoenix]

I tend to think of it as a bit of a privilege to have my photos picked on.
Lovely to see here you again.

[avkomp]

thanks Jo. dont pick for sake of picking.unless you want that. hehehe

[loose cannon]

Feel free to shred my images to pieces

I've received a few "not one of your best Mick" critiques and am happy that members feel comfortable enough on this forum to be so honest. My approach to photography is that if I'm not learning, I'm not enjoying. If this years images aren't better than last years than I want to know what the hell I'm doing wrong.

[avkomp]

and that is how I feel too Mick.
over the years I got some critique on images when getting started. not knowing what it is possible to get, your nose gets right out of joint, but then when you realise what can be done, you go off and figure out how they did that and get better.
you need to keep learning.

if there were people who were as good as they could be, you wouldnt need football coaches etc

[Sully]

Welcome back Stephen

[Toddyh]

I'm in the same boat as Mick. Happy to be torn a new one provided I can learn from it.That's what it's all about.

[avkomp]

thanks for all the kind words folks. kinda reminds me of why I joined up in the first place