Black-Capped Chickadee

Gallery: AvianPosted September 26, 201186 views4 comments

Hi again! We've been really busy this month so I haven't had time to post as much as I wanted.

This is one of my favourite pictures of a black-capped chickadee, which is one of my favourite birds! They're SOOOO cute!

We were photographing birds at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary in Calgary when this chickadee landed right behind me! I turned around as quick as I could without spooking him and got a few pictures before he flew off. This was my favourite because of his pose. He looks so cute looking up like this I think.

Please let me know what you think!

Nikon D7000
Tamron SP 70-210 f/2.8 LD @ 190mm
ISO 200
1/400sec @ f/5.6
-0.7EV (I had just borrowed my dad's camera and he forgot to change this, but my dad said it probably helped me keep some detail in the white cheek anyway!)

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Alan Murphy on September 26, 2011 at 4:20 PM

Nice pose on this little guy. A wee bit busy and I would crop from left to get the bird out of center.

Registered on December 3, 2003, 192 Posts, 739 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on September 26, 2011 at 6:54 PM

I thought this was a B&W image then noticed the color in that single leaf. A single leaf plus color makes for a interesting and creative photo. And your photo certainly captures the jizz ( a birding term) of chickadees. I do miss them where I live in Calif.

Peter

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Chris O'Donoghue on September 26, 2011 at 8:16 PM

I, too, thought b&w when I first glimpsed the thumbnail but I love the subtle colours. I think I disagree with the comment about cropping from the left. The picture seems balanced to me. Cropping off part of the large branch that rises from the bottom left would throw off the balance in my opinion. I also like the business of the branches. They are suitably muted and out of focus as to not overpower the bird and they define the setting so that it's not just a mug shot. There is a series of more and more out-of-focus branches going back behind the bird which gives a feeling of depth to the wooded setting. I like this image very much.

Registered on January 1, 2011, 11 Posts, 37 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on September 27, 2011 at 1:48 AM

Real nice capture of this little guy Marlise! Regarding composition, assuming that this is full frame (something you didn't mention) then I think you did an incredibly good job of framing this shot with the subject just enough of dead centre, well done.

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