My Daily Visitors.

[Paul Mitchell]

A Robin and a Downy Woodpecker. They just love peanut butter.

[wigz]

Very nice Paul and good action with the spread wings.

[eaglem]

If you use the right bait you get good shots it seems

[David_MC]

Nice shots.

[Paul Mitchell]

Here is another one I just took a few minutes ago. It was a good day.

[Isac]

I agree with all above Paul - well done. I don't mind a bit of peanut paste on a slice of fresh bread - yummy!
I think you may have gotten an improved IQ with a wider aperture, a much lower ISO (on the first 3) and a faster shutter speed would have helped. Others may chime in here and offer better ideas.
I see you use the Tamron 18-400. I have the same and it doesn't come off my camera. It's a magic lens - especially at 400mm.

[Paul Mitchell]

I have the Tamron on my D7000. And it doesnt come off either. I do shoot a lot of wide angle so I have a Sigma 10-20 on a second D7000 which never comes off that one. Both are the same cameras because I dont like relearning each time I change cameras. I will be lost when I get a new camera which is imminent. Im not going to go for two of them however, unless I can get such a deal I cant refuse.

[Isac]

Cameras lately have gone up too much for me because of greed so I'll just stick to my 7D and 7Dii. Now in my 70's so a new camera is off my radar. I'm losing my mojo lately and for me it's good enough for what I do.

[Paul Mitchell]

This is the last of my bird shots for the day, I promise.

[Isac]

Good detail and colour in these Paul. Is the black background done in post?

[Paul Mitchell]

No Isac. The dark background is smoked glass. By turning down my ISO for less graininess, and upping the shutter speed for less blurriness, Im left with a dark background. Im still a work in progress.

[Isac]

Thanks Paul. It looks good, so keep at it - great method. Is the flash off camera?

[Paul Mitchell]

The flash was the on camera one. I have a couple of Yong Nuo which are great and completely controllable but I just never seem to use as much as I should. Ive been playing around all day today just changing camera angles. Im trying to get birds in flight without the peanut butter showing.

[Isac]

I look forward to your BIF shots. Like you I have a couple of flash units and rarely use them nowadays.