Pine Siskin & Repost

Gallery: AvianPosted June 26, 2011154 views15 comments

Taken this morning. The hummingbirds haven't been very cooperative the last couple of days and the young Pine Siskins are up to all kinds of antics as they learn how to fend for themselves. This one was trying to figure out how to eat the grass seeds while hovering. I had set up to try to get a reasonable dof (hummingbirds and flowers in focus) while still maintaining a reasonable shutter speed-hence the settings.

1DMkIV,, 500mm F4 + 1.4TC, Black Widow on Gitzo legs, f11, 1/800, iso 1250, Av mode, no compensation, noise reduction using Neat Image, normal processing in CS4, cropped to 5.3MP. Taken at 6:58 am, June 26th. I'm also including a repost with the seed head directly below the bird-I'd be interested in you opinions on whether or not it makes a difference.

I always appreciate your comments and criticisms.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 26, 2011 at 1:03 PM

And the repost.

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

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on June 26, 2011 at 1:30 PM

Very nice - a well-timed capture to get this position and sharpness.

The removal of the bottom bit wasn't needed for my enjoyment of the image - the siskin's behavior and position are quite strong visual elements. But taking it out doesn't harm the image and probably is more pleasing from a pictorial standpoint.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on June 26, 2011 at 1:49 PM

Great action Dennis. I really like the fact that the head and seed head being fed on are sharp and everything else is a bit OOF. That really brings my eyes right to the action. The bottom see head was also sharp and removing it helps keep my eye on the action, so in that respect I think removing it is good. However, the image is fine with the seed head there if being true to the scene is most important to you. Nice shot.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on June 26, 2011 at 2:01 PM

Great action, wonderful setting. Just an all around great image.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on June 26, 2011 at 3:51 PM

Awesome image! Great detail, wing position, background colours, and you even have a catchlight!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on June 26, 2011 at 3:55 PM

Nice catch!
Good position and action!
I like th rep-post better, but both are fine.
As Richard said, the stongest elements are the bird/action.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on June 26, 2011 at 6:32 PM

Fascinating capture and caption, Dennis. The presence or absence of the seed head makes no difference to me. The pose of the bird is great. I think 1/800 s may be just a tad slow for this shot although I suspect it would be fine for a hummingbird. Probably this guy is not as good at hovering. Tough to trade off DOF for ss though.

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

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on June 26, 2011 at 7:43 PM

Yes it's better IMO Dennis. Your eye follows the single grass stem from the birds head/beak, so anything you can do to eliminate any distraction in the immediate vicinity is a +
Great action capture!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on June 26, 2011 at 8:34 PM

Cool action shot - certainly not an easy capture!

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on June 26, 2011 at 9:11 PM

I love the shadow of its feet!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on June 26, 2011 at 10:43 PM

What a brilliant capture Dennis! The action, the interest in the young one's assertive behaviour, the shadow of it's foot caught in it's wing, the wonderful inclusion of the catchlight in it's eye, the composition and blurred background, it all goes to making this a real pleasure to look at, very well done :^)

Oh, and you probably know me well enough by now to appreciate that I'm in the camp of those who'd chose to remove the seed head ;^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on June 27, 2011 at 12:10 AM

Wonderful timing Dennis. I like the original best. Great shot of some natural feeding behavior. Sharp where it matters and good dof. Nice to see some habitat in with the action.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on June 27, 2011 at 8:01 PM

Great catch Dennis, excellent action shot.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on June 27, 2011 at 10:13 PM

Dennis, I had to read your comment to figure out the difference of what you removed. That is how much it didn't bother me

Great timing and action in this one! Love it

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on June 28, 2011 at 9:19 PM

What a great catch Dennis! Love the action and lighting, I do think the image is a little better with that seed head removed but I probably wouldn't have removed it myself.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments