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After shoveling out of nearly two feet of snow (rare for Long Island) I took a little trip to a local pond. This bird was feeding underneath some brush and popped out briefly to be photographed. He was right at the edge of my minimum focus distance but my hands were too frozen to remove my tc. Would have liked more dof.
1/320, f 5.6, ISO800
Canon 1dmk3, 500 f4 + 1.4tc + tripod
Very nice Grace. The snow on the beak really adds to the feeling. Good detail on the head, where it counts. Must have been a difficult exposure but you got it! Would have been nice to see a little more action - such as head turn. But, an excellent portrait indeed.
Nice high key image. I disagree with Dan, the head turn seems fine to me, but I would like to see a lower angle.
Hi Grace, The blue cast really conveys the cold. More depth of field might have been nice but I think this presentation works as I think the bird looks nice and sharp where it counts. In my opinion the head angle is fine. As an alternative presentation you could reduce the blue in the snow but that may not represent what you saw and may change the mode of the picture. I attached a quick attempt to show you what I mean (not necessarily better just different). Thank for sharing.
Grace, I like both posts. The OP has beautiful cool color tones and adds to the cold effect as mentioned by Phil. The repost next to the other one seems to be color correct. Maybe somewhere in-between? Anyway very nice details and the head turn looks great to me. A lower angle would have been nice but this angle adds to the isolation of the bird. Nicely done.
I love it as presented, Grace, DOF is perfect for my taste, and the dreaminess of the OOF snow is just beautiful.
A nice image, Grace. As I type this I'm looking out of my back door and there is a WTS in the snow under the feeders that looks just like your image. You don't mention exposure compensation, but it looks to me as if you nailed it. Very well done!
DOF is fine by me too.. plenty of these guys are in the yard with all the snow if I only had time to get out there.
Thanks so much for your comments. The snow that fell this weekend was of a blue cast. It was so interesting, when I stuck my shovel into it, it actually looked blue...perhaps because it was so cold and light? So I left it that way. We do not often get much snow on Long Island so this was a real thrill for me.
Hi Grace - Did you have to use a lot of exposure comp for this one? I wouldn't mind seeing a hit of fill flash as his plumage looks a bit muted.
Love the repost . The warmth makes the shot much better .
Dave- I spot metered off the snow and added either 1 2/3 or 2, I forget which. You are right, touch of fill flash would have helped. Rakesh, thanks, but that wasn't my vision for this image as the scene was icy blue and shady.
