Sunday, June 10, 2007
Chaffinch
Comments:
Your very own Springwatch?! I like the slight ambiguity of the posture: it could be either body or wing on its right hand side. This invites one to feel the texture of the feathers although I would prefer a millimetre more DOF, certainly no more in case it spoiled the lovely background and the softening, and then dissolution, of the feathers as one moves away from the head. Is this one of your E-1 engineered shots?
John,
No, not an E1 set up. This was more of a fleeting chance and I grabbed the nearest camera with a battery in it.
Handheld, in shadow, which explains the depth of field choice, but you are right and that another half stop would have been better.
Sweet -- and despite the shallow depth of field, the focus is where it belongs to make it work. The feathery softness is quite appealing -- and how everything blends into the background as if it is all one thing. For some reason I get the impression of the bird swirling a skirt around it.
I'm wondering how you got so close -- a window hit, perhaps?
Christina,
Aw, you guessed...
Yes a window hit. It was dry and warm so the bird only needed time to recover.
She was aware of me but very dozy. Some of the chaffinches let me get pretty close anyway, but I suspect that it was the dozy that was important here.
They (7 to 10 species) are currently eating a kilo and a half of seed per day, and this one just got a bit too enthusiastic in the rush.
Colin -- it was the word "opportunity" that tipped me off. This spring I got photos of a rather rare migrating warbler, taken with a 180 macro lens while it recovered from such a hit. I did think to try anything so artistic as you did, though.
The minimal DoF has become a feature rather than a defect. The DoF concentrate the attention to the eyes. Essence of Chaffinch.
It does look rather bemused - which given the reason behind the capture is understandable. I'd want just a tad more detail in the small tufts of feathers above the beak but given the necessity for spped of shot I understand that the eyes are most important and you nailed them. The tones work wonderfully with each other blending and mixing in.
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No, not an E1 set up. This was more of a fleeting chance and I grabbed the nearest camera with a battery in it.
Handheld, in shadow, which explains the depth of field choice, but you are right and that another half stop would have been better.
I'm wondering how you got so close -- a window hit, perhaps?
Aw, you guessed...
Yes a window hit. It was dry and warm so the bird only needed time to recover.
She was aware of me but very dozy. Some of the chaffinches let me get pretty close anyway, but I suspect that it was the dozy that was important here.
They (7 to 10 species) are currently eating a kilo and a half of seed per day, and this one just got a bit too enthusiastic in the rush.