Shrike
I'm freezing my tail off at Bosque this week. This little guy was the first bird who caught my eye when I first drove in on Monday. I know the HA isn't ideal. I asked him to move his tail to this side of the branch, but he would have none of that. This was shot through my open car window and he took off as soon as I opened the door.
Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L
f/7.1 1/4000sec ISO 400 Handheld
Slight crop and levels in CS6
Sharpener Pro
Last edited by Peter Kes; 01-12-2013 at 09:21 AM.
Hi Ian, I agree with your self-assessment but you got an interesting and different bird here. I like the warm light and you have a nice background. Detail looks pretty good, was this a large crop? I would clone out that one branch that is going right up the bird's caboose.
I'm sure it is freezing at Bosque right now - we are having a severe cold snap in the west. Tonight will be frosty, even in SoCal. Stay warm!
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Please visit me on the web at http://kerryperkinsphotography.com
Hi Ian...Nice capture with good sharpness and clean bg.
Great shot. Love the uncluttered bg and the angle of the bird.
Thanks, folks. No, Kerry, not a large crop. I missed that stray branch, but my brain and fingers are so frozen, it doesn't surprise me. I missed focus today on all 4 images of a pair of mountain lions who crossed the south tour road about a hundred yards in front of me.
Nice Shrike Ian. Have fun and don't get TOO frozen!
Are you serious about missing focus on the mountain lions? That is a total bummer. I thought you might be teasing us. One time in Bosque, my hands were so cold that I could no longer photograph 6 gorgeous deer right in front of me. My finger literally stopped moving.
I like the details in your bird, the perch, the BG Exposure looks nice. You can stilll see enough of the head that it is an appealing pose.
Marina, I wish I was teasing on that one! I'm serious. Apparently the two I saw were near-adult cubs. My focus is good enough to tell they are lions, but I certainly wouldn't print them. I got out of my car when I thought I saw two coyotes ahead and it wasn't until I looked through the viewfinder that I realized what I was looking at. I probably should have stayed in the car and manipulated my position, because it was the door opening that scared them off. That wouldn't have been such a loss with coyotes as I see them relatively often. Even if focus had been good, it wouldn't have been a great shot with my 400mm. I do have the shots, however, to prove to myself that I wasn't dreaming.
It's even colder tonight and it is flurrying. I'm leaving tomorrow after blast-off. The week (aside from the excitement of seeing wild mountain lions) hasn't been great. It's been cold and very windy with the wind always seeming to come from the wrong direction. The birds are in the far fields as they have eaten all the stuff near the roads. Even a bad week at Bosque, however, still beats a good week at work :)
Last edited by Ian Cassell; 01-12-2013 at 08:45 PM.
Hi Ian
Sorry about your mountain lion thing. Happens to me too, but I live in the tropics so I can't use the coldness as an excuse.
Lovely shot of this shrike - they are unique and interesting birds, and your photo shows that. Love the catchlight, and even though the head angle isn't what many deem to be perfect, it works in this shot, as it shows the bird is concentrating on something, maybe his next meal? I'm seeing some noise in the wing detail though - could be my monitor here!
Nice uncluttered bg, I agree with the stick in the bird's bum though. Great shot nonetheless.
EDIT - I've found that it's always better to stay in the car when you've found something. The noise of the door opening startles the animal, and the human form emerging from the metal casing doesn't help the situation! The only way that has worked for me in the past was I GENTLY crack the door, slowly open it, and sort of crawl out the car so I never actually stand up. Even that works 30% of the time anyway.
Last edited by Faraaz Abdool; 01-14-2013 at 07:17 AM.
Thanks, Faraaz. Yes, I agree with you about the car thing and, if I had suspected these had been lions, I would have done that. I would have manipulated the car to the right angle for a good shot. I thought they were coyotes when I saw them from a distance and, since I have plenty of coyote images, thought I would try to sneak up closer (and it wouldn't have been a big deal if I had messed up).
It happens to all of us, Ian. Once I was on the phone with camera in my lap staring at what I thought was a mockingbird. As soon as I realized it actually was a striped cuckoo, it flew away. Never got the opportunity again!
At least you know where you can get them :-).
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