Friday, February 19, 2021

Rainy Day Grays, Jays and Chickadees

This morning there were spatters of rain on the rooftop when I woke up. Back in the ancient days of film photography that would have been a disaster.  Now with digital cameras it means a whole day of uninterrupted photography. The clouds are like a giant light diffuser casting soft light onto everything. Yesterday I created a new set up with a green lichen covered section of a branch. Behind it I erected a muddled brown, black and gray backdrop. Over the branchI hung a single spout bird feeder for the birds to come to. I put my camera on a tripod in our open back bedroom window. I  put it behind a window hide or blind with an opening for my camera lens. The flash I lay on the window sill point outwards towards the feeder. It was a long wait this morning for the birds to start using the feeder. First came the Chestnut-backed Chickadees.  Tentatively at first and then soon it was one after the other. There was another long break before a male Western Gray Squirrel arrived. Wow, can they pack away the seed.! They grab the bird feeder with two paws and pull the feeder opening right up to their mouth and gobble away.  Something scared the squirrel off. Possibly a hawk flying by. Less than five minutes went by before a band of Steller's Jays showed up. They were active for about fifteen minutes jostling for positions at the feeder. I had a really nice time photographing everthing that stopped by. after editing these are my favorites. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris  All of these images were created with a Canon EOS 7 D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400 mm v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX Speedlight set to - 1 1/3rd stops. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0. Shutter speeds varied.  #teamcanonusa








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