I liked the palette created by the dead grasses and ferns in the background on this one and Juncos are one of my favorite subjects.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Anything.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Anything.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
7DII, Sigma 150-600 C@ 500 mm, gimbal head mounted to blind window, f/8, 1/1600, iso 800, fill flash at -2 2/3 EV, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 5235x3490 pixels (added a sliver of canvas vertically). The left side of the background went to a lighter green palette with some brighter oof grass stems, so I changed it to fit with the right side. Taken at 9:08 am on October 27th under sunny skies.
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I am enjoying the color palate as well, Dennis. The background was just made for him to perch in front of, that is for sure. Great details in his feathers, nice perch, and that slight head turn is really nice too.
A very nice composition with the pose, perch, and color palette. Excellent detail as well.
I read in your comment on the heron that you don’t use auto-ISO, but I see you shoot in manual. So you set your ISO at 800 and adjust the speed? I would assume you choose an f-stop for the DOF you want. I’ve tried using manual, setting a low ISO (as I seem to have trouble with noise), but it usually doesn’t work out-by time I’ve set the correct exposure the bird has gone. Yes, it works if the conditions don’t change, but if the light changes, or a white or darker bird comes in . . . And frankly, I find it hard to see the light meter on the 7DII.
@Allen_Brooks For years, I chose an iso and used aperture priority, then fine tuned for contrast between foreground and background using exposure compensation. That system worked well, but Nate taught me about using manual at an Eagle workshop and I started using it for birds in flight. Then I attended a talk (NPPNW) and the speaker pushed manual persuasively enough for me to try it. It took a bit of getting used to, but now I can usually get pretty close by eye and adjust with a test shot or two. I do still use aperture priority if I have a constant background with rapidly changing lighting, but that seems to be a relatively rare situation around here.
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I too like the color palette and background here, Dennis. You got a very nice angle on this junco and the depth of field looks perfect. Well framed and composed too.
Beautiful shot. The techs on the bird are spot on, and the bird fits very nicely with the BG. Well done, Cheers, Hans
