F8 @ 1/500th. Birds twitch. Long lenses like shutter speed ! Shoot TVS. Paul
> On Jul 31, 2026, at 4:24 PM, John Sessoms <[email protected]> wrote: > > Due to a combination of factors I'm semi-housebound right now, so I've taken > to photograph the birds I can lure to my back deck. > > My results have been kind of hit or miss (actually A LOT of miss, but it's > not like I'm burning through film at an unsustainable rate) > > I have always been an F/8 & be there; LOW ISO (ASA) kind of photographer and > it's not working for this case. > > I've been taking photography classes - more for the social interaction than > anything else. But I am still learning. > > I was showing the instructor some of my "hits" the other day and she had some > valuable criticism. > > She suggested I switch to shutter priority & keep the shutter speed at 1/250 > or even 1/500. Just let the camera do its own thing with the aperture. > > I'm really not comfortable with that, so I opted for TAV mode, shutter 1/500 > & aperture f/8 and let the ISO float. > > I've got a set-up on my back deck where I can put food out on the railing & > I've got part of a tree screwed to the outside of the deck, creating a perch > just above where the food is so the birds can land, take a look around and > then hop down to feed. > > I have the camera & lens mounted on a sturdy tripod. I'm zone focused on the > branch & f/8 gives me enough DoF to have the birds sharp on the branch & on > the deck railing. > > I've only been doing it a couple of days, but my observations so far ... > > The glass in the window has no more effect on the image than a skylight > filter. > > I can't use the remote trigger (wired). I'm too slow. Even holding it in my > hand I just can't get the shot off in time. I have to use the shutter button > on the camera. > > Live View has a lot of lag. And on the K-1 it seems to constrain the buffer > so that you can't get as many shots in a burst as you can without Live View. > > I'm getting my subjects backlit a lot. I just rigged a $1.98 Home Depot clamp > light to a table I have out on the deck. I'll see how that works to add a bit > of fill. > > I HOPE I'll have some results I think are worth sharing. > > Anyway, I hope y'all are getting to do some photography that satisfies you. > Maybe in the fall when the temperatures get down a little I'll be able to go > a bit farther afield. > > -- > Aeternum vive aut conando moriere. > > -- > This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. > www.avg.com > -- > %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
