Here's another image from this weekend's snowstorm (which has all but melted TYVM!) I had just honed in on him on the edge of my deck when he spread his wing to take off, avoiding an incoming Grackle. Wish I had a little more DOF and ss but I'm fairly happy with what I got.
Canon 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L
f6.3 @ 1/400th, ISO 400
Manual mode, pattern metering, handheld, overcast sky
Processed in ACR & CS4
Neat pose and setting. I wish for a lower angle and a bit more eye contact. The bird looks a bit soft on my monitor, I'm not sure if it is due to motion blur or if more sharpening would help.
Aptly named title, Jules. I love the pose and the action captured. IMO I think the aperture chosen is OK. You probably needed a faster SS. I have always shot manual, but lately have been experimenting with shutter priority because the little ones move around so much.
Is this the same place you shot your cardinal?
Last edited by Julie Brown; 03-22-2010 at 09:08 PM.
Yes, Julie, they were both taken off my back deck (I have about eight feeders out right now so there's lots of action!)
I wish for a lower angle, too, Axel...kinda tricky from where I was. ;) Point taken, though.
Dave, I'll go back and resharpen and see if that helps. I was really more concerned with how blurry the tail was - it really gets lost - but a little more sharpening couldn't hurt. Thanks everyone!
Most techs have been covered, but I just wanted to say that the snow here works better for me than in the cardinal shot. Enough texture below. Yes, a bit more above would be nice, but the amount in the foreground makes it work more effectively for me.