I know, another one!
They are pretty well the only game in town right now, but I still love to photograph them. In a recent national feeder watch study across Canada, the Black-capped Chickadee was by far the most common bird seen. I'm not surprised.
I cropped and ran NR on the BG. Removed flash highlight from eye.
Canon 1D mk IV, 70-200/4 x 1.4 tc @ 280 mm
20 Feb 2010
ISO 1600. 1/640s, f6.3
Flash -1 2/3, beamer
Last edited by John Chardine; 02-22-2010 at 07:37 PM.
I like the soft light, exposure control, sharpness, look-back pose and BG. The noise level looks really good for ISO 1600, too.
John:
Very nice, techs covered by Axel. Really only possible improvement would be a sliver more DOF for tail.
They are such brave and perky guys, always gives me a chuckle.
Cheers
Randy
The flash work, exposure, and BG are all lovely. You might have gone for more DOF if you were using a tripod.
John
Axel has covered the technical aspects very well, you nailed the exposure settings with a lovely BG
A theoretical question about the DOF - have you micro-adjusted AF on the lens? It appears more of the branch is in focus in front of the bird. If you focus on the bird's eye, more of the bird will be behind the focus point ( ie: it's not a 50/50 distribution). You can adjust the micro-calibration of the lens AF accordingly and preferentially move the DOF to include more of the bird behind the focus point. Something you might want to consider or experiment with.
Interesting point Peter. I have never done any micro-adjustments on any of my Canon lenses as I've never seen the need. I think I see what you are suggesting- micro-adjust the focus so it is behind the focus point a little, that way getting more of the bird's body in focus (did I get this right?). It would be interesting to experiment with as you say. I'd be a little concerned that I'd lose critical focus on the focus point itself. Thoughts anyone?
Thanks Aiden- I was hand-holding to be quick. Light was quite low but I wanted to have ambient light dominate the flash. I suppose I could have tried ISO 3200!Originally Posted by Aidan Briggs
John, do you remember what you focused on? My best guess is the upper part of the wing, which would explain the DOF distribution.
I guess you could have stopped down a bit more since the shutter speed was not that low considering the focal length.
You are right on the money Axel; so I didn't in fact focus on the eye!
Quick technical question though- is it the case that the actual depth of field is asymmetrical front and back of the focus point? If so by how much, proportion-wise?
Looks to me that your critical AF is just where you pointed it. Increasing DOF would make the tail better focused. However, I like it as presented. These guys don't stay still for long, so it is fun to get a good image of them. Nice job.
Lovely shot John, exposure is perfect (flash comp is spot on) and I agree for 1600 ISO it looks great.
Lovely pose, head-turn, diffuse light and plumage detail.
All the good discussion of focus notwithstanding, this is one of the best BC Chickadee images I have seen. Exposure, detail, HA, background all lovely. One of my favorite birds, and this is a beauty.
john
my understanding is that the DOF is about 50/50 except when you approach infinity AF. in this photo, all the DOF in front of the bird isn't really helping extend the DOF towards the tail region
when you micro-adjust the AF , you can control the DOF dsitribution without sacrificing or losing critical AF at the sensor site
if you know you're going to be photographing at a particular "controlled" setup (perch near a feeder, multi flash HB setup, ..) you can use this feature to your advantage
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