Big Babies

[Arthur Morris]

These Wood Stork chicks were photographed with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f/5.L IS lens and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at +1/3 stop: 1/250 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. Central sensor AI Servo/Rear Focus AF and re-compose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. I went to the 800/Mark IV (rather than the 5D III) to fill the frame with the subjects with the prime lens alone thanks to the Mark IV’s 1.3 crop factor. To read my thoughts on the Mark IV vs the 5D III vs the coming soon (?) 1DX click here.

Don't be shy; all honest comments welcome.

[Mark Corpe]

That is a beautiful shot. As someone keen to improve my skills I admit I would never have considered using such a slow shutter speed for birds. No criticism intended though, I can see that has allowed you to use an equally low ISO giving a very detailed clean image.
I see you mentioned you've filled the frame with the subjects, so no crop needed, I've never used the 800mm f/5.6 so I'm guessing you were about 30-40 feet from the subjects, is that about right?

[Arthur Morris]

That is a beautiful shot. As someone keen to improve my skills I admit I would never have considered using such a slow shutter speed for birds. No criticism intended though, I can see that has allowed you to use an equally low ISO giving a very detailed clean image. I see you mentioned you've filled the frame with the subjects, so no crop needed, I've never used the 800mm f/5.6 so I'm guessing you were about 30-40 feet from the subjects, is that about right?

1/250 sec. is not a slow shutter speed. With the 800 I often work at 1/60 and 1/80 sec and rarely have made sharp images at 1/6 sec. That's slow. The EXIF shows 31 meters which sounds about right to me. That just under 102 feet. If you are indeed keen to improve your skills I would advise the two book combo here. Welcome to BPN.

[Tim Kaufman]

stunning, Artie, as usual. is the stick in the mouth or in front of the bird on the left?

[Arno Ellmer]

Great capture and composition,Artie.I love that on all three the eye is visible.

[Arthur Morris]

stunning, Artie, as usual. is the stick in the mouth or in front of the bird on the left?

Thanks Tim. It's in front. It looks as if the youngster is trying to arrange it. I thought about removing it but decided against that. You can see this 1280 wide by clicking on the image on the blog.

[Arthur Morris]

Great capture and composition,Artie.I love that on all three the eye is visible.

Thanks Arno. It's a great nest; the big challenge is getting three good head angles to go with some interesting behavior.'''

[gail bisson]

Hi Artie,
I like the triplets all in focus and the feet of the right hand chick.The slight wingspread of the top chick is nice too.
I find the stick in front of the face really bothersome. I would crop out the left hand chick and fill the frame with the 2 chicks on the right but only if you have more foliage and canvas on the on the right .
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Artie, I like the triplets all in focus and the feet of the right hand chick.The slight wingspread of the top chick is nice too. I find the stick in front of the face really bothersome. I would crop out the left hand chick and fill the frame with the 2 chicks on the right but only if you have more foliage and canvas on the on the right. Gail

You shoulda been there!

[dankearl]

Very nice getting all in focus and the stick doesn't bother me at all.
It is in the environment, I don't really think the idea of trying to create the "perfect" look, works that well most of the time.
It is a very cool nest and very cute chicks in a dorky sort of way.

[Tom Rambaut]

Framed very well and having all three chicks with an eye visible makes a huge difference. No issues from me with the stick as it looks like it is being interacted with by the left bird and it does not obstruct that birds eye. I do like the subtle lighting and the green framing of the leaves.

Where was your focus point - the head of the left bird?

[Arthur Morris]

Framed very well and having all three chicks with an eye visible makes a huge difference. No issues from me with the stick as it looks like it is being interacted with by the left bird and it does not obstruct that birds eye. I do like the subtle lighting and the green framing of the leaves. Where was your focus point - the head of the left bird?

Almost surely rear focused on the head or eye of the left hand bird and recomposed. The bird on the right is pretty much on the same plane....

