Well, Mother Nature let us have it one more time with over 50cm of snow fallen during this latest storm. This has pushed this winter's total to over 400cm for only the second time in Ottawa's recorded snowfall history!! I still ventured out and captured this image this morning in the company of fellow member Wayne Wood. A lucky shot, really, as I did not expect it to flee at the same time I pressed the shutter button.
The snow was already fairly bright here so I decided to make it into a high key photograph and pushed the whites brighter and cloned out the remaining spots. I burned the shadow underneath the bird and the flying snow bits behind to make them more visible and to anchor the subject within the frame.
Canon Rebel + 100-400L @400mm, manual, 1/800s., f/8, ISO400, handheld standing in snow up to mid-thigh :) ~75% full-frame.
I especially like the flying snow bits and that you caught it at *just* the right moment where the wings were a goin' but the body had yet to follow :) Been trying to get a stop action shot on chickadees for awhile now. When I do catch them on thier flight start up they are twisting away as they rise (and blur) or they sit and listen to the shutter clicks until the buffer is full ... then take off :)