oftheherd
Mentor
Somebody, I think it was Dave Lackey, who asked about a year or so ago about how to take bird photos. I remember I and some others made some suggestions that may or may not have been useful to Dave.
But I just ran across this https://www.hackster.io/reichley/solar-powered-squirrel-cam-pi-zero-w-797db4 while searching for facial recognition with the Raspberry Pi. Sure not your high definition humty-ump billion mega pixel thought-controlled digital wonder-camera, but it just looked like a kind of fun and relatively simple project that could be modified slightly for bird photos as well. I suspect with a Pi Zero W you could even watch on a computer in your house if you were afraid of having the camera too close and didn't want to scare the birds (or squirrels).
Dave, if you or anybody else builds this, I hope you share photos of building it and photos of the birds who visit you.
But I just ran across this https://www.hackster.io/reichley/solar-powered-squirrel-cam-pi-zero-w-797db4 while searching for facial recognition with the Raspberry Pi. Sure not your high definition humty-ump billion mega pixel thought-controlled digital wonder-camera, but it just looked like a kind of fun and relatively simple project that could be modified slightly for bird photos as well. I suspect with a Pi Zero W you could even watch on a computer in your house if you were afraid of having the camera too close and didn't want to scare the birds (or squirrels).
Dave, if you or anybody else builds this, I hope you share photos of building it and photos of the birds who visit you.
dave lackey
Mentor
Wow, neat project! A real DIY with instructions to boot...
Thanks for this post.
I tried several suggestions from the other thread with limited success. Either the wrong lens, bad bokeh due to background, uncooperative birds, and... a lot of waiting. It was getting a bit tedious then I was immersed in our pro bono work at the hospital for the rest of the year.
I did learn that I am not cut out for birding, I much preferred portraits and landscapes. This project would make life much easier for me, though!
I have so many projects, right now but I have recently run out of steam and I will take a break from all things not absolutely necessary. I like seeing others who have come up with an easier way to do bird Photograoghy and I may give it a go after my sabbatical!
dave lackey
Mentor
BIRDS ARE SMART!!!
One thing I forgot to mention, besides the sheer beauty of watching birds, I have become interested in observing and researching them. Capturing images is fun and enjoyable but, honestly, if that is all I did with birds, I would have missed the most important lessons in life.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had no cameras to photograph birds, yet, his words in St. Francis of Assisi have endured for a very long time. The birds, as he noted, are "God's Poor". They, for the most part, do not seem to grow, harvest and store, they seem to care not what the future may bring, and yet, they work hard to live and reproduce.
Here is an article that shows they are SMART, too!
http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/brain/
But let us not forget they are like us humans, too. Two years ago I was blown away by watching the courting habits of a Cardinal couple. There was more romance in their actions and loyalty to each other than I see in many people relationships. Never could get a good image of the male Cardinal in all his red splendor, bringing a black oil sunflower seed to his mate and giving it to her beak to beak. They remain in our backyard to this day... loyal, together, caring.
Could it be that we have much to learn from nature? I think so!
One thing I forgot to mention, besides the sheer beauty of watching birds, I have become interested in observing and researching them. Capturing images is fun and enjoyable but, honestly, if that is all I did with birds, I would have missed the most important lessons in life.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had no cameras to photograph birds, yet, his words in St. Francis of Assisi have endured for a very long time. The birds, as he noted, are "God's Poor". They, for the most part, do not seem to grow, harvest and store, they seem to care not what the future may bring, and yet, they work hard to live and reproduce.
Here is an article that shows they are SMART, too!
http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/brain/
But let us not forget they are like us humans, too. Two years ago I was blown away by watching the courting habits of a Cardinal couple. There was more romance in their actions and loyalty to each other than I see in many people relationships. Never could get a good image of the male Cardinal in all his red splendor, bringing a black oil sunflower seed to his mate and giving it to her beak to beak. They remain in our backyard to this day... loyal, together, caring.
Could it be that we have much to learn from nature? I think so!
oftheherd
Mentor
BIRDS ARE SMART!!!
One thing I forgot to mention, besides the sheer beauty of watching birds, I have become interested in observing and researching them. Capturing images is fun and enjoyable but, honestly, if that is all I did with birds, I would have missed the most important lessons in life.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had no cameras to photograph birds, yet, his words in St. Francis of Assisi have endured for a very long time. The birds, as he noted, are "God's Poor". They, for the most part, do not seem to grow, harvest and store, they seem to care not what the future may bring, and yet, they work hard to live and reproduce.
Here is an article that shows they are SMART, too!
http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/brain/
But let us not forget they are like us humans, too. Two years ago I was blown away by watching the courting habits of a Cardinal couple. There was more romance in their actions and loyalty to each other than I see in many people relationships. Never could get a good image of the male Cardinal in all his red splendor, bringing a black oil sunflower seed to his mate and giving it to her beak to beak. They remain in our backyard to this day... loyal, together, caring.
Could it be that we have much to learn from nature? I think so!
That was a fascinating article. Thanks! I remember, I think it was in the early 60s, when my brother, a Zoology grad, told me of some birds who were known to use rocks and twigs. I was so surprised. Now look what else they can do. Amazing.
I sure with you had been able to get photos of the cardinals you mentioned. How poignant that sounds.