For those of us who don't have a lot of money on hand and enviously think about the people who can't decide between a 500 f/4 or a 600 f/4 (me included), set-ups can be one of the best way to fully take advantage of our shorter focal lengths. Unfortunately the cost buying the feeders, birdbaths, water drips, bird seed, pond liner, tripods to hold the perches, etc. etc. can quickly add up.
But if you start keeping your eyes open, you can acquire these items, or useable substitutes for much cheaper. An old frying pan can become a birdbath. Old water bottles, vases, and cups can hold up perches and keep them fresh at the same time. Old plastic bottles can also become water drips. Unused cement cinder blocks can raise birdbaths off the ground, or if you sprinkle seed on the top part, can become feeders by themselves ( or very uncomfortable chairs in my case).
For example in my backyard I found an old broken dish. I used some rock slabs to angle it so the water wouldn't pour out, and it became my birdbath. I use an old vase to hold my perches. I got used camouflage netting from a military recycle store and use it as a bag blind to cover me, my tripod and camera, and my cinderblock seat. I use a small table I built from scrap wood and put seed in a dish on top to act as a tray feeder.
Here is my water drip set-up (sorry about the poor IQ). The only thing that I had to pay for here was the water-drip, and if I wanted to, I probably could have used an old milk jug instead. I have purple finches, Lesser and American Goldfinches, Cedar Waxwings, and Northern Mockingbirds coming to this specific set-up. Titmice, sparrows, and jays, come to my tray feeder.
Does anyone else have some good money-saving photography tips? I would love to hear them.
12-28-2009, 10:21 PM
Aidan Briggs
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And here is one of the rewards :) (Though jpeg compression is starting to eat away the fine details)
Again, I would love to here any ideas you all have as well.
12-28-2009, 10:36 PM
Eric Virkler
No tips from me as I have yet to enter into this area of photography. Having just received Alan Murphy's "Guide to Songbird Photography" for Christmas, I think setups will be in my future. I'll be monitoring this thread.
I enjoyed looking at your portfolio, excellent shots.
Looks like you have quite a few good ideas Chris! Thanks for sharing.
James, a good suggestion. Christmas tree stands can hold stumps very well.
Thanks everyone. I'm looking forward to more ideas!
12-30-2009, 10:16 AM
Jim Johnson
Aidan, I found a good portable bird bath that seems in some areas easy to find. It is a small satillite dish. They are lightweight and portable and all you have to do is stop up a couple of holes and you are ready to go.
Jim
12-30-2009, 12:30 PM
Aidan Briggs
Good idea Jim!
12-30-2009, 02:01 PM
Ian McHenry
Hi Aidan
Thanks for the posting. Always like to get new freebee tips to practise skills.
You might like to trial the Topaz DeJpeg3 (30 day trial) to see whether it improves Jpeg images: http://www.topazlabs.com/dejpeg/
Also the free Smilla Enlarger : http://sourceforge.net/projects/imageenlarger/
and Imagenomic's Noiseware Community Edition ( Free)
Cheers: Ian Mc
