A few Tawny Frogmouths have decided to visit us for Christmas. This mother was being very vigilant as her baby sat nearby. I shot this with a Tamron 500mm f8 Mirror Lens on a Canon 550d. Being a fully manual lens I didn't quite nail the focus on the eyes but I was lucky she looked my way long enough to take the shot.
Last edited by Mickoid; 29-12-2019 at 03:45 PM.
Reason: New title
Probably just grumpy 'cause it's Xmas.
Any other shots of the birds to share Michael?
These are the others I took which include the Dad and baby, their camouflage is quite amazing against the trunk and branches of a tree. They really do look like fluffy feather dusters!
Thanks Bob. I was lucky purchasing this mirror lens, it turned out to be a good one. Apparently they did vary in quality, a bit like the Samyang lenses, some were made better than others. I didn't think that depth of field would matter so much at 500mm focal length as I took these from about 8m away from the subject. They ended up being difficult to focus on at this short distance, it was just a case of picking a point on the bird and going for it. Also had to keep the shutter speed fairly high to minimise camera shake as they were taken hand held.
Hi Michael
We also had a visitor just yesterday sitting on our side fence.
I got very close to it and it opened its eyes. Very unusual during the day time and he sat there for about three hours. Beautiful creatures.
That is close Rick! Nice capture. What lens were you using and how far from the bird were you? I have seen them before during the day but they normally stay very still and appear to be sleeping, which I guess they are doing because they're up all night!
Thanks Bob. I was lucky purchasing this mirror lens, it turned out to be a good one. Apparently they did vary in quality, a bit like the Samyang lenses, some were made better than others. I didn't think that depth of field would matter so much at 500mm focal length as I took these from about 8m away from the subject. They ended up being difficult to focus on at this short distance, it was just a case of picking a point on the bird and going for it. Also had to keep the shutter speed fairly high to minimise camera shake as they were taken hand held.
Yes, well done for the mirror lens Mick, I watched a youtube of that lens, inquisitive, & looks to be some mastering of it, soo, persistence has paid off for you and recognizing the Focus abilities of different lenses is always a cool aspect of photog
Rick, these mobile phone cameras are getting better every day and yours isn't even the latest one. Maybe the bird was stoned on something it ate the night before !
Bob, your capture a few years back is one of that classic Tawny Frogmouth pose that's trying to disguise itself as a tree branch. On focusing the mirror lens, I really should be using a mono pod at least. If there's low light, a combination of a long focal length and a fixed f8 aperture, limits you from using fast shutter speeds to avoid movement.