Just a little bird on a log. This wasn't a setup per se, but was near my feeders. I had a perfectly good slim perch for her to use, but she decided to alight on a nearby log instead. This is a milestone in that it is the first Purple Finch I have seen in my yard, in the many decades we have lived there. We have House Finches all day every day, but never a Purple Finch that I'm aware of until today. That makes a total of 58 species to visit my modest suburban back yard in the years we've been there.
The second milestone is that this is the first image I've made - the first time I've picked up the camera - since my shoulder surgery five months ago. I've regained almost all my range of motion, but still working to regain strength. I now have enough to hand-hold the D500 and Sigma 150-600, but not the Nikon 500 prime quite yet. Soon. Next year promises to be more productive.
D500, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, Auto ISO @ 3200, 1/2500s @ f/7.1. I was set to get birds flying in and out, with limited success.
Congrats on all of those milestones. It is exciting when a new bird arrives in the backyard. I don't mind the log as it matches the angle of the pose. Where is the purple on these birds?
Congrats on getting better. Been there, done that, w/o the surgery. Bummer that the bump in the log merged with the undertail ... Sharp with a perfect head angle. The subject looks dark to me :)
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Wonderful for you Bill, thats a very long and painful road and happy you are shootin again. Lovely f purple finch with some nice color, I agree looks a bit under exposed.
Thank you all. Here's a repost with the Curves pulled up a bit. Colin, this is the female of the species. The male looks as if he's been dipped in raspberry juice.
Great capture of this new backyard species for you, and greater still you picked up the camera within five months of shoulder surgery. Congratulations! on both milestones.
Congrats on the yard bird! Glad you are diopng better now too - it must have been tough going through all that time not creating new images. Ditto Artie, with the repost being an improvement. With a thick log-like perch I would have been OK if you had pointed your lens down a bit more to raise the subject higher. Good overall anyhow with a nice BG.
Originally Posted by Colin Driscoll
Where is the purple on these birds?
Colin, this is the drabber female. The male's colouring makes more sense in regards to the name
Good to hear you are getting back in the game Bill. Hopefully we can meet up again some day soon and shoot again. Also congrats on the yard bird. Bird seems a bit yellow for a female Purple Finch.
Hi Bill, glad you are feeling better and stronger, and big congrats on your milestones. I really like the eye level perspective here, and your repost takes it up a few notches.