Snowy Day Backyard Birds

At the beginning of this week the snow came floating down. By the end of the storm we had just under six inches of snow on the ground. I set up a bird feeder and a perch about eight feet from our back bedroom window. Immediately after I filled the feeder the birds began coming in. Because it's winter I managed to capture all of the most common birds from our backyard. Dark Eyed Juncos, Chestnut Backed Chickadees, Red Breasted Nuthatches and Steller's Jays. I had a great session and the birds enjoyed the free food. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera with a Canon EOS 100-400 IS v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash.#TeamCanon

Patience Required

Yesterday the weather couldn't decide what it wanted to do. It kept shifting from sunshine to rain, snow and hail. During the breaks in the weather I set up a lichen covered twig next to the bird feeder. I should say I set it up several times because the squirrels kept breaking it off whenever I wasn't around. After each set up I watched where the birds were landing and prefocused on that spot. The chickadees are so fast there is little to no time to recompose an image. They land and then are off to the bird feeder in a flash. I sat there waiting with my finger on the shutter release. Whenever I spotted a chickadee coming in I would click the shutter as soon as it landed. This resulted in a lot of almost images but it also resulted in some really beautiful images as well. After some editing this afternoon I narrowed it down to two images. One image in a vertical composition and one in a horizontal.The horizontal image was created when it was sunny and the vertical one was done when it was cloudy. I was very happy with the results. Both images were created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 150-600 G2 lens at 329mm. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 XPROB Tripod with a Manfrotto 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used AV mode,ISO 800,F 8.0 for 1/800th of a sec.for the vertical image and 1/1,000th of a sec for the horizontal one at the same settings. #TeamCanon,#tamron

Prefocus and Patience

This morning I had to take my pick up to the big city of Ukiah for the airbag to be replaced. After a quick repair I returned home and grabbed a lichen covered twig off of the deck. I placed it right beside the bird feeder. Once back inside I composed and prefocused my camera on the twig. Chickadees are really fast when they feed at my house to avoid being eaten by hawks. Because of this there is little to no time to react. You have to be ready and waiting to make the image. After about a fifteen minute wait and ten tries I had three decent images and one that I was really quite happy with. If the weather holds I may try again this afternoon. I hope that you are having a great day. God's tender love and blessings to all, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D MkII and a Tamron 150-600 G2 lens at 329mm. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 PROXB Tripod with a Manfrotto 3055 ballhead. Camera settings used AV mode,ISO 800,F 8.0 for 1/250th of a sec. #TeamCanon,#tamron

Windy Day Jay

Late this morning I went out into the back yard and grabbed a gnarly chunk of wood covered with old withered turkey tail fungi. I put it up next to the bird feeder for the birds to land on. Then I went back inside and waited for the birds to come. I was hoping for some Chestnut Backed Chickadees to stop by but not a single one showed up. All I got were the Steller's Jays which have such a beautiful blue colors in their plumage. This one ended up being my favorite. God'e love and blessings to all, chris This image was photographed with a Canon 7D MkII and a Canon 100-400IS lens v.1. The camera was on our bedroom window sill and it was supported with a ground pod and an old Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. The camera setting used was AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/500th of a sec.#TeamCanon

Scattered Images From the Week

Here are some more images from this week. I have been having a blast in my backyard with the fall colors for a background. All of these images were created with a Canon 7DmkII and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. The camera was supported on a ground pod placed on our back bedroom window sill. Camera was set in AV mode, F 8.0, Exposures varied. #TeamCanon