northern mockingbird Northern Mockingbird

Very nice shot!

Dick

Thanks Dick!

Oh this Critiquing system can be frustrating....... I visit twice a day, yet failed to see this one..........

Great capture my friend......... good DoF isolates the bird well. A good crisp head and eye with definition in the plumage.

Well done.........

Best regards

Thanks Grayham. Of course it doesn't show in the photo, but it took about a month of daily walks through this guys range to have him finally get in a good spot AND to give me a side view, spot good for the distant background allowing good blur and the side view providing for a more classic bird ID type shot. The background isn't evenly high or low key, instead a mix, but with the brighter area not so bright (cement walkway) to blow out, and the darker green area not so dark as to cause the beak to blend into the background. The light: there was a slight overcast that afternoon that toned down the brights, almost perfect light. The attached shot was maybe better for the pose, but a shadow falls on his left eye and his throat is too bright for my taste. I couldn't get any closer. So here is the moment when spot metering and shutter priority has failed me in the past. With spot, it would have been hard for me to know if I had got his wing or belly, or, if both, in what proportion? Then lock something in, then fiddle with the exposure compensation, check the result, try again, fiddle some more. Unlock the exposure, spot meter again, get more of the wing and be confused about the resulting blow out of the breast, guess about how much to dial the expsure down and the bird flys into the tree. So I find with manual and center weighted metering that I get a good setting and histogram off some blend of sky and foliage, my starting point as I'm walking around, and it is easier to just dial the shutter speed once I have a subject in view. From reading Mike P., I've gone to a higher initial shutter speed, say 2500 on a bright day and am liking f4 where Mike P. seems to suggest that a lens performs better at or close to wide open.

Thanks again for your comments.

Thanks for sharing your frustrations with "birding", now I don't feel so alone with my similar frustrations (smiles).

Hopefully you will recall the contents of our Pmails, back in October wherein we discussed my "self-styled" methodologies...... they still work well for me, no fiddling with Fstops or anything else.... just total concentration on the subject........ but, hey! it's each to his own, I guess......

Still a good capture............

Best regards

Thanks for reminding me: I may try your metering method yet, and I'll definitely see how in camera JPG works, good idea. I did get lightroom 4 on sale and plan to try that for improved post processing too.