I shoot about 4000 images to get one

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I think there are some mighty shots there! You need to commend yourself for your patience, as well! I get so 'bored' trying to capture small birds in flight, I move on before I get anything halfway good, let alone some beauties as you got!
 
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ElenaH said:
And still didn't get it ;-) Need to repeat my shooting again and again.
Here are some of the images but I am still not happy with the result.
View attachment 63123
Here the distance to the wall and the lighting are ok and but I don't like the pose.
Here I like the pose but the background is too close and too bright:
View attachment 63124
Here also the pose not so good but also not so bad:
View attachment 63125
Here is also not so bad but the the pose I mentioned in #2 is much better ;-) and the background is sill too close
View attachment 63126
Here the pose is nice but the background not so..
View attachment 63127

View attachment 63128

As you can see, I have an idea in my mind and strive to get the image with fighting bee-eaters, which are good lighted on the dark background and background must be relatively far away from the birds. It is not so easy because they don't fight often and I don't know the place where it happens and the timing and when it happens it goes very fast.
Each species of Bee-Eaters is different. For example, the Southern Carmine Bee-Eaters are displaying courtship in the air and it is easy to follow them. I didn't see it by other species. But I am in Europe and there are European Bee-Eaters and I need to learn their behaviour and try to get the right shot.
In between I take one or the other photo of flying birds as well:
View attachment 63129

Do you have any personal project you are working on? Any idea you have in mind and want to materialise it?

View attachment 63130
Click to expand...
Great set and a real challenge for sure. I guess you could try generative fill in the beta photoshop and pick your background 🤣🤣. Just kidding. Keep it up I’m sure you will nail it!
 
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ElenaH said:
THank you very much, @NWGuy ! And you are right - oerfecionism is a desease (well, almost) or at least an obsession. But it gives a kick for development! :)
Click to expand...
Yeah, to paraphrase an old saying in context of your posted images:

Don't let perfection get in the way of absolutely friggin' awesome images :)

Really nice work!
 
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ElenaH said:
Wow! It is very interesting! You do also taking pictures of European Bee-eaters! in which country?
I do watch them and yes, now they are coming with prey and fighting for it. Earlier they were fighting for the hole (the nesting place) and probably for the female. When one male approach the female which is already taken then he will be attacked. But some individuals are more aggressiv than tthe others.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do shoot them quite a lot in this period. I'm from Romania and I have at least 5 large colonies at less than 1 hour drive from where I live.

They are here from May to August as they nest and raise their young., then they go back to Africa.

They will tolerate humans in camo nets, tents or even cars quite close to them.

One approach I've been using is to find the branches that they like to sit (hint: the ones with plenty of bird poo on them or beneath them :) ) then wait as they gather on them and try to catch some interesting behaviors:
- they way males give the females insects (and the whole mating process once the insect quota has been reached :p).
- how they smack around insects on branches to dizzy or kill them.
- how they swallow insects by tossing them in the air and catching them like a peanut (and they way they expel leftover insect shells... a bit grose though...)
- how they bicker over position on branches
 
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ssheipel said:
I think there are some mighty shots there! You need to commend yourself for your patience, as well! I get so 'bored' trying to capture small birds in flight, I move on before I get anything halfway good, let alone some beauties as you got!
Click to expand...
Thank you, Steven! Sometimes it is not boring at all! They are for me already like good old friends! :LOL:

DavidT said:
Great set and a real challenge for sure. I guess you could try generative fill in the beta photoshop and pick your background 🤣🤣. Just kidding. Keep it up I’m sure you will nail it!
Click to expand...
😅 yes, definitelly it is an option to pick the background :ROFLMAO:
 
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StefanSC said:
Yes, I do shoot them quite a lot in this period. I'm from Romania and I have at least 5 large colonies at less than 1 hour drive from where I live.

They are here from May to August as they nest and raise their young., then they go back to Africa.

They will tolerate humans in camo nets, tents or even cars quite close to them.

One approach I've been using is to find the branches that they like to sit (hint: the ones with plenty of bird poo on them or beneath them :) ) then wait as they gather on them and try to catch some interesting behaviors:
- they way males give the females insects (and the whole mating process once the insect quota has been reached :p).
- how they smack around insects on branches to dizzy or kill them.
- how they swallow insects by tossing them in the air and catching them like a peanut (and they way they expel leftover insect shells... a bit grose though...)
- how they bicker over position on branches
Click to expand...
Exactly, I shoot them also a lot during this period! There is one colony about 20min drive from my village in Austria. I am shooting from the car and yes, they tolerate the car.
And I also love to watch them. Often a male gave an insect to a female and mounted her immediately 😅 But sometimes I saw that a female didn't take an insect from the other male (different thet one she has choosen alerady) very interesting 😅
I would say 20fps open a new world, a window in an animal life I couldn't see before. Now I can see a lot of emotions in wing position and in body language of those small birds when they are arguing and fighting :D
 
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ElenaH said:
And still didn't get it ;-) Need to repeat my shooting again and again.
Here are some of the images but I am still not happy with the result.
View attachment 63123
Here the distance to the wall and the lighting are ok and but I don't like the pose.
Here I like the pose but the background is too close and too bright:
View attachment 63124
Here also the pose not so good but also not so bad:
View attachment 63125
Here is also not so bad but the the pose I mentioned in #2 is much better ;-) and the background is sill too close
View attachment 63126
Here the pose is nice but the background not so..
View attachment 63127

View attachment 63128

As you can see, I have an idea in my mind and strive to get the image with fighting bee-eaters, which are good lighted on the dark background and background must be relatively far away from the birds. It is not so easy because they don't fight often and I don't know the place where it happens and the timing and when it happens it goes very fast.
Each species of Bee-Eaters is different. For example, the Southern Carmine Bee-Eaters are displaying courtship in the air and it is easy to follow them. I didn't see it by other species. But I am in Europe and there are European Bee-Eaters and I need to learn their behaviour and try to get the right shot.
In between I take one or the other photo of flying birds as well:
View attachment 63129

Do you have any personal project you are working on? Any idea you have in mind and want to materialise it?

View attachment 63130
Click to expand...
WOW! love them all (y) (y)
 
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You are doing an excellent job in capturing images, but they aren't consistent with your "vision" of what you are looking for. With BIF, there are a lot of things you don't control in terms of where and when they fly and the lighting (though you can pick your time of day). I've found location is important, along with a lot of patience. A friend of mine has done an incredible job of capturing great images of Bald Eagles and Ospreys. But he is out shooting 4 - 5 days/week, and he will drive or fly to many locations to be in the right place at the right time. His number of great shots/hour may not be many, but by putting in enough hours, he ends up with a lot of great shots.
 
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Great photos, very envious, but you have put in the time. AI will NEVER get the photo in your minds eye unless it is already out there. After all AI is only statistics on metadata steroids.
 
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Unless i have it wrong I think what your looking for is the subject that pops of the page and gives a milky beautiful back ground bokah ? if so as you know
comes from positioning the subject from the back ground, not always possible, or it comes from the glass shallow DOF.

Options where the subject is close to the background

70-200 F2 .8 shot at F2.8
200mm F2 shot at F2
300 2.8 VR II shots at F2.8
400 F2.8 shot at F2.8
200-400 F4 shot at F4 (a consideration)
500mm F4 shot at F4
600mm F4 shot at F4

800mm F5.6 or Z version F6.3




Only an opinion
 
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