This article features a selection of images of backyard sparrows that I photographed a couple of days ago. I haven’t been able to get out with my cameras very much lately and I could tell that I was getting a bit rusty. Backyard sparrows may be very common birds, but they are still enjoyable to photograph.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

You’ll find a variety of images that include perched and sparrows in flight in this article. I find that backyard sparrows make good practice subjects. I spent some of my time using Pro Capture H. The last time I was in the field with my camera gear I could tell that my shutter release reaction was a bit off.

As you peruse the EXIF data you may find that some of my shutter speeds look quite high for perched birds. I was using Pro Capture H with my small bird settings and didn’t bother to change them. I knew that using high shutter speeds would drive up my ISO value. This wasn’t a problem as I needed some sample images with which to experiment with some new software.

I’m quite enjoying integrating Topaz Denoise AI into my post processing. Thus far, I’m pleased with the results and I do not regret upgrading the video card in my office computer in order to accommodate this software.

It took about a half hour for me to get my Pro Capture timing back to where I wanted it.

I spent some time trying to capture interactions between different birds.

There were also plenty of opportunities to photograph individual birds. At one point we had more than 50 sparrows in our backyard.

Some looked quite dainty… like feathered ballerinas.

An abrupt mid-flight turn provided a good opportunity to photograph the feather pattern on the back and wings of a sparrow.

My practice also included ‘both eyes open’ shooting. This technique is helpful when trying to anticipate a subject bird flying in to a particular spot.

It’s been about 16 months since I started using Olympus gear. The more I use it, the more I appreciate its ‘go anywhere, shoot anything’ versatility.

As is often said, “there’s no such thing as a perfect camera”. For my specific needs Olympus certainly hits a sweet spot. As a result, I’m planning to add a bit more gear to my kit.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured hand-held using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process.

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