It's raining Evening Grosbeaks in Nova Scotia

[gail bisson]

• Canon EOS-1D X Mark III
• EF600mm f/4L IS III USM
• ƒ/5.6
• 600mm
• 1/800s
• ISO 1600
• Gail Bisson
• Fri, 13 November 2020 3:25 PM
• gailbissonphotography
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.0 (Macintosh)

Over the past week, we have had the most incredible irruption of evening grosbeaks. Flocks of hundreds are present at feeders- including mine.
I put out the platform feeders in the am and within minutes 30-50 birds rain down upon me. It is such a thrill because I have not seen them for a couple of years.
I have a few set-ups that I used for the past 2 days.
They are tricky to expose for because of that blindingly white patch. I gave up trying to shoot them on sunny days. Much easier to expose for on cloudy days!
Canon 1 dDX 3 600mm v.3
ISO 1600 SS 1/800 F 5.6
Nothing added or cloned.
About 85% FF
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from,
Gail
PS Don't you love his striped pantaloons?

 

[Brian Sump]

Gail, loved it when I saw it on FB and 2x better here.

Fantastic perch for this time of year, magnificent fall bkg with the touch of pink in the center.

Digging the dorsal view and perfect look back with slight head tilt.

Whole composition is fantastic. Look forward to more of the EGB's as they come to feed!

 

[Paul Burdett]

Love this one Gail. Perfect pose and composition, perch and a lovely textured style BG. I concur with the bright patch...I had the same situation recently with the Brahminy Kites. You're producing some great photos with the newish gear (not that you weren't before). TFS

 

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely bird Gail, pleasing pose on a neat little perch.
I don't understand why the highlights are a problem, have you set blinkies to show in your rear camera screen?

 

[gail bisson]

Lovely bird Gail, pleasing pose on a neat little perch.
I don't understand why the highlights are a problem, have you set blinkies to show in your rear camera screen?

Hi Jonathan,
Yes, I do have my blinkies set. What i meant was that because I have to expose to prevent the whites from blowing out, the rest of the bird becomes underexposed. Underexposure in the blacks leads to selectively raising the exposure on the blacks and then noise comes in etc etc. On sunny days, I am at
-1 to -1 1/3 EV to protect those whites. The white is truly a blinding white.
Gail

 

[Volkan Akgul]

Hi, there are technical shortcomings. enjoyable to watch. congratulations.

 

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Wonderful perch and pose from this great looking bird, Gail. I've been hoping to see them down here. Nice look back pose with a beautiful background.


Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

 

[annmpacheco]

What fun in you yard, lovely image Gail, i like the BG , the perch and the HA too!

 

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

I like the expression, nice head Turn.

I would have gone for a looser crop.



TFS

 

[Bill Dix]

OMG! This is the shot I've been dreaming of getting. I love everything about it: Pose, perch, background, colors, exposure. Crop just right for me. There are reports of these guys all around New Jersey, but the only one I've seen was a female, on my feeders a few weeks ago. I probably should have put out a platform feeder. Beautifully captured.

 

[dankearl]

Great expression and IQ. I only wish the tail was sharp...

 

[Dorian Anderson]

As good as on Facebook and even better than the female above. Muted/filtered light helped you with the high-contrast bits. Whites look borderline but passable. Can't beat that head angle though!