Bay-breasted warbler singing (not shot with the camera you think!)
This past week I had planned to spend a day down at Magee Marsh in Ohio with hopes to catch part of the bird migration underway. This area is a well known migrant trap, where many birds stop to rest and feed before making the flight across Lake Erie. Birding reports throughout last week were looking positive. The added bonus was this week my pre-order on my D800 came in. So I was hoping to not only get in some long overdue bird photography, but also try out a new camera, and break out of this rut I have been in.
Magee has been quite hit and miss (mostly miss) for me over the past few times I have been down there. I know it can be good, it just takes a lot of flexibility in being able to get down there when it is really good. That doesn’t mean just good for birding, but good for bird photography – a big difference! The birds need to be down low, and many were just high up in the trees.
I still have an impression in my mind of one of the first times I was down there in May 2003. I was still shooting film back then with my F5, and I think I came back having shot about 8 rolls. Certainly I threw a lot away, but I remember it was quite exciting photography. There were plenty of birds and fast action. So I didn’t even care I threw a lot of it away, I was at least granted the opportunity to screw up.
Times since 2003 have paled in comparison, although occasionally I get maybe a handful of keepers if I am lucky and hit the timing right for being there. I know that bird photography is challenging enough that you have to accept coming home with nothing – but damn it stings. I was certainly hoping the little guys would at least throw me a bone this last time. The rational side of me knows I am setting myself up for disappointment to expect to go down one day and have it be awesome.
So no warbler pictures to show from this trip, so I once again dig into my archives. This bay-breasted warbler was photographed in 2007 with my D2X.
So what about that D800!?
Yeah, I guess I should mention something about that! 🙂 I don’t know yet how well the D800 will do for birds since I didn’t get much opportunity to try it out. The battery was actually charging for the first time overnight, and I left at 4:30 am. I wasn’t about to go around photographing brick walls just to have some 36MP photos to share. If you want to see that much detail of a brick wall, you can press your nose against one. 🙂 The frames per second is much slower than normally used to keep up with these little, fast moving small birds. But, I was willing to try for what birds I did see. I managed to get off a few shots with the D800 of a white-crowned sparrow. Only one was acceptably sharp.
D800 1:1 crop of white-crowned sparrow
I suppose the immediate thing that I noticed with this shot is when I zoomed to 1:1. You can see how much of the original frame is zoomed in. I am used to seeing a drop off in clarity and details when pixel peeping at something at 1:1 zoom. When I zoomed on this one, it was clear that I was dealing with a different animal of a camera. No pixelation, no softening. The obvious advantage for bird photography is that I should be able to crop quite a bit into an image to help eliminate distractions.
Something I completely forgot about is video. This the first DSLR I own with video capability, so it didn’t even cross my mind to try that out. Needless to say, I am very much still getting my feet wet with this camera. I photographed some rock abstracts this morning with it. I am not much of a gear reporter, but I will try to post some more experiences with it as they come along.
Who knows, maybe another warbler trip is in order?
Pretty warbler image – congrats on the new camera! Birds high up in the trees? Reminds me of my first Northern Saw Whet Owl opportunity: looking straight up to the top of a white pine, all I had was a great shot of the bottom of the owl.
All too familiar with that kind of shot Tom. 🙂
Mark, this looks like it will be the perfect tool for you … until the next perfect tool reveals itself. 🙂 Congratulations on receiving it. I’m looking forward to seeing more shots with it. Now, go get those warblers, dude!
Ahem Mr. Paul – I think someone has been through about 3 or 4 cameras since I have had my D700. Warblers, rocks, leaves, brick walls, I’ll try to find something. 🙂
Wow, that is an amazing 1:1 crop. I think you are going to like this camera! My bird photography only happens when one of them drops into the range of my short and slow zoom lens. Like Earl, i”m a bit short on patience and wish had more of it, now. Looking forward to seeing more from this camera so maybe another trip out there is in order.
If I could sell patience, I think I would be a very rich man. 🙂
It takes a lot of patience to be a good bird photographer, which is why I’ve never felt myself to be one. There have been a few time I’ve stumbled into a situation got off a decent shot but it was seldom planned or the results of waiting for just the right shot.
Mark, congratulations on that D800. An amazing amount of detail and zoom-in on that 1:1 crop. I actually cancelled my D800 pre-order this weekend! The more I thought about how I’d use it and what I’d always thought a replacement for my D700 would be, the more I realized the D800 may not be “it.” I may come back around to the D800 somewhere down the road, but for now it didn’t make sense for me. I do however see it as a wonderful tool for your detailed nature work and I’m looking forward to seeing those results.
I have a preorder in for an Olympus E-M5 body…that one I’ll take delivery of, if it ever gets here. 😉
I used to think I had quite a bit of patience, but I would say some days are better than others.
That’s a shame on the D800 Earl – I was hoping to have someone to compare notes with! 🙂 I don’t know anything about that Olympus, I’ll have to look it up.
I have never been able to get good bird shots, probably because I never had a decent tele lens or the patience. I predict the D800 will give you amazing results in the future, as evidenced by this sample. Congratulations of the new purchase.
Definitely some long lenses are involved with these little birds Ken – but I really see all sorts being used around that area. On busy days, there is some pretty heavy artillery around. 🙂
I’m not much into bird photogprahy but I like the photo in this post even though it’s not from recent trip. COngrats on new camera. Be sure to share some more experience and impressions notes 😉
Thanks Tomas, will do.