Singing Dickcissel

[Daniel Grossi]

It took me a little over a month to finally get a nice shot of this wonderful bird. I'd been going out to the same place a few times a week just before sunrise, and every time I did, these birds would perch on the wrong side of the light. I'm working the late shift tonight so I decided to go out a little before sunset and see if I'd have better luck then. I certainly did - after spending at least 24 hours on this bird throughout most of June, I had this shot within 20 minutes of getting to my location. This is the second time I've been out shooting with my new teleconverter. Though I like the extra reach it gives me, losing that stop of light when I need it is disappointing. I hate having to use ISO-800 for shots I can normally get at ISO-400.

Nikon D500 (Handheld)
Nikkor 600mm f/4E FL ED VR -w- TC-14E III
1/1000
f/7.1
ISO-800
Center Weighted Average

Cleveland, Ohio USA
July 2017
Mild and partly cloudy 2 hours before sunset.

[Daniel Grossi]

For some reason the BPN export (400kb or less 1200px longside) looks significantly less sharp than the 1800px longside I normally process. That's never been an issue before, maybe it was a bad export.

[Bill Dix]

Very nice singing pose. My limited experience with these birds is that they are always in the middle of a large field, where getting a close shot would involve tromping through the habitat of ground-nesting birds, which I do not want to do. Good that this one cooperated for you. The oof stem that is in front of the perch is a little unfortunate, but not a deal-breaker. ISO 800 (and higher) shouldn't be an issue with the D500.

[Arthur Morris]

I love everything about this, especially the effect of the rich light on the greens. Singing pose is killer. Cleaning the crud off the bill is an option depending on your personal ethics. Like your signature too :)

With love, artie

[Daniel Grossi]

Very nice singing pose. My limited experience with these birds is that they are always in the middle of a large field, where getting a close shot would involve tromping through the habitat of ground-nesting birds, which I do not want to do. Good that this one cooperated for you. The oof stem that is in front of the perch is a little unfortunate, but not a deal-breaker. ISO 800 (and higher) shouldn't be an issue with the D500.

Thanks Bill! I couldn't agree more about that oof vegetation in front of the perch. I'm working hard on catching that kind of stuff in the field and recomposing. I really should have caught that. I think I was so excited about having the opportunity to get this shot I missed it. Oh well - always learning ;). The place I took this shot has a path running through the middle of a large field, so if you find a nice spot on the path and wait long enough, they'll get relatively close. As far as ISO-800 goes in this camera, I agree, it's great. That said, from a pixel peeping standpoint, the difference (to me) between 400 and 800 in post is heartbreaking ha ha.

[Daniel Grossi]

I love everything about this, especially the effect of the rich light on the greens. Singing pose is killer. Cleaning the crud off the bill is an option depending on your personal ethics. Like your signature too :)

With love, artie

Thanks Arthur! That little watermark of mine went through a considerable amount of changes before it evolved to what it is today. I was so happy to finally get a clean shot of this handsome bird.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful Image. Awesome pose. Nice clean background with Green colors...
Thanks for sharing..

[Daniel Grossi]

Beautiful Image. Awesome pose. Nice clean background with Green colors...
Thanks for sharing..

Thanks Krishna! It's definitely one of my recent favorites. Took quite some time to finally get him.