I grabbed a couple of quick shots from Gary Carter's place in McLeansville, NC
this past weekend of his bird blind setup. The perches change regularly, and
the accessories change 3 to 4 times a day during a "shoot". This blind is in
his backyard and used to be the shed for the mower and garden equipment. He
converted it a bird blind 10 or 12 years ago and has been modifying it ever
since... Folks from all over have spent time in his backyard photographing
birds. This past long weekend, Cathy & Gordon Illg from Colorado brought
photographers from California, Colorado, Massachussets, Virginia, and Toronto
to photograph birds & herps. They had a chance to photograph 31 bird species
from the blind in 4 days plus chipmunks, squirrels, and a few butterflies.
There were an additional 19 invertebrate, reptile, & amphibian species in
controlled situations. I call Gary's setup that I grabbed the shot from a
"Birds and Blooms" setup. There are different accessories for the perches on
different days. Some days are accessorized with native vegetation for a
"natural" look. This day was accessorized with plants/flowers from the local
garden center for a "Birds and Blooms" look. The first shot, 2301blindweb, is a
shot looking down the path to the blind with several photographers in the blind
(it comfortably seats 6 photographers, but has held 8). The next shot,
2309birdblindrearweb, is a shot looking out a rear window from the blind. That
side is set up mostly for 300 to 400 mm lenses. Note the water feature with a
bathing pool in the lower right center. The next shot, 2313birdblindfrontweb,
is a shot looking to the left out a front window from the blind. That side is
set up mostly for 400 to 500 mm lenses. Note the water feature with the
bathing pool to the lower left of the image; the bathing pool is the shallow
area above the "main" water body. Note also the evergreens in the rear of
several of the perches that provide a soft green background when using open
apertures. The next shot, 2314birdblindfrontweb, is a shot looking to the right
out a front window from the blind. The next two shots, 2320birdblindnear1web,
and 2321bridblindnear2web, are shots between his back porch and the bird blind
that are also "photographable". There are an additional 3 acres managed for
birds and bird photography. Gary's set-up is the most sophisticated bird
photography area that I've seen, and it changes regularly. Robert
Robert Smith
336-339-3497
rsmithent@xxxxxxx
www.photobiologist.com
> Subject: [missbirdphotos] Re: My new bird studio
> From: keisbrenner7@xxxxxxxxx
> Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:51:21 -0500
> To: missbirdphotos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Wow! Everyone's water features are so neat! Someday when I'm not in a
> rental... Nice work.
> Kristen
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Apr 23, 2012, at 8:28 AM, "J. K. Cliburn" <jcliburn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > So a couple of weeks ago we had a thread here discussing a "bird
> > studio." I was intrigued, so I decided to convert my driveway loop
> > into one.
> >
> > First I had to move my birdbath and a couple of feeders away from the
> > front of the house, from where I could conveniently watch birds
> > through a big window from the comfort of my kitchen table. Then I
> > read somewhere that moving/dripping water was an effective bird
> > attractant, so off to the store for a little pump... I got a 60 gph
> > submersible pump from Home Depot for $15, but, alas, I had no power in
> > the driveway loop. Sigh. I remedied that by boring a 1-inch hole in
> > the front of my house, trenching across the driveway, laying 45 feet
> > of conduit, stringing 12-2 wire, tying into a circuit in my garage,
> > and installing a weatherproof riser box with an outlet and a switch
> > out in the loop. Presto: power for the pump. (Have you priced Romex
> > recently? Yikes!)
> >
> > The drippers at the store were too expensive for my tastes -- and they
> > weren't suited for a birdbath anyway -- so I went to a nearby
> > canebrake, harvested a couple of stalks, and fashioned a dripper out
> > of cane segments. Works like a charm.
> >
> > I wanted a rustic look, so I rejiggered my platform feeder by removing
> > it from its 4x4 post in the front yard, removing the roof, mounting it
> > on an old pine knot fencepost, and made an insert out of 1x2 and
> > window screen to allow water to drain through the seed when it's
> > installed in the platform. I then found some elm limbs and mounted
> > one to the feeder for a perch. I sat the other one on the ground over
> > a cast iron plant.
> >
> > Next, I went into the woods and found a deadfall white oak trunk that
> > had broken in a few places and used my chainsaw to cut off a couple of
> > "stumps." I found a deadfall elm limb with a nice bend in it that I
> > used to lean against one of the pine trees. I bored some 1-inch holes
> > in it and inserted peanuts, hoping for jays or woodpeckers. (None
> > have partaken yet.)
> >
> > Finally, I erected the Ameristep doghouse blind, which my poor wife
> > finds appalling, but I argue we live in the country and don't get many
> > refined visitors anyway, so what harm can it be?
> >
> > Yesterday was my first attempt at photography in the studio. The
> > highlight of the day was an early morning, dew-drenched Indigo bunting
> > who surprised me sufficiently to cause me miss a shot when he was on
> > the perch. I settled for a feeder sidewall shot. I also got a
> > cardinal and a chipping sparrow in the evening, but unfortunately they
> > weren't on the perch, either. (BTW, It gets HOT inside that blind
> > when the sun shines on it -- even on a cool, windy day!) I was
> > pleased to finally get good feather detail using only a 300mm lens
> > (without teleconverter, because I wanted to open up to f4). I'm not
> > pleased with the Chipping sparrow detail, but he was in harsh light,
> > so that probably explains it. The cardinal and bunting were in
> > diffuse light, and those seemed to turn out much better.
> >
> > So, thanks to Missbird photogs, I now have a studio! I'd be happy to
> > receive suggestions for improvements and additions.
> >
> > Jay
> > <bird-studio.jpg>
> > <studio-detail.jpg>
> > <dripper.jpg>
> > <inbu-20120422-DSC_1065-800x600.jpg>
> > <noca-20120422-DSC_1099-800x600.jpg>
> > <chsp-20110422-DSC_1108-800x600.jpg>
>
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