Posted by Steve Foss on February 6, 2007 at 9:42 PM
Ahh, the gray (Canada) jay, friend of boreal forest photographers, boon on days when not much else shows itself.
This was shot at a feeding station at a cabin not far from Ely. Though I am not above rearranging a prop or two to get what I want, this was not arranged in any way. Antlers mounted above the door of a shed about 20 feet from the feeding station. Appropriate, since gray jays have fed on many a north country deer carcass over the millenium.
Canon 1D Mark2n, Canon 400 f2.8L, Canon 1.4 TC, iso200 at f4 (shutter speed? I'm too lazy to go get that data!)
Posted by Jack Graham on February 6, 2007 at 10:34 PM
Very nice Steve..... and I don't really mind that the foreground antlers are out of focus. Five things make this for me
1) You nailed the exposure
2) The eye it tack sharp ( but this bird needs a shave!)
3) The bird is on the right looking left.
4) You really did a great job avoiding the merges between the tips of the antlers.
5) Great background that works well with the birds coloring.
Move over Artie Morris!
JG
Posted by Steve Foss on February 6, 2007 at 11:10 PM
Thanks Jack. At f4 with that lens and TC combo and the shallow DOF at that short distance, the amazing ability of the 400 f2.8L and Mk2n to focus on a dime and in an instant make it all possible.
Little wonder that the combo is the most sought-after body/lens configuration for so many pro sports shooters, depending on what they're shooting and the conditions.
I have different images of the jay on the antlers from other angles with no antlers oof in the foreground, but I actually like that element. I watched the jay come and go for an hour, noting where he/she perched each time (always the same perch) before taking a close look at composition and background and setting my tripod just so. And since there is relatively little contrast in the flat lighting between bird and foreground and background (I wonder just how close all the elements are to an 18 percent gray card), the evaluative metering did just fine.
Steve, the shallow DOF in conjunction with the closer antler does give this some depth. I don't find it to be overly distracting and I think it works. As Jack mentioned, the seperation is nice between all of the elements. Good stuff! I would be tempted to adjust the white and black points a bit to give it a bit more life, even though this is probably more accurate to reality.
Posted by Steve Foss on February 7, 2007 at 1:01 PM
I agree with you, Joel, on the adjustments. It looked smashing on my screen when I toned it, but it died a bit when I posted it and I don't know why.
Discussion
4 repliesThis was shot at a feeding station at a cabin not far from Ely. Though I am not above rearranging a prop or two to get what I want, this was not arranged in any way. Antlers mounted above the door of a shed about 20 feet from the feeding station. Appropriate, since gray jays have fed on many a north country deer carcass over the millenium.
Canon 1D Mark2n, Canon 400 f2.8L, Canon 1.4 TC, iso200 at f4 (shutter speed? I'm too lazy to go get that data!)
1) You nailed the exposure
2) The eye it tack sharp ( but this bird needs a shave!)
3) The bird is on the right looking left.
4) You really did a great job avoiding the merges between the tips of the antlers.
5) Great background that works well with the birds coloring.
Move over Artie Morris!
JG
Little wonder that the combo is the most sought-after body/lens configuration for so many pro sports shooters, depending on what they're shooting and the conditions.
I have different images of the jay on the antlers from other angles with no antlers oof in the foreground, but I actually like that element. I watched the jay come and go for an hour, noting where he/she perched each time (always the same perch) before taking a close look at composition and background and setting my tripod just so. And since there is relatively little contrast in the flat lighting between bird and foreground and background (I wonder just how close all the elements are to an 18 percent gray card), the evaluative metering did just fine.