Cardinal+Repost

Gallery: AvianPosted April 23, 201063 views5 comments

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

These fellows have been around all winter. However, this is by far the prettiest subject I’ve seen in the past two weeks. I’m still waiting for some of our colorful migrants to return.

This particular bird was very patient with me. I’ve been struggling with using the 1.4X Extender on my 400 mm. Manual focus and a maximum aperture of f/8 are constraints. This fellow just sat there and watched me as I fumbled around trying to obtain a good image. He even lifted his crest after awhile. He deserves this posting.

I like the detail in this image. I do see some specular reflection in the tail feathers and on the bill. However, I’m not sure how much of a deficiency this represents. After all, it does faithfully show how the bird appeared. The background is busy but I think the bird contrasts quite well with it because of the color difference. I welcome all of your comments on this or any other aspect.

EOS 7D, 400mm f/5.6 + 1.4X Extender: 560mm, 1/1000 s, f/9.0, ISO 500, HH, manual focus. This image is 2671 pixels x 3456 pixels (=9.2 MP or 51% of the 18 MP of the 7D)

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on April 23, 2010 at 8:03 PM

Hi Steve, Your "he deserves this posting" comment sure made me smile. I've often had the same feeling toward an extra cooperative bird. I like the direct look you got from the bird and the pose with the tail pulled forward like that. Colors and exposure look good to me, though believe it or not I've never actually seen the species. The specular reflections aren't an issue for me. I think I'd have placed the cardinal a little further left in the frame but that's me.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on April 23, 2010 at 11:21 PM

looks good, Steve. Nice and sharp, and I have no problems with the setting. I agree with Ron on the comp. glad to see you back around. I'm wondering if you've tried using live view for manual focusing? I guess you couldn't while handholding, but could with a tripod.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 23, 2010 at 11:47 PM

Excellent detail, Steve. I've given up on manual focus for the most part-my eyes just aren't up to the fine details. I like the pose, and a bit of specular reflection is fine-they're notoriously averse to powdering their noses for us.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on April 24, 2010 at 5:37 AM

Steve,
excellent work with manual focus at that focal lenght without IS and HH!
I like the setting, the pose with the tail pulled forward and the exposure looks great.
Well done!

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on April 25, 2010 at 11:05 AM

Thank you all again for your comments. They are always so helpful to me. I was pleased that none of you objected to the specular reflection (I particularly enjoyed Dennis' "powdered nose" comment!). In response to Ron's and Brian's comments about moving the bird to the left, here's a repost. I think this comp is better. Regarding manual focus, Brian, this shot was obtained using live view assisted by a "hoody" to shade the screen. I just could not get consistent results using the viewfinder. Liveview is great but, as you know, with HH is difficult because of motion. I've now modified the head of my hiking staff and I think it will work pretty well as a unipod. I'm now waiting for a sunny day to try it out! I really value the reach of this 560 mm lens system. Detail is good too. I can see the beautiful results many of you obtain with the larger lenses. However, I really do love walking. We shall see if I can make some progress this week...

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments