With the snow now firmly having its grip on the region and blanketing all of the groud the birds have started to congregate to feeders in larger (and more diverse) numbers. There were a few cardinals frequenty a local feeder - although quite skittish they would eventually approach when I staying still (and low) for a good period of time. They were busily feeding on the ground, but always came from this same perch. After 2-3 times it was obvious they were posing for vertical orientation images, so I flipped the camera for portraits. This one offered me a perfect look-back glance.
P.S. As they were quickly moving from snow-covered ground to this "mid-tone" perch/BG it was pretty much imperative to photograph in manual mode.
Canon 40D + 100-400L @ 400mm, evaluative metering, manual exposure (metered off snow, +2 stops), 1/200s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light (heavy overcast), handheld. Slight crop for comp (about 85% FF). Reds DESAT to bring back inline to a natural look.







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