Wildlife / Birding Photography Viera Wetlands Florida Nikon 200-500mm 

Love your wildlife videos and the way you comment it !

Thank you for your excellent video , Just to let you know you how inspiring it is watching your channel . Putting the exif information on your pictures is so helpful to an amateur who wants to improve, it makes me want to get out there and take some more pictures . Here in the UK the Winter Weather is holding me back a bit but i here you have Snow in Florida for the first time in 30 years . Good luck with your Photography

Love your videos! Such a variety of wildlife

You always get great shots

Fabulous! I always look forward to your videos with candid commentary and pictures! Thank you!

Always impressed by your photos, great video thanks!

Another great video Mark, thanks and I am looking forward to the next one.

A really excellent video, enjoyed it very much. Many Thanks

Great work as always.I love that you show camera settings. And that you use auto-iso, interesting, thanks.

Fantastic work as always. Thanks for sharing this experience.👏👏

Awesome Mark, I always enjoy watching your videos, keep it up please

Amazing video mark!! Clearly becoming one of my favorite RU-vid channels

Great video! I was on RU-vid searching for "birding in Florida" and came across this video. Awesome content! 👍🏽👍🏽

Thanks Mark.Another enjoyable video, your enthusiasm really comes through :)

Superb image captures towards the end of the video, epic work Mark.

I love your approach. Keep up the good work. All the best - Fred from Scotland!

Another fantastic outing! Good job!

Love your hair...LOLOLOLOLOL....seriously, I enjoy your videos

Cool video nice

Your shots are amazing Mark.

Hi Mark, hair does looks great, good wildlife video too. Rick from downunder

Just got my Nikon 200-500 today stimulated to do so by seeing your results .

Really enjoyed this Mark. Your series of images of the herons are fantastic. Subscribed and are looking forward to more great vids. Cheers!

Good !

Awesome pictures Mark, you have that lens dialled in to perfection. Only recently got the same setup myself.

That shot of the Tri-Colored Egret holding it's wings above it's head. I've read they do this to reduce light reflection on the water surface as to see their pray better ... Bird polarizing!

your hair is absolutely dazzling HAHA! awesome vid as always, very interesting watching the daily life of those Herons.

We used to live a few miles from Myakka State Park, moved a few years before the digital age, unfortunately, but I have your great videos to watch! Nice photos!

Hi Mark, being a birding lover I really love to watch your videos. I have two questions to you 1) for birding is d500 with 200-500mm is good choice? And 2) whatever birds pictures you showed, is all post edited?

Awesome video Mark learning a lot here, thanks for all the info.

Walk that close on any of our reserves or in the wild in the UK and mostly they are off! Great tips about the manual with Auto ISO. Thanks.

Nice job on the focus pull with the two Ospreys, that isn't easy. The density of seabirds in Florida is amazing compared to California. I'm loving my Nikon 200 to 500 mm, like you.

Another great video. Viera is an awesome place with so many photo ops. Just curious what Video editing software do you use?

Another great video Mark.

Thanks Mark for the reply...hope to see how that strap helps in your next action video if you are able? :)

Great as always, have not tried my 200-500 for macro type photos

I have a D500 and am thinking about getting a 200-500 lens, but just wondering if you are getting most of your still shots by hand holding the "boat anchor" for any length of time? Really appreciate your videos... Thanks!!

Great vid ! I'll check some a few more when I have the time.

Great video and beautiful images as always Mark. But the real bonus was the info regarding your hair! You just wouldn't believe how many sleepless nights I've had trying to figure out how you get it so perfect. Well now I know. Wont help me though, most of mine went South years ago. Best wishes from the U.K.

Most people are happy to get one or two good and maybe one great shot one an outing. You get so many fantastic shots it's amazing. You've got a great eye for composition and a fast trigger finger. Amazing! I've got the 200-500 coming Friday. I have the D810 to test it with this week. I'm leasing the D500 for my Alaska trip that I leave for next Friday August 12th. I pick it up next Thursday, which isn't much time with it. I'm hoping it is as easy as put the 200-500 on there and shoot as it was for you. Are the controls fairly similar to the D810?

