First pics from my portable hide

gbmphoto

gbmphoto

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Graham
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I'm trying to learn as much as I can but I kept finding I had to spend a good couple of hours out in the garden to even get a couple of keepers - something I put down to being too visible sat there with all my gear. I bid on a portable hide on an auction site and won the damn thing... turns out it might have been the best £40 I've spent in a long time!

I had a go in it this evening in not the best of light, but it certainly foxed the birds into thinking I wasn't there - until my toddler came running out to play housey :)

Here are the first few that I think might be worthy of sharing here...


#1


#2


#3


#4


#5
 
can we have a look at your portable hide, Graham

mine fell the pieces after a few days

(the drinks holders could not stand the strain!!!)
 
I'll take a few images tomorrow for you. I did take a few with the iPhone as I was assembling it, but I was laughing too much at my daughter who thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, so they are all out of focus...
 
Hide seems to be working well, good set of images. I'll be interested in the images of the hide.
 
gbmphoto said:
Incidentally @BillN_33 how are these compositionally and processing wise?
Click to expand...

They look OK to me Graham composition wise, they are in a garden environment, so the usual human interventions of the fountain and fence ...... that's just a matter of taste ........ it just brings it home that the are birds in the garden

(Although the birds are not) - I would think that image will be way over to the right histogram wise - i.e. over exposed ..... but if you correct that the bird will be under exposed - so the only thing that you could do is to treat the bg separately and "play" with it and see what comes.

High ISO looks as if it is responsible for the lack of very fine detail ......... but it is also the crop ............ I find that there seems to be a minimum distance, (i.e. you need to get near), and after that the fine detail starts to drift away and the "less good" the lens the more noticeable it is. ........ also we are now getting a wide range of light - bright sunlight and harsh shadows ..... it is difficult for the sensor to cope and what I find is that even changing the angle a little can dramatically improve the contrast etc., etc. ........ also sometimes in dullish light I find that these modern sensors can make images look "lighter" than they are, (or is it the in camera high ISO processing?)
I think that the main thing, which we all strive for in certain shots is to capture "fine detail" in the bird ....... and that a combination of all the functions that the camera has plus the "right" shooting condition.

Did you use a tripod?

It is just a matter of keeping at it and hopefully learning something everyday to help ....... that's what I keep telling myself anyway

They are light attractive shots of common (garden) birds .......... although I hardly ever see a House Sparrow our here ......... Redstarts are more common!!
 
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Alright so seeing as this is new to me, I've just Googled 'portable bird hide'

Why am I so amused?! :ROFLMAO:

94454_1.jpg


Great work though, Graham. Similar to Bill, I think they would have looked better in a more 'natural' environment but you've handled what you have really well! (y) 10 times better than my efforts would be!
 
A very well spent bit of dosh!

I too am getting into bird photography and, you're right, it's so tricky when you're visible.

I have to move the bird table and feeders closer to my kitchen window, so that I can stand in the kitchen with the window wide open to grab a shot! Not the best when you've only got a 70-300mm either.

I may have to look into a portable hide, thanks for bringing this to my attention :)

Good luck with your pics, even the one's that you've posted are great shots!
 
aw, it's not as daft as I imagined!

Looks like it doubles up as a little den though, so that's good ;)
 
Jumping Jupiter, that's a lot bigger, than I was expecting. Bargain at £40!
 
great "play house" for the kids ……. lovely photo

you may have competition for its use
 
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Thanks Guys :)

BillN_33 said:
They look OK to me Graham composition wise, they are in a garden environment, so the usual human interventions of the fountain and fence ...... that's just a matter of taste ........ it just brings it home that the are birds in the garden

(Although the birds are not) - I would think that image will be way over to the right histogram wise - i.e. over exposed ..... but if you correct that the bird will be under exposed - so the only thing that you could do is to treat the bg separately and "play" with it and see what comes.

High ISO looks as if it is responsible for the lack of very fine detail ......... but it is also the crop ............ I find that there seems to be a minimum distance, (i.e. you need to get near), and after that the fine detail starts to drift away and the "less good" the lens the more noticeable it is. ........ also we are now getting a wide range of light - bright sunlight and harsh shadows ..... it is difficult for the sensor to cope and what I find is that even changing the angle a little can dramatically improve the contrast etc., etc. ........ also sometimes in dullish light I find that these modern sensors can make images look "lighter" than they are, (or is it the in camera high ISO processing?)
I think that the main thing, which we all strive for in certain shots is to capture "fine detail" in the bird ....... and that a combination of all the functions that the camera has plus the "right" shooting condition.

Did you use a tripod?

It is just a matter of keeping at it and hopefully learning something everyday to help ....... that's what I keep telling myself anyway

They are light attractive shots of common (garden) birds .......... although I hardly ever see a House Sparrow our here ......... Redstarts are more common!!
Click to expand...

Thanks @BillN_33 for the detailed response. I use a monopod but have to use high ISO due to the constraints of the lens. I also need to be in better light to reduce that constraint, but not had the chance yet. As you say, it's a learning curve and sticking at it will certainly help me to improve. At least I'm on somewhat of a right path, I hope ;)
 
That looks a pretty decent pop up square hide. Does it have a brand name on it per chance? The quality of them looks really variable when you see the photos online. Cheers
 
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