Redwing Blackbird

So much to admire.  The textures of the vegetation are beautifully wrought, a delightful anchor for this delicate redwing blackbird and the nicely-handled backdrop.  The bird's position & light in the eye show the bird is noticing something else, as s/he looks over the shoulder, adding interest -- what's the bird thinking? -- and that you captured markings from the right wing as well ...!  

Beautiful capture; great composition, DOF and lighting. Very well done. Thank you for sharing. :)

I love the contrast of FG and BG. Very nice technicaly executed.Color palette is excelent with the touch of Red...;-))

Fancy lens you got Linda, congratulations!

Best regards!

PDE

Ahh yes, a quite beautiful scene. I really like the way you've rendered the foreground/background in relation to the plane of focus, draws the eye right to the subject.

Constructive critique:

May I ask the Shutter speed of the shot, and manner of support used, if any? There is an overall softness which may be attributed to camera shake present here. If you're handholding this heavy lens, I'd suggest trying a monopod on shutter speeds at or below 1/1600. Another possibility is that the AF couldn't quite lock on to the bird, as it does tend to have problems with dark subjects. manual touch up is often necessary.    Regards,

Randall

beautiful scene...congrats

Very nice work! Best regards, Ilkka

A very nicely composed shot with beautiful lighting, Linda!

With best regards,

Ruud.

Interesting result,I like this bird and blur-shaken bg,I am curious too about shutter speed you had here,best regards Linda.

RC

I love the composition as shot,I know how tough it is to even get a decent shot of one. I have had better luck photographing Eagles.

               Regards,

Tony

Thank you all for your comments!

Donna, I think he was thinking about finding a mate.

Trisha, Thank you.

Pnina, Thank you. I thought that little bit of red made this picture.

Pierre, I haven’t had this lens for very lone. I am just getting used to using it. 

Randall, thank so much for the advice. I do have problems with getting good clear focus and this is something I know I have to work on this. Here are the details (I usually post them with my images under technical details) Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/1600 Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6 Metering Mode Evaluative Metering Exposure Compensation 0 ISO Speed 200 Auto ISO Speed ON Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Focal Length 360.0

I was watching this little guy, and some other birds, Grebes and Loons, from my car. I didn’t want to get out and set up my tripod because I didn’t want to scare them away. I had the camera and lens held against the door of my car, lens pointed out the window. I had the IS on. I know that when I use my tripod I get excellent clear focus, but sometimes it isn’t possible to set it up without scaring away the subject. I thought that at 1/1600 AV I would be alright, but as you can see the bird isn’t clear and crisp. I could be the AF, I know what you mean about it not being able to lock on certain subjects. Maybe I should be looking at monopods, I have never used one. What do you think?

Mehmet, thank you. It is nice to hear from you.

Ilkka, thank you too. Glad to hear you like it.

Ruud, nice to hear from you.

Radu, the shutter speed was 1/1600 at 200 ISO. Still a little too soft.

Tony, thank you. I love to capture eagles too but have yet to get one really good shot. We have a large population here and hardly a day goes by when I don’t see one. I don’t find them any easier to shoot. I keep trying, they are magnifecent birds.

Best wishes, Linda

Linda, in the future I will look at the technical details screen.

Couple of suggestions when shooting birds:

TV vs AV, you want to be in control of the shutter speed, even though you were at wide open in this case. (I prefer manual as I like to overexpose slightly).

With your 7D, you can use ISO 400-640 with little or no noticeable difference in noise, and if you're using a specialized noise reduction program such as Topaz denoise5, you can crank it higher. While I wouldn't recommend 3200 for this type of fine work, I have a couple of race car shots taken at night on my page, the noise signature, even at that level is negligible when exposed and processed carefully. Shadow detail does start to fall off, however.  

Was the car running by chance? The vibration would be the root cause of the problem if it was. Don't forget, birds are almost never sitting entirely still, and their minute movements are magnified by the 7D's 18MP sensor. Besides the crop factor, it has to do with the smaller pixel size and density. Take extra frames to increase keeper rates.