[Grace Scalzo]

I have to say that this is a wonderful image, full of life and character. I don't know what "perfect" is in nature photography if it isn't about careful observation and story telling. This image is about babies. Babies play, they rest, they stretch. Their world is about growth and exploration, all of which is captured here. The stick isn't in front of his (or her) face, he's playing with it, the very beginning of learning how to make his own nest in future years to come. It's an integral part of the image. I love it, Artie and would not change one pixel.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice view of the nest. I would personally get rid of the fine vertical branch that on the left stork's head. Rather large babies!
very good exposure

[Arthur Morris]

I have to say that this is a wonderful image, full of life and character. I don't know what "perfect" is in nature photography if it isn't about careful observation and story telling. This image is about babies. Babies play, they rest, they stretch. Their world is about growth and exploration, all of which is captured here. The stick isn't in front of his (or her) face, he's playing with it, the very beginning of learning how to make his own nest in future years to come. It's an integral part of the image. I love it, Artie and would not change one pixel.

Many thanks Grace. I like it too. Arash and others, I can always make a version without the tiny thin stick.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Artie, great exposure on all three babies, sharp, and they certainly pop nicely from the green foliage BG.

[Roger Clark]

Hello Artie,

While a nice exposure, nice and sharp, I find some issues with sticks. This is interesting in light of previous discussions we have had over sticks. So have your views evolved regarding sticks in front of subjects?

Regarding this image, there are several sticks, and I find some of them distracting. The stick across the face is the most distracting. Second are the sticks sticking out of the back of the middle/rear bird. To me those are like the stick coming out of a person's head in a photo--distracting. The stick on the left bird over the thigh I like as it adds to the environment but does not cover or stick out of important parts of the subject. Then there are sticks on the nest blocking the lower part of the bill on the right-most bird-- I would have liked to see all of it, and the lower part of that bird (I'm OK with that one).

Roger

[Arthur Morris]

Hello Artie,

While a nice exposure, nice and sharp, I find some issues with sticks. This is interesting in light of previous discussions we have had over sticks. So have your views evolved regarding sticks in front of subjects?

Regarding this image, there are several sticks, and I find some of them distracting. The stick across the face is the most distracting. Second are the sticks sticking out of the back of the middle/rear bird. To me those are like the stick coming out of a person's head in a photo--distracting. The stick on the left bird over the thigh I like as it adds to the environment but does not cover or stick out of important parts of the subject. Then there are sticks on the nest blocking the lower part of the bill on the right-most bird-- I would have liked to see all of it, and the lower part of that bird (I'm OK with that one).

Roger

Hi Roger, You are of course free to be distracted by the various sticks, but let me remind you that this is a nest :). As I said above, I toyed with the idea of removing the stick near the face of the bird on the left but decided against it for two reasons: 1: it looks as if the young Wood Stork is (instinctively) trying to rearrange the stick in the nest. Even looking at the TIFF magnified it is difficult to discern if this is actually what is going on. 2: over the past year I have been striving to avoid the "too perfect look." See "Why Stop There?" for more on this topic. The "sticks coming out of the back of the middle/rear bird" are not sticks at all. They are part of the vegetation, fine parts at that. I do not find them at all distracting. As to the sticks on the lower right, again I remind you that this is a bird's nest.

To sum up, please know that this is the very best Wood Stork nest, the cleanest most unobstructed one I have ever seen for photography.

[Peter Dexter]

Agree with others that exposure is good and birds are nice and sharp. Also agree with Roger that the stick running up the left bird's head is unfortunate. Waiting for it to lift it's head would have solved that. Your explanation regarding the photographic quality of the view of the nest reminds that apart from carefully constructed set ups there is much catch as catch can in bird photography.

[Wendy Kates]

My admiration for this photo is demonstrated by the fact that when I read your advice near the top of this thread, i.e., to "click here", I clicked, and purchased your bird photography book bundle! Can't wait to receive the books and begin to enhance my bird photography skills!