Pygmy Nuthatch

Gallery: AvianPosted March 16, 201087 views7 comments

These little guys continue to torture me trying to get a good capture. Today I had good light and was able to get a shutter speed that would stop him. This one is pretyy heavily cropped. C&C welcome.

Camera Model Name
Canon EOS 50D
Shooting Date/Time
3/15/2010 10:25:11 PM
Shooting Mode
Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1/800
Av( Aperture Value )
8.0
Metering Mode
Evaluative
Exposure Compensation
0
ISO Speed
640

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on March 16, 2010 at 5:17 PM

Pretty nice one Clayton. Nice perch and BG and OK light. These little fast moving birds drive me crazy also. About the time I get focused and ready to shoot they head off somewhere else. Just out of curiousity how much is this photo cropped and what lens did you use?

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Clayton Musgrove on March 16, 2010 at 5:35 PM

The crop is about 50% and I was using the Tokina 400mm 5.6 AT-X SD. It is an old lens, pretty sharp at f8, but focuses like molases in winter. When the 50D is paid off I will upgrade.
Clayton

Registered on February 6, 2010, 55 Posts, 235 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on March 16, 2010 at 6:10 PM

Pose and background are nice. Reviewing the larger image, it is pretty soft. Nothing on the bird is really crisp. It looks like critical focus was on the front part of the branch directly in front of the bird.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 16, 2010 at 8:49 PM

Beautiful composition, Clayton. The light looks a bit harsh and it might be just a touch oversharpened. All these small birds are difficult. I've found that eventually most species do hold still for a second. If you're lucky enough to be focused on them at the time, it can work with relatively low shutter speeds. What time of day did you take this-your camera says 10:25 pm, but I know that can't be true in Oregon.

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

Comment posted by Erik Van de Water on March 16, 2010 at 8:50 PM

Excellent background, Clayton. I agree that the picture is back-focused but I like the way you framed the bird and the diagonal created by the branch. Nice!

Registered on February 27, 2010, 6 Posts, 72 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 16, 2010 at 9:06 PM

Clayton--these are one of my very favorites (though I do say that a lot)--I used to have them as yard birds and I sure do miss it. The pose, perch, bg, and comp all look good to me, as others have said it's just a little soft.

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

Comment posted by Clayton Musgrove on March 17, 2010 at 2:44 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone. It was actually about 10:25 AM Dennis. I may need to micro adjust for this lens. DPP shows the focus point at just behind the eye. Time to set up a focus test I guess.

Registered on February 6, 2010, 55 Posts, 235 Comments