Posing a bird for a picture

Post by **Home Grown Poultry** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 9:20 pm

LOL! Kenya do you have a sport setting on your camera? I find thats the only way I can get focused shots of chickens, now if only I could get a good one!

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 11:28 pm

kenya wrote:QR_BBPOST Oh my gawd! Trying to take his picture with the soup can , he holds his head in tight, he moves, turns his head away, turns his bum to you, the dog takes the opportunity to photo bomb, oh my I think I finally got a good picture( after my knees are killing me kneeling trying to get a straight on picture) Oh no the camera was not in focus Ahhhhhhhhhhh

I had my own rodeo as well. Got the photo "booth" all set up (sheet draped in a large dog cage), plan to do girls first, because they're fairly well handled, and choose three of fairly equal quality. I figure between the three maybe I can get ONE good picture. I know my skills as a photographer really suck the big one. Realize all birds are missing half their tail feathers and overall look like sad victims of a hurricane. Oh well, I'm committed now! The first one I pick up is a screamer. Doesn't struggle, just screeches like she's on fire, so she upsets everyone else. Get her in the "booth", realize her feet are filthy. Oh well, it's three in the morning and I'm darn well going to getting this over with. She presents her butt to the camera and

s. I reach in to reposition her, wreck my knees and realize the cage should be up off the floor. Lift huge cage with huge hen inside onto the chest freezer. Almost tip the cage off the freezer a.k.a. photo booth stand, muliple times, and realize I should have brought a cane. She's determined to stand kitty-corner to the camera and every picture makes her look like a wyandotte. 100 or so terrible pictures into it, I realize I forgot to add something for size reference...look around the milk room, NOTHING that will stand up, so trudge back to the house for a sodapop can or SOMETHING (soup can didn't even occur to me)...finally find an empty can in the recycling bin, trudge back out. It's now 4:30 in the morning. Hen has settled down, as a matter of fact, she's napping, and every attempt to get her to stand for a picture only succeeds in knocking the pop can over. I gave up when she tucked her head under her wing. I curse myself for forgetting the cane. I try one more hen, this one is bright-eyed and bushy tailed, no doubt from the screechings of the former one. This one also

s and will only stand diagonal to the camera. I get the bright idea to just take video, and capture some stills from it later. I need a nap, and realize there's going to have to be a round two at a later date. I wanted to do two hens, one pullet, one cockerel, a goose and a gander, a turkey hen and jake. I may have been overly ambitious, but make a mental note for next time--a toothbrush for dirty feet, a FULL can of something so it doesn't tip, a cane so I can reposition a bird without doing the Tango--and go to get the cockerel so that even if I accomplish absolutely nothing, at least I gave it a good go. Now it's 5 in the morning. Cockerel is 6 months old and best behaved of the bunch, despite being wide awake or perhaps because of it. Wish I could have said the same for myself! I snapped off a BUNCH of excellent pictures, he stood exactly as I wanted him to every time I moved him, and I also took video of him for good measure. Done for my night! Get back in the house, sky is now lightening outside, but I decide to review pics and video quickly before I hit the sack. Every picture of the two hens not only makes them look like fat, fluffy bottomed wyandottes because of the perspective, but also manages to catch a squinty expression...they were vaccinated not long ago, but only in one darn eye, and I could have sworn I positioned them to avoid the irritated side, but I guess not...or maybe it was just stink-eye. Probably the latter, and I'm sure I was returning it in kind. OK, on to the video. It's UPSIDE DOWN, and I have no idea how to fix it. Sigh. On to the cockerel pictures. Beautiful! Brilliant! Every picture is awesome. Except the lighting makes his eye look orange (it's black) and his feathers purple (they're not). OMFG. Ok, video. It's beautiful, brilliant! No purple feathers! And it's upside-freaking-down! I realize round two will have to wait until I recover from round one. I'm not even sure I'm going to tackle turkeys or gander at all. I think Mrs. goose will co-operate, she's been shown before in a previous life and is used to being mauled LOL Oh, and I'm going to use a (full) soup can. I spent more time righting the empty soda can than I did anything else. And swearing. A lot of swearing.

ross · Post by **ross** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 4:04 am

Jan you need to do a book on your backwoods happening . Great read at 4 in morning. I'm laughing in my night shirt so I don't wake my wife or the dog . Thanks

. I find that if yu dress um up properly , or is that undress , they're easier to pose . Lol :chicken peck2:

Post by **Killerbunny** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 5:35 am

Crying with laughter at this point at your antics. Frankly I have NO idea how I'm going to do turkeys, they always want to play and several are covered in BluKote. Not badly injured but got scraped and I didn't aim well!

Post by **poultry_admin** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 7:28 am

windwalkingwolf wrote:QR_BBPOST It's UPSIDE DOWN, and I have no idea how to fix it

Jan,
if you have windows, you should have a software called "Windows Movie Maker" on your PC (Free in windows delivery). It's easy to use and you can rotate videos in it. Tons of other stuff, too like titles, transitions, and other cool stuff. I used it once to make a movie from 180 still pictures. Looked awesome!

You can also get stills out of movies there.

And I do have to echo @ross, your story is AWESOME!!! Surprised @WLLady is still sleeping!!

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 11:03 am

Will have to read this when I get home, every time I have started , I laugh so hard I cry and can't see the screen, getting funny looks at Tim's..... I can totally see it

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 11:55 am

If Kenya's trials and my own tribulations (a.k.a. absentmindedness and ineptitude) can save someone else's knees and hours of their time, I'll call it a job well done!

kenya · Post by **kenya** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 3:20 pm

To windwalkingwolf, I'm glad I'm not alone. Makes me feel better, sorry for you though. I had my boy in the house, on the couch, on the kitchen table, turned on big bang theory for him to see if it would wake him up a little, ( It did wake him up a little)my husband felt I should have tried some music. Finally put him in a crate, he was better there but the lighting sucked. After 100's of pictures I called it a night , got some good pictures but out of focus. My boy did not

, I'm happy to say.

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Tue Nov 15, 2016 1:48 am

poultry_admin wrote:QR_BBPOST
windwalkingwolf wrote:QR_BBPOST It's UPSIDE DOWN, and I have no idea how to fix it
Jan,
if you have windows, you should have a software called "Windows Movie Maker" on your PC (Free in windows delivery). It's easy to use and you can rotate videos in it. Tons of other stuff, too like titles, transitions, and other cool stuff. I used it once to make a movie from 180 still pictures. Looked awesome!

You can also get stills out of movies there.

I did this tonight, it was very easy, thank you! Unfortunately, I was not able to capture any usable stills from any video I took--in the video of the hen, I cut off her feet through the entire thing, and in the video of the rooster, I cut off the top of his comb! ARGH! Trudge out to the barn all set to begin round two picture-taking, and realize I also forgot to pull out and launder the poo-stained backdrop that now has a nice coat of grey dust on it (for good measure)...and it's just as well, because I forgot a soup can...and a cane... so round two has to wait one more day at least for the sheet to dry.

Post by **Home Grown Poultry** » Tue Nov 15, 2016 6:35 am

now theres a hard core chicken momma right there!!! HAHA

or ahhh