Birds on Lake Kerkini

[rcarca]

Limni (or Lake) Kerkini is one of the biggest wetlands in mainland Europe. A manmade reservoir it is managed so as to help even out the irrigation needs of the farmers downstream. It feeds one of the biggest fertile agricultural areas in Greece. the by product has been the adoption of the wetlands by a wide range of waterfowl. We mainly saw pelicans, herons, cormorants and a wide range of gulls. There is also a big herd of buffalo wallowing in the mud at the edges of the lake.

I have to say that I need some tuition in this bird photography thing... Curious to know what settings some of you proper birders would have used with a 100-400 Mkii. Given we were on a boat and in expectation of flight I tried to keep the shutter speed up and even in the bright light that meant a higher ISO that I might have liked, even on the 5Diii.

Anyway, FWIW here is a small selection:

Cormorant drying off by Richard Anderson, on Flickr

Cormorant by Richard Anderson, on Flickr

Heron by Richard Anderson, on Flickr

Pelican by Richard Anderson, on Flickr

Pelicans by Richard Anderson, on Flickr

The timing was a bit unfortunate because we were out on the lake in the heat of the day rather than early morning - just the way it worked. But I aim to return in October or so because there are then thousands of flamingos.

Thanks for your comments.

If you are interested, you can see more of my Greek journey here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskArtxyd, or even more here: http://adobe.ly/29JFxs1

Best

Richard

[Nathaniel]

Re: Birds on Lake Kerkini

Thanks for sharing Richard. A very nice series and a such a variety of birds. I am not an expert but I generally keep my shutter speed up-approx 1/1000 and higher up to 1/2500 for birds in flight. I leave AV on auto, WB on auto and set the ISO to between 200-400 if the light is bright- same as I would have done in my film camera days.

[the black fox]

Re: Birds on Lake Kerkini

a good set richard,its so hard to be specific with birds /wildlife a lot depends on the camera /lens/time of day/type of bird . i tend to shoot raw files in a.v mode ,a.i servo activated ,with that lens you should try to keep the shutter speed above 1/640 sec the higher the better really .for good bokah the wider open the better ,but if you want good detail all over then stop down to f.8 .never use auto iso unless in really dark conditions .if close enough to target then single point a/f on the eye where possible ,B.I.F if fast would require multi point a/f if a slow bird or animal then single point is probably better .if shots of distant birds use the focus limiter on the lens to get faster focus acquisition . its one of those aspects of photography where you either have to plan ahead or think on your feet as its fast paced at times.

just had a look through the ones on flickr ,the fingers of the gods shots were outstanding

[Dawesy]

Re: Birds on Lake Kerkini

Nice set Richard and judging by the photo's in the Flickr album I don't think any tuition is needed as there are some stunning shots .Specifically regarding birds Blackfox sums it up above but everyone develops there own style which works for them in terms of camera set up / mode of shooting etc. Look forward to seeing more of your efforts.

[tesarver]

Re: Birds on Lake Kerkini

Very nice series of a variety of birds. Well done Richard.

Tom

[rcarca]

Re: Birds on Lake Kerkini

Thanks guys.

[antoeknee]

Re: Birds on Lake Kerkini

Nice set of images. Think Jeff has summed up the options well. Bit of eexperience and it should become easier.