FineFeatheredFriends
New member
Hello, everyone. I am new to photography and this is my very first post! I recently started a love affair with birds and birding and, well, photographing birds naturally came afterwards. I have a question about my camera that I'm not sure how to ask, so I'll tell you a little story and give as much details as I can.
I own a Nikon D5500 and use a 300ml zoom when I take bird photos. Last week I was in Florida with my girlfriend and we were birding on a nature trail. It was close to dusk, so a tad dark. In a stroke of great luck a Carolina Chickadee (very small songbird) landed on a branch a mere few feet from us! I took aim, pushed halfway down to focus (which took a while. What's up with that, first of all? Is it because it's moving?) and then pushed all the way down to snap the photo..but the camera was having nothing of it. Wait, what?! This is a Golden Opportunity here! I'm so close to this bird it's taking up my entire viewfinder! Push halfway down to focus, then all the way down to....ok, halfway down to focus, all the way down to...HELLO? What the what? Maybe if I switch from manual to auto? Nope. Focus yes, shoot no. Focus yes, shoot no. Focus took a while sometimes but eventually it would focus and then not let me shoot a photo. Sport mode the same. Ok, maybe it's the focus. Switch to manual focus. Focus in on the bird. Great. Push all the dow-Push all the way- PUSH ALL THE WAY DOWN! I know this how the camera takes photos. it has to be! I've using it for for over 6 months! What the heck is going on!? Needless to say I was incredibly, incredibly frustrated. Here's the other odd thing. My girlfriend was having the exact same problem with her Cannon Powershot SX510. What is it that we're not understanding?
For the record, I did fortunately come away with one really good picture of the bird.
Thanks, everyone.
-Peter
I own a Nikon D5500 and use a 300ml zoom when I take bird photos. Last week I was in Florida with my girlfriend and we were birding on a nature trail. It was close to dusk, so a tad dark. In a stroke of great luck a Carolina Chickadee (very small songbird) landed on a branch a mere few feet from us! I took aim, pushed halfway down to focus (which took a while. What's up with that, first of all? Is it because it's moving?) and then pushed all the way down to snap the photo..but the camera was having nothing of it. Wait, what?! This is a Golden Opportunity here! I'm so close to this bird it's taking up my entire viewfinder! Push halfway down to focus, then all the way down to....ok, halfway down to focus, all the way down to...HELLO? What the what? Maybe if I switch from manual to auto? Nope. Focus yes, shoot no. Focus yes, shoot no. Focus took a while sometimes but eventually it would focus and then not let me shoot a photo. Sport mode the same. Ok, maybe it's the focus. Switch to manual focus. Focus in on the bird. Great. Push all the dow-Push all the way- PUSH ALL THE WAY DOWN! I know this how the camera takes photos. it has to be! I've using it for for over 6 months! What the heck is going on!? Needless to say I was incredibly, incredibly frustrated. Here's the other odd thing. My girlfriend was having the exact same problem with her Cannon Powershot SX510. What is it that we're not understanding?
For the record, I did fortunately come away with one really good picture of the bird.
Thanks, everyone.
-Peter