House Finch
Caught this little guy on a perch I set up near the feeder and I was lucky he turned just a little when I tapped on the window to see what was going on. Of course the snow makes for a pretty contrasty BG! Canon T3i Tamron 150-600 shot at 600mm, 1/800, f/6.3, ISO 400 Shadows lightened in LR, high pass filter in PS CC, and cloned some seed hanging from the beak.
Nice pose against the white BG -- the look of an illustration.
More contrast could be brought out on the bird. I did a Curve and brought the right hand slider straight in a little, then pulled up the middle. It blew out the area just ahead of the tail so I did a quick soft-edged mask there.
Looks like focus may have landed on the back leaving the head a little soft.
Thanks Diane! I still struggle with making sure the eye is in focus with AF. I go back and forth between one point on AF and multiple points. Of course shooting through a window isn't any help! Now that the snow is slowly retreating from my patio I'll be able to set up my blind again outside and hopefully get better at my focus points!Originally Posted by Diane Miller
Shooting through glass, even clean glass, will be a strike against you. Getting an AF point on the head may be a challenge with the Rebel series. But you should be using one point, for the most control.
The "points" are a lot bigger than they look and the AF sensor may well be seeing an adjacent area with detail that is more to its liking, and locking onto that. Since you do astrophotography as well, you might look into the 7D2. Roger Clark has some very interesting information about it on his website -- the Comet Lovejoy post and a review.
For birds or other wildlife, the 1DX is still the best option, but the crop factor of the 7D2 (same as the Rebel) is very attractive if you don't routinely shoot with a 600 and teleconverters. And it's AF versatility, accuracy and speed is above the 5D3 and just a little below the 1DX. It is in a different world than a Rebel. My main complaint about it is teh noise at ISO 1600 and above, but it would have to be better than a Rebel.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into the 7D2.
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