Perched Pine Siskin

[Scott Grant]

Taken this past weekened at a feeder setup.

D300, 500mm VR, 1.7X Nikkor Teleconverter
1/500th
f8
ISO 400
BLUBB beanbag on windowsill for support

In hindsight i should have dialed in +0.3EV as i had to do so in post processing (NX2).

Self Critique: sun angle not perfect resulting in shadow on bird and perch is a little hot.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Scott,

Bird looks good, maybe clock wise rotation, eliminate left hand branch and lower the subject in the frame?

Was the f8 a byproduct of the 1.7 TC. Nice detail given the magnification and beanbag support (500MM x 1.7 x camera 1.x boost)?

[Scott Grant]

Jeff, minimum f stop with 1.7X teleconverter is F6.7. with such a small subject i opted to stop down a little for dof and also for a little additional sharpness as my shutter speed wasn't quite in the basement yet.

if i'm not mistaken the effective focal length with this combo is 1275mm!

500mm X 1.7 = 850mm. 850mm X 1.5 = 1275mm

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Scott:

Good representation of the Pine Sisken. Like sharpness and attitude. Suggestion to lower bird and give more room at front a good idea.

Thanks for sharing

Uncle Gus

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Scott,

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

This is a web site provided by a BPN member a couple of weeks ago, cannot remember the member's name. Anyway, interesting to note at 1200MM the DOF between f8 & f6.7 is small. Play with it some and let me know what you think.

Al knows this stuff by heart, hopefully he will chime in soon.

[denise ippolito]

Scott, Agree w/ self-critique and another vote to lower him in frame and evict the upright branch

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Scott Jeff is correct on the dof At this distance is not much even stopping down !!!

If the bird was seventeen feet away from you and you stopped down to f 22.0 your dof would have been .02 inches !!! Not a lot !! With your lens do not hesitate to use it wide open if you have to It is a great performer even wide open !!

I like the pose, sharpness and exp Just feel the bird is tight in frame !!!

btw if you have an iPhone there is a great dof calculator application for free !!!!

[Lance Peters]

Scott I aLSO agree with your self Critique - just feels a tad tight to me - I would give him a little more space allaround and move him down a bit, HA and eye contact are on the money.
And evict the upper branch if it fits with your personal ethics.
looking forward to seeing more.

[Lance Peters]

AL - is the DOF APP FREE??? Last I saw it was $2.39 from the app store??

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Scott,
I like the capture, you have sharp details with a good head angle and clear eye...agree with the techs. and advise given...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Scott Grant]

Scott,

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

This is a web site provided by a BPN member a couple of weeks ago, cannot remember the member's name. Anyway, interesting to note at 1200MM the DOF between f8 & f6.7 is small. Play with it some and let me know what you think.

Al knows this stuff by heart, hopefully he will chime in soon.

wow! not much difference at all! i do see better sharpness stopped down, but am coming to realize that in most cases it is better to shoot wide open, especially with a teeny tiny bird on a wind blown perch!

[Scott Grant]

Hi Scott Jeff is correct on the dof At this distance is not much even stopping down !!!

If the bird was seventeen feet away from you and you stopped down to f 22.0 your dof would have been .02 inches !!! Not a lot !! With your lens do not hesitate to use it wide open if you have to It is a great performer even wide open !!

I like the pose, sharpness and exp Just feel the bird is tight in frame !!!

btw if you have an iPhone there is a great dof calculator application for free !!!!

you guys aren't kidding about the dof! even at f64 and 30 feet i have nothing to work with!

Alfred, i have more room to work with. cropping tight had more to do with dealing with the upright twig rather than cloning it out. i don't really have anything against doing so, i just don't have the greatest photoshop skills. i've used NX2 almost exclusively for a little more than a year and just love it. photoshop has invaluable tools, but now my skills are very dusty to say the least!

thanks all!

SG