Wow awesome photography 👍keep it up

A+ Video, Mark. Thank you :-)

Great video, Mark. I have a question.. I do have your 200-300 lens, but when I'm home and shooting butterflies and hummingbirds, etc. I usually use my 70-300mm. The settings on my D500 are set up like yours (from your video) and I was getting great shots at first. Over the last couple of days most have been blurry, AF has trouble finding the subject (meaning missed shots). My lens looks good and we had a comfortable dew point here of about 62-66. I'm in AL so it's usually ridiculously humid here. When I take my images into Lr and look at the info on the shot itself I'm seeing ISO from around 250-1000 (set to auto ISO) with 1/500 on average. I'm not sure what changed, but my husband was looking at my camera one day (it was off) and said "Hey, what's this ring thing for?" and turned it. lol I've NO idea if that means anything at all or if that affects anything when using AF. This is a relatively new lens for me (as is the 200-500) so I'm still learning about it, and I'm a noob when it comes to a better camera and lens setup. Any thoughts? It's SO FRUSTRATING at the moment. ALSO.... in your video you're talking about settings... and like I mentioned I set things up the way you suggested in the video you made for shooting birds in flight. The numbers I'm seeing seem 'off' to me. Sorry for the long comment, but I'm really wanting to nail this. Thanks for all you do.

Hey Mark, have seen or used the Olympus EE-1 Dot Sight? I purchased one a year or so ago with my EM5 MKii and Panasonic 100-400mm, and now use it on my D500 with the Sigma 150-600mm S lens. Its pretty cool, allows you to follow birds in flight accurately with both eyes open and camera away from your face. Cheers Rick

Bird holding its feathers up is to block the reflection and be able to see clearer under water!! Great shots bro kudos.

PS... wish you'd gotten footage of the eagle... my favorite bird. :) Love the Osprey shots, though... they're gorgeous birds too.

Great video as always! :-)

Great video Mark, what’s best time of year for bird photography in Florida?

Hi there Mark. Your videos are addictive hence decided to check the old one like the above. By the way thanks for your reply this morning. I wanted to seek a technical clarification from you. Nowadays you use the D850 and earlier you used D500. I see most of your pictures are - 0.3 exposure compensation. You also explained the reason for this which I understand. Is it a camera feature to blow out the highlights and do you also face the same difficulty in your D850 or is it your technique to dial down the compensation. Cant you do the same in your post production while keeping neutral exp comp. Thanks once again for your lovely video and narration.

The Viera Wetlands is one of my favorite areas to shoot. Normally I am there Sunday mornings. Another good area to go to is the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Feel free to check me out on Instagram: instagram.com/for_the_love_of_stitch or Facebook: facebook.com/sheinlyphoto.

Good vid!

Love your video

;0) LOVE YOUR VIDEOS YOU ARE SO FUNI AND TALENTED

Great stuff. Awesome hairdo:-0)

These all birds are also found in India. And bdw Nice video man. I like your videos, hope to see more. keep making.

Mark bear in mind when the camera says you've lost highlights it is judging the image on it's in built jpeg preview. in reality I'm guessing you are using NEF raw files which have much greater exposure lattitude and the image may very likely not have any lost image data. cheers tony

What mode you usually shoot for bird photography? Aperture/shutter mode or manual?

Man I'm so jealous that you can get so close to herons and egrets there. I go to a wildlife/wetland reservation and if a heron or egret catches sight of you within a city block they're GONE. From my experience I thought they had to be the most wary bird/animal in existance!

cool

Another awesome video Mark. Quick question; Do you use the AF Fine Tune function with your D500 & 200-500 combo? Thanks.

Similar, red crosshairs, theres a video review by "mirrorlessons" on youtube. Cheers

Mark have tried using highlight weighted metering instead of exposure compensation to avoid blown out areas?

i use the same hair technicks, works great for me to !" :D

Hey Mark, D500 has been ordered! Just waiting for delivery now. In this video where you showed video of the two Osprey eating fish, did you pull focus between them using Live View and touching screen for focus? Your hair looks fine BTW...

Is the Viera wetlands open 24/7?

Just got the lens this Monday. Here is a D7200 500mm shot at F8 1/1000 sec. I'm very happy so far. plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/104132660240917758724/6450082704221543794?icm=false&sqid=115143291170631980091&ssid=697f0127-2176-47d0-b94c-9a26f8f8b4d5

;) he uses the same hair strategy.

Hahaha very stilish..