I swear by my monopod for wildlife imagery, even with IS on my 300. (my 400 doesn't have IS) It doubles as a handle of sorts for tracking in flight work. I prefer the ballfoot style (not ballhead). Even though it can be a little less stable than other types, it allows me to move the camera around far more easily.  HTH, if you ever have any questions-feel free to message me.

Thank you so much for this helpful advice. 

Prior to this I had shot some images at 800 ISO and they were very noisy, so perhaps I went too far in the opposite direction. I was experimenting here, this one was set at auto ISO. As I am learning I try a few shots on full auto, then I experiment with different setting and compare the results. With the 7D there are more options than I am used to.  I will try 400 - 600 next time I am out.

My engine was turned off. I sat there trying to be inconspicuous for quite awhile. But that is a good point that I hadn't thought of.

Thanks for suggesting the mono pod. My tripod is fantastic with portraits, landscapes etc. but very awkward, clunky and difficult to maneuver with birds and wildlife. By the time I get it all set up the subjects have vanished.

I really appreciate your advice. I made a quick visit to your portfolio. I am going to go back when I have time to look and comment.

Best wishes,

Linda

Linda- a factor I overlooked wrt the 7D- Have you mapped the AF to a back button and removed it from the shutter? Doing so has major benefits:

It allows you to recompose without needing to hold the shutter down halfway.

It allows manual touch-up without holding the shutter down.

Most importantly, in AI servo mode, it won't cause the AF to hunt as you depress the shutter for your capture-some argue you can hold the shutter halfway, but that's not always practical when waiting for something to happen.

It may feel awkward at first, but using your thumb to focus will soon become more natural than your index finger.

The 7D is indeed a complex camera, but it is designed to allow a user to fine tune it's capabilities to various situations or personal styles.

Randall

Hi Linda,

this is a great shot, i like the soft background, the compressed perspective caused by your long lens, and your composition placing the bird near the upper left third nodal point, giving him plenty of room to look into the frame (as he does).  My take on the "focus softness" is this. You focused on the right spot, the eye of the bird and the plumage around his head are sharp.  What is not so sharp is the tip of its beak, but this is not due to camera shake.  With your lens wide open (at f/5.6) the beak is in a different plane than the eyes.  Look at your focal plane. the eye, the plumage around the head, and part of the bulrush are in clear focus. The only way you could have increased your DOF to include the tip of the beak in the focal plane would have been by closing down your lens and that would have meant increasing your shutter speed (or your ISO).  It would have changed the background bokeh some but probably not noticeably.  The point though is that like in all portraits, you got what matters most into focus: the eye.  I think this is a fine photo which i would not hesitate to put on my wall.  Regards - michel  

This is awesome Linda!! Love your composition and Exposure.. Lovely!!

Thank you all for visiting.

Randall, this is something I knew nothing about. I have the book, Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guideby Charlotte K. Lowrie and have been using that – I would be lost without it. But, I haven’t come across this, so thank you so much once again. This is why I love Photo.net, people like you are willing to share their knowledge, and don’t just see it as a competion. You have been so helpful, thank you again. 

Michel, thank you so much, you are very kind. It is always good to hear your thoughts. I am a beginner with bird photography. Since moving to central British Columbia I have become inspired by all the wildlife. I hope to become a half decent bird and wildlife photographer some day. As you know this is not easy. This is why I bought the canon 100-400 mm f4.5.6 L IS. I do have trouble getting the crisp clean focus I would like. I think this is partly due to my aging eyes, and then there is the lack of experience. Some of the more experienced bird photographers here get amazing detail, you know, the images that have every feather in perfect focus. This is what I am aiming for.

Andrea, thank you for stopping by.

Cheers,Linda

Linda,

  Beautiful image with amazing composition & lighting.  Take care, Patsy

Thank you both for commenting.

Forgive me if I repeat any of the above comments: - I believe this image works so well because of the stark black against the blurred warm coloured background, the bright eye, the flash of red and the bird positioned perfectlly looking into the frame all make for great visual impact. Very  well done Linda!

Best Regards

Alf

Alf, thank you. I am happy with this shot, just wish I had better definition and clairity on the bird. Best wishes, Linda