Varied Bunting

Gallery: AvianPosted August 11, 20063,668 views40 comments

I spent last week in SE Arizona poking around the canyons and grasslands near the border. I was mostly looking for sparrows, but I couldn't pass on these guys which were singing on territory. This was taken early one morning in Chino Canyon on the west side of the Santa Ritas (a great place with a terrible road).

Coronado NF, Arizona
Canon 1D2N, 600+2x
f11, 1/400 sec., ISO 320

Comments

40 comments

Comment posted by Paul Fusco on August 11, 2006 at 8:20 PM

- Paul

Registered on November 17, 2003, 283 Posts, 1163 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on August 11, 2006 at 8:35 PM

Wow!

My only visit to Chino was years ago to see my first Black-capped Gnatcatcher, and I was happy I had high clearance and 4WD.

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

Comment posted by Josh Anderson on August 11, 2006 at 8:52 PM

Beautiful.

Is this full frame?

Registered on June 2, 2005, 493 Posts, 2996 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Royse on August 11, 2006 at 9:20 PM

Josh this was cropped a bit. It was 2744x2020 before resizing, which is a typical amount for me. (The full size of the photo before cropping is 3504x2332). I usually try to crop so that it is between 2500 and 3000 on the long end. If it's much tighter there usually isn't enough depth of field, and it always a good idea to keep them a bit loose so a publisher can fit the photo for a layout, which is usually nothing like what you would ideally want it to be. On the other hand, if the photo needs to be cropped much more than that then there might not be enough detail if the photo needs to be printed large. A lot depends on how sharp the photo is to begin with, though. I have had much bigger crops than that in magazines in 2 page spreads and verticals cropped from horizontals for a cover with the 1D2. If sending photos out to clients, always send the full file and let them crop it to suit their needs.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 218 Posts, 2427 Comments

Comment posted by Mack Barham on August 11, 2006 at 9:41 PM

Fantastic shot - I do not see how you could improve on this!

Registered on August 12, 2005, 537 Posts, 1107 Comments

Comment posted by Bob Steele on August 11, 2006 at 9:45 PM

Killer!!! Glad you made it back successfully. Can't wait to see what you got, especially the F-s Sparrow.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 354 Posts, 13896 Comments

Comment posted by Ganesh H Shankar on August 11, 2006 at 10:28 PM

Nice image Bob. Tech looks perfect too. Looks like you have mastered the skills of using a 2x TC which I find it very difficult to use from quality perspective.

Registered on March 1, 2004, 324 Posts, 1867 Comments

Comment posted by Kevin Thompson on August 11, 2006 at 11:56 PM

What Cindy said! What a great looking bird and fantastic photo

Registered on March 15, 2005, 114 Posts, 2639 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on August 12, 2006 at 12:39 AM

Sweet

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

Comment posted by chris hajee on August 12, 2006 at 12:39 AM

like Cindy, Fantastic

Registered on January 18, 2005, 179 Posts, 2384 Comments

Comment posted by Cay-Uwe Kulzer on August 12, 2006 at 1:19 AM

Bob,

there is nothing I can add, as usual very good work and I agree with your comments regarding the editors...

Registered on January 27, 2004, 494 Posts, 4021 Comments

Comment posted by richard ettlinger on August 12, 2006 at 1:47 AM

This is one amazing shot! Killer!!!

Registered on June 17, 2004, 377 Posts, 1565 Comments

Comment posted by David Kjaer on August 12, 2006 at 4:39 AM

HI Bob

Wow what a fantastic bird and you have captured him so well!

David

Registered on January 4, 2006, 128 Posts, 4170 Comments

Comment posted by Muhammad Zaid Wani on August 12, 2006 at 4:55 AM

Amazing shot!!

Registered on August 18, 2005, 23 Posts, 1406 Comments

Comment posted by Juza on August 12, 2006 at 5:39 AM

First rate photo!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 374 Posts, 10466 Comments

Comment posted by Garth McElroy on August 12, 2006 at 5:52 AM

As good as it gets Bob!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 248 Posts, 4406 Comments

Comment posted by Jasper Doest on August 12, 2006 at 5:57 AM

Stunning shot....I love the colors in this one. This surely is as good as it gets!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 371 Posts, 2101 Comments

Comment posted by George Palagian on August 12, 2006 at 6:00 AM

Simply Beautiful.

Registered on March 3, 2006, 113 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Danny Green on August 12, 2006 at 6:21 AM

Brilliant shot

Danny

Registered on November 27, 2005, 70 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Spiecker on August 12, 2006 at 8:13 AM

Another great shot Bob. For some reason, this is becoming my nemisis bird. People will just have had good looks at it and when I get there, no bird. I guess this great photo will have to do.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 366 Posts, 4649 Comments

Comment posted by Lee Daniels on August 12, 2006 at 12:52 PM

Perfect, of course! Sigh...

Registered on December 31, 2003, 115 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Glenn Bartley on August 12, 2006 at 1:23 PM

Great shot Bob!

Registered on June 29, 2004, 448 Posts, 1180 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on August 12, 2006 at 2:24 PM

So well controlled in every respect could be a studio pic. Bob, do you routinely use the IS function of the 600 to assist getting sharp photos? Did you use IS to capture this one?

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

Comment posted by Pedro Martín Barto on August 12, 2006 at 2:29 PM

Wow! You really managed to show him in full iridescence - good job.

Registered on December 31, 2003, 6 Posts, 194 Comments

Comment posted by Richard & Gail Buq on August 12, 2006 at 2:44 PM

Bob, it just doesn't get any better than this.

Richard Buquoi
Georgetown, TX

Registered on December 18, 2005, 151 Posts, 811 Comments

Comment posted by Satie Sharma on August 12, 2006 at 7:09 PM

Great shot of a beautiful bird, Bob!

Registered on November 11, 2003, 189 Posts, 5335 Comments

Comment posted by Jay Martin on August 12, 2006 at 9:14 PM

Killer shot! I'm heading toward Reno, NV next week - do you have any pointers for birding spots in that area?

Registered on December 6, 2005, 200 Posts, 2209 Comments

Comment posted by Bob Mullen on August 12, 2006 at 10:39 PM

Wow! Superb shot!

Registered on June 4, 2006, 133 Posts, 1056 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Ross on August 13, 2006 at 8:39 AM

Great image, very crisp and sharp

Registered on November 1, 2003, 403 Posts, 2729 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on August 13, 2006 at 9:53 AM

WoW!!!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by W. Tracy Parnell on August 13, 2006 at 11:36 AM

Gorgeous!!!

Registered on March 4, 2004, 27 Posts, 1638 Comments

Comment posted by Neil Losin on August 13, 2006 at 7:44 PM

Hi Bob,

Incredible. Great bird, great capture. Nice work!

Registered on September 16, 2005, 145 Posts, 3524 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on August 13, 2006 at 7:50 PM

Just simply superb and outstanding!

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

Comment posted by Mike Maples on August 13, 2006 at 8:25 PM

MOST EXCELLENT!!!

Registered on January 4, 2005, 285 Posts, 731 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 14, 2006 at 1:46 PM

Just doesn't get any better than this!!

congrats on the EP !
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Krijn Trimbos on August 14, 2006 at 5:24 PM

That is absolutely unbelievable Bob. I'm in total awe!!! Congrats on the EP

Registered on October 18, 2005, 260 Posts, 2979 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Garber on August 15, 2006 at 4:05 PM

Beyond Perfect!!

Registered on November 17, 2003, 704 Posts, 3535 Comments

Comment posted by Rod Gilbert on August 17, 2006 at 6:41 AM

Um, WOW!

Rod

Registered on October 10, 2004, 45 Posts, 268 Comments

Comment posted by Josh Gahagan on April 20, 2007 at 10:10 AM

A beautiful perch and background, Robert.

Registered on January 15, 2007, 16 Posts, 67 Comments

Comment posted by Jose Suro on April 20, 2007 at 3:27 PM

Great image. Very crisp and well isolated. The bird looks perfect. Excellent!

Jose

Registered on June 24, 2006, 267 Posts, 2273 Comments