Sunday, April 25, 2010

(Day 115) Start of a theme

Part of the challenge of doing a 365 project I've found, and I'm sure many others have experienced, is the daily process of choosing and finding a subject. Some days it's easy and you come up with a week's worth. Then there are other days when the mind goes blank and little inspires. I have to admit that with the onset of spring the daily challenge has become a little easier.

We're lucky to have a couple of small ponds beside the house and I thought I would take the next few days to capture some of its denizens - some of whom live in it and others that like to live near it. I'll see how far I get with this.

Today's photo is of Mr. Chickadee. Now I had to infer his gender by his behaviour, but that was fairly easy. Mrs Chickadee was doing all the running (well, flying) around gathering the bits of grass and other raw materials to make a nice soft nest, while Mr. Chickadee kept a watchful eye out for anything that would require a warning for both to flee. Here he's keeping a good eye on me but I guess I wasn't considered enough of a threat.

(70-200mm  f5.6  1/1600 sec  ISO200)

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very very nice work!

['รด ] Avery

Rick said...

@Avery - thank you.

darlin said...

Wow! Beauty at it's finest, excellent capture Rick.

I have a question for you, I have a lens which is 75-300mm, so I technically should be able to take photos like this? I'm laughing here, I don't have a clue and am hoping to learn something this summer. My "Dummies for Rebel XSi" is patiently waiting for me to read it.

Rick said...

@darlin - thank you!

Absolutely you can get shots like this. I've been posting my settings so you can get an idea, but each situation will be a little different due to different lighting. For this I set the aperture (5.6) first to show enough detail of the bird but leave a fairly blurry background. Then I rotated the wheel on top (I think your camera model is similar) to adjust the shutter speed for proper exposure. At this shutter speed you wouldn't get a blurry shot due