From the same shoot that netted a hummingbird a couple of days ago. After the hummingbird left I got a decent pose from a Junco.
Type of Critique Requested
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
All comments welcome! I was getting cabin fever from rainy weather and on the first clear day I just had to go find something to shoot. (And now it’s rainy for the next week or more.) The setting is a bit sterile but I can enjoy the illustration look.
Technical Details
Minor tonal tweaks in LR. It was sunny but the sun was directly behind me, minimizing shadows. There are not many clear perches in this messy little fig tree. I only touched out small distractions in both upper corners. Would be nice if the BG was snow, but it’s the driveway. (Small bird, long lens, clean BG.)
Diane, You captured really nice details in this little guy. We don’t have Dark-eyed Juncos around here. I like their markings. I’m curious why you used f14? I have been pushing the shutter speed up because I find the little birds move a lot and fast, but I keep the f-stop down around 6.3 or 7.1. I do like the details in the feathers and wondering if the larger number f-stop is making the difference. Very nice shot.
Thanks, @Shirley_Freeman – f/14 is wide open with the 2X on that lens. I wouldn’t mind a wider aperture but with that much magnification I’d lose DOF, so it’s all a balance. The 2X lets me bring subjects in so much closer that it’s almost always on the lens. When I first got it I tried to do a lot of comparisons with the EF 600 II + 2X III, which is f/8. It was microscopically sharper, but in a real-life situation the DOF tradeoff favored the 100-500. So did the weight difference. But I don’t think I’ve ever stopped it down further.
I rely on short bursts to catch the frames with the bird being still. I didn’t say, but I was on a tripod here – handholding and trying to get on small flitting birds would tax my strength and require more SS.
Okay, gotcha. I didn’t even notice that you had a 2X on. So far I am sticking with my EF lenses and haven’t bought an RF lens. That Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary lens is reasonably light for 600mm. Thank you for explaining.
The EF lenses work amazingly on the R-series bodies – no need to upgrade unless you covet 1000mm. If you ever do go for that lens, don’t even bother with the 1.4X – just get the 2X. Then you have 100-500 and 600-1000. (Both TCs have extended rear elements that limit the lens focal length travel below the 300mm mark – a PIA for putting the TCs on.)
Honestly, the first thought that went through my mind when I saw this was, “I don’t remember posting this.” In the winter, Juncos are probably our most prevalent bird and I’ve taken a lot of photos of Juncos. Some in a nearly identical setting. You have a nice pose and excellent detail. The background works to give this an artistic feel. You’ve certainly proved doubters wrong about using teleconverters. Though as you say, the 100-500 RF doesn’t play nice with the teleconverters.
Terrific details here , and a cute pose. I’ve read so many pros and cons concerning the teleconverters being used with the RF 100-500. I am somewhat concerned about the amount of light reduction pairing that setup with the R7. At any rate, it certainly worked here! Nicely done.
Nice portrait, Diane. Interesting to see the results with the 2x attached to that lens.
The lack of dark tones/shadows gives this a slightly different look (it seems a little “washed out”), which I think is actually quite effective with the minimal setting and helps enhance the small details.
Thanks, @terryb and @Max_Waugh. If you look at my portfolio you’ll see most of the wildlife I shoot is at 1000mm, and quite a bit of it is cropped to around 50%. And I never touch a sharpening setting except for the default amount in LR (which is just enough to compensate for the softening that comes from debayering the sensor matrix) and the small default amount that comes with Topaz Denoise in either the Low Light or rarely the Severe Noise setting. At f/14 wide open I’m usually at an ISO higher than I’d like, but I’ve found it worth the tradeoff.
This image has an almost high key tone to it. Not sure if that was the intention but I rather like it. I also like the square crop. You have a really good pose with the bird and a wonderful head turn and catchlight in the eye. My only tiny little nit is the large branch used for the perch. Nothing you could do about that though. Everything else is spot on.
