Grant Gilray

From Grant: Canon 20D(Apeture Priority Mode), Canon 70-300mm DO IS
ISO 1600, F-5.6 1/2000 sec

"I had noticed these robins building their nest about 20 feet off the back-deck of my house. I realized it represented a potentially unique opportunity to take some baby bird photos. My wife, daughters, and I watched as mother bird laid her eggs and sat on them. After the eggs hatched, we would watch as the parents flew around the yard collecting worms for the chicks. When the baby birds were old enough to sit up above the rim of the nest, I would rush out and snap photos.

I had never photographed birds before and I learned pretty quickly that birds are QUICK and I was going to need a pretty fast shutter speed to catch them. Over the next week or so, I would leave my camera by the door and rush-out whenever the mama bird flew in to feed the babies. This didn't work so well because it was difficult to get everything set up fast enough. I got some good shots, but nothing spectacular.

On this particular day the light was pretty good (as good as it was going to get in the shade of the tree anyway). The light was coming in at a shallow angle out of the east. I dressed warmly and got the camera set up. I knew from previous attempts that I would need the fastest possible shutter speed. I set the camera to ISO1600, and the widest aperture. Then went out on the deck and waited…and waited …. and waited… I had to stand very still, with eye to camera, and wait for feeding time. The parent birds were reluctant to come back to the nest with me standing so close, but I just waited, and after about an hour one of them came in to feed. With the camera set to continuous shooting mode I snapped off about 20 photos. I have the entire sequence with mama-bird landing, chicks begging, mama putting worms in chick's mouth, removing waste (poop), and flying off.

In the weeks that we watched these birds I took a couple thousand photos. This one was the keeper."