A few pics of feathered friends and few other animals. (56K caution)

[Maestro]

X-posted from Photog forum, but I know some of you like bird photos.

Tawny emperor from garden (at least I think it is a tawny).


Wierd bee or wasp sharing a flower with a potato bug


Western Kingbird


Scissor Tailed Flycatcher


Killdeer






Cedar Waxwings








Male house finch with supper crumbs on his beak


Ruby throated hummingbird


I have some more buy this is going to get to be too big with all these pics. Enjoy.

[tigereye]

1. NIce! I love that scissor tailed flycatcher!

[Maestro]

4. I like them too.

I'm trying to get a good shot of them flying around with their split tail, but as of yet I haven't gotten a good photo. I'll keep trying.

[Kajsa]

2. Maestro , these are fantastic photos!

The color, balance and clarity are top notch.
They are just beautiful.

You must have one heck of a zoom lens!

The insects shots look like you were inches away.

Thanks so much for sharing these!

:hi:

[Maestro]

3. Thanks

The insects were shot with my 100mm macro lens. The others were all with my 100-400mm telephoto. :hi:

[Kajsa]

6. You could sell your work professionally.

I kid you not.

It's THAT good!

;-)

[Maestro]

14. I'm humbled by that comment.

Any time I think I might be able to do this, I visit this site and decide that I need to learn much more.

[wildhorses]

5. simply amazing

lovely, all of them:loveya:

thanks for sharing:hi:

[Maestro]

11. Thanks Wildhorses.

I love sharing them as well. Perhaps if more people (I'm preaching to the choir here) would see the beauty of Nature, we would take better care of it.

[XemaSab]

7. What kind of camera do you have

and how much did it set you back? :shrug:

You HAVE to go to the Dry Tortugas during migration. I went last week and thought I'd died and gone to heaven. :D

[Maestro]

16. I have the following:

Canon Digital Rebel XT 350D and the lens I used with the following pics was a Canon EF-S 100mm Macro F2.8 and the telephoto lens is the Canon F4.5-5.6L 100-400mm. Just this right here has set me back about $2,500 but altogether with the other accessories and lenses it close to $5,000.

[XemaSab]

26. Today I realized that my spotting scope is worth close to 2,800

with the tripod, eyepiece, and carrying case.

It's a Leica Televid 77mm APO, and it's like drugs. One time just for chuckles I pointed it at the ground about 12 feet away (which is as close as it focuses), and I realized that not only could I see an ant on the ground, but the ant had little white hairs all over its head! :o

Overheard last week: "The resolution on this is more than the resolution of my eye!"

[Maestro]

29. Those digiscopes can really get expensive

especially the good ones like that Leica that you have. Heck, Leica is a well known camera maker as well. It is very high-end. I'm trying to figure out how I can spring for a Canon 600mm lens to really reach out and "touch" those birds, but that one purchase would be more than what I have spent on everything else to this point. Ugh!

[ThomCat]

8. Yay! Cat Toys!

:woohoo:

[Maestro]

12. Funny

:rofl:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. Those pictures are beautiful! and Vibrant!!

You have an incredible eye! And I LOVE the Scissor-tail. ARen't they beautiful!?
Duckie

[Maestro]

13. Thanks YRD.

I still have a lot to learn.

[Kat45]

10. Again, beautiful pictures of beautiful birds.

I like the markings on the killdeer.

[Maestro]

15. Thanks notmyprez.

I have killdeer all over my backyard!

[bigwillq]

17. Great pics!

:hi:

[Maestro]

19. Thanks as usual.

You're very kind. :hi:

[Gormy Cuss]

18. Great pix .

I've never seen that flycatcher IRL. Very pretty bird.

[Maestro]

22. Here are a few more.

Three's a crowd.


And finally...


The Scissor tail is only found in coastal states during the summer. And odd few may show up in Oklahoma and Arkansas I suppose, but then they winter in Mexico and Central America.

[gristy]

27. Is it difficult to get your subject in focus?

What assistance does the camera give you? The sharpness of these little guys is just amazing.

[Maestro]

28. Thanks. I can't remember

what I did here. I'd have to look at the EXIF info on the shot. But I have been using manual focus more often than not because the little guys are difficult for the Auto Focus to distinguish in and amongst everything else. However, in post processing, in Photoshop, there is wonderful tool called Unsharp Mask which raises the accutance or the transition from pixel to pixel thus raising the sharpness. It won't make an out of focus shot, in focus, but it will help an in focus shot look even sharper.

[Zuiderelle]

20. The bee picture is incredibly beautiful.

:thumbsup:

All of them are, but that's particularly striking to me.

[Maestro]

21. Thanks. When I took it

I didn't think much of it, but after looking at it in post processing I though the black of the bee and the yellow of the flower really nicely contrasted. Thanks for the comment.

[EFerrari]

23. How did you get the hummingbird to sit that long!

Beautiful!

[Maestro]

24. I told it Cheney was near. It froze long enough to look for Dead Eye!

:rofl: Here are a few more.



And then off for a drink.

[EFerrari]

25. Look at that red ascot! Those guys have all the heft of a marshmallow!

You must be a very quick draw, Maestro. I love the pajaritos. :hi:

[BarenakedLady]

30. My picture

Is very interested in your pictures.



;)

[Maestro]

31. I bet it would be, but

this is interested in your pic. ;)