I got photos of my tiels only because I caught them in their sleepy stage.
Actually I had a similar thing to you, I had budgies when I was growing up but never any bigger birds, and I only got my two cockatiels this year. I love the larger birds (hah, not many people will call tiels 'larger') but I've had some budgies with real character, that's for sure!
Welcome to the forum!