A bit of a preview for next month's theme as well. For the past year or so, I've been concentrating a lot on tighter portraits such as this. There is a rather tame Red-winged Blackbird at a local spot that approaches quite close for seeds - it is only a matter of time before it comes to the hand, or so it seems. I took the opportunity to create some of the portraits I've been adding to my portfolio lately. While on it close like this I just missed out on it in full song with flared epaulettes - something to try for in the near future.
Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1250s., f/8, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, FF. Next time out with it I will go for f/11. Usual eye work, and a few white spacks removed from the feathers. This bird was on the ground, with the snow acting as a nice reflector from below.
Lovely exposure on the blacks. Perfect head turn. I suppose f/11 would be good, given how close he was. I look forward to the frame of him in full display.
Hi Dan, as I read your title, I was going to mention you have two themes in one, and then I read that you had already mentioned it. Excellent exposure, tack sharp, and the coloured Epaulettes pop nicely. Your snow BG adds a natural high key.
Great head turn and stunning detail on that black plumage, Daniel. This is a great example of how to process a difficult subject. I can't wait to see what you have in store for next month. I also like to work close and the biggest bugbear for me is depth of field. In the case of this one, it would be nice to have that epaulette in sharp focus too but I know how hard it can be with close shots like this.
High-key Red-winged Blackbird Portrait.
Reply With Quote
