Backyard Birding Studio - Bird Portraits 1 of 3

[houtex01]

I've always had bird feeders in my backyard...there was an article in Outdoor Photographer (Nov 2010 - On The Wing by Mike Stensvold) in which the author talked about "Bird Portraits"...reading this article gave me the ideal to create a birding studio around my backyard feeder...I did some work on it experimenting with different things...with the Holiday Season, I quit working on it...recent postings by Don (donlfaulkner) and Dan (dlanter) talking about their backyard feeders gave me renewed interest in working with mine...my studio is a work-in-progress...I have lots of ideals/creations I would like to experiment with...thought I would share a few photos that I've recently shot in my setup...hope you enjoy...C/C always welcomed...

Ron

[dtran]

Beautiful pictures, Ron! Now you can put a sign in your backyard "birding studio for rent"

[jfoureyes]

Ron I think you have a super setup working for you!! The birds look like they like it too!

[pcdeatherage]

nice nice nice

[corralup]

Looks like you have them trained very well! I thought about getting one of those chair deer blinds and doing this.

[donlfaulkner]

Your Backyard studio will proably always be a work in progress, mine is. How did you do your backgrounds? They make the subject really stand out.

[preames]

Nice series Ron. The second blue jay and the cardinal are exceptional. Like Don, I'm curious about your backgrounds...

[TxPhotoShooter]

All I can say is just awesome. Nice sharp photos, great backgrounds, variety of birds and your set-ups just takes them over the top Ron. Kudos.

I would love to do this with my yard but we just put the house up for sale so this would have to wait for another year.

[houtex01]

Thanks everyone for viewing and your comments...always enjoy them...I've added a couple of photos of my backyard studio layout...I'm using a 1/4" board (2' x 4') sold at Home Depot for my backgrounds...it's a particle type board with smooth sides...you can paint both sides...I'm also using peg boards on the fence so that I can easily move my backgrounds around depending on my perches...I don't use any type of blind...I just set up on my deck and I'm about 20 feet from the feeder...as long as I don't make any sudden type movements, the birds seem to totally ignore me...as you can see in these pictures I just took, there are a couple of birds on the feeder that refused to move when I took the pictures...will be glad to answer any other questions you might have...

Ron

[Laohutu]

I like the last two photos!!!

[mdparthum]

What a cool set up and great shots! Thanks.

[donlfaulkner]

Kewl setup!

[David Alaniz]

Dang Ron, you have done real good with this set up. Real hard to pick but #4 and #6 jump at me. Great job Ron!

[HuyMan]

Thumbs Up!

[dalepa]

I also started a new backyard photo setup last week. Currently I'm using a sheet of deer hunting camo (academy) for the background and I have a similar feeding station... Getting the background colors and distance for bokeh seems to be key.

I love the perch on a stick Idea! This is almost marketable! Got a patent yet? I'm going to do the same! The ability to move the sticks is awesome...

Your backgrounds almost look a little too perfect and a little on the bright side and may be interfering with the white balance... Not sure.. maybe some mixing of colors or some different light patterns...

I'll post my setup soon...

Great info and some really nice shots!


Here's a camo backdrop shot


Northern Cardinal by Dan Pancamo, on Flickr