SCRUB JAY SHOOT

I am sharing how I got these wonderful shots of our backyard Scrub Jays, so you can do this too.

Equipment: 200 mm L series lens with 2x doubler that can get me out to 400 meters. Canon 5D Mark 3 Settings: Manual Settings: Auto ISO Shutter 1/500-1/1000 (Mostly 1/500) Aperture 4.5 Shot in Raw (always) Spots metering AI Servo focusing

Setup: Bird seed or an equivalent snack dusted on our deck railing and deck table. I didn't have to wait long about 15 feet away on a deck chair with hand held camera. You could setup a laser trigger as well with a tripod. You really do not need that here if your camera is fast enough. Now, birds in flight, lightning, or hummingbirds then setup a trigger. I took about 400 to 500 photos over the last three Saturdays to get 10 that I felt were good enough. Total time including Photoshop between 3 and 4 hours.

Software: Cropped and adjusted contrast in Photoshop. I am very happy with the professional look of my first bird shoot. You can do this too!