Elegance at Morton NWR

[Arthur Morris]

Tufted Titmouse just finishing wing stretch, Elizabeth A. Morton NWR, Noyac, NY. With the tripod-mounted Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Autofocus lens, the Canon 1.4x EF Extender III (teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X digital SLR . ISO 800. Evaluative metering -1 stop: 1/200 sec. at f/10 in Av mode.


Here, uncharacteristically, I was working in Av mode. Why? The sun was going in and out every two minutes; working in Av Mode at -2/3 or -1 stop was easier than making the larger changes (more clicks) that I would have needed if I had been working in Manual mode. Working at close range is the time to stop down a bit as depth-of-field is at a minimum, here measured in small fractions of an inch. Focus on the eye and let ‘er rip.

Added canvas left and lots of perch clean-up. See the before and after animated GIF and learn lots more about the creation of this image here.

Don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Well exposed shot of a beautiful bird, the perch is just about ideal having interest but it does not draw from the subject. The little bit of added canvas on the left makes all the difference, I often add canvas using content aware especially if the selected area does not have to be stretched relatively too much. A wise choice for a small aperture I often get caught out with these little birds, 1/200 sec I suspect you got a number sharp and quite a few showing subject movement?
The image holds my interest and as ever the sharp detailed eye makes all the difference.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

Handsome fellow, perky pose with tail fanned, just the right scale of perch with detail but not overpowering (as Jon mentioned). The curvature helps too.

Clean BG, seamless canvas expansion.

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Interesting perch, excellent pose, very nice smooth background. The IQ is excellent, sharpness in very good especially on the head. Love the inquisitive look.
Very nice image overall, Artie.

[Matthew Studebaker]

wonderful light and detail. I like the tail angle and the very interesting spiny perch.

[Melissa Groo]

Elegant bird indeed. Love the fanned out tail and the leaning forward pose, with that look at you and of course perfect HA. Awesome perch. Thanks for the reminder on usefulness of AV mode in such a situation. I used to use AV for everything till I finally figured out Manual would get me a lot more keepers, as a rule, esp for in flight stuff. But AV does have its utility at times, as you point out.

[Arthur Morris]

Elegant bird indeed. Love the fanned out tail and the leaning forward pose, with that look at you and of course perfect HA. Awesome perch. Thanks for the reminder on usefulness of AV mode in such a situation. I used to use AV for everything till I finally figured out Manual would get me a lot more keepers, as a rule, esp for in flight stuff. But AV does have its utility at times, as you point out.

Thanks all for your kind words. You too Mel . There are a very few hard-headed folks who insist that real photographers work in Manual mode 100% of the time..... Even better, are those who insist that simply bu working in Manual mode ensures that you will get the right exposure every time. Each of course is patently ridiculous,

[Mike Veltri]

I was shooting this species the other day, and it was not easy to get enough dof shooting close to them.
It really does not matter to me what ones settings are, as long as they get the shot. Good work in post, great pose and perch.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
That perch is just to cool, excellent pose, wonderful background, and terrific comp.
Very well done.

[Frank Schauf]

Superb shot! Excellent pose, great background, and very nice details.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose and details, the perch adds more interest!

[Tim King]

I like how the tail is in a sweeping position, and how you can see the undertail coverts. Nice play on techs with the peekaboo sun.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I really like these birds and this is one of my favorite poses I've seen. The detail is so nice as is the fanned tail and cool spiny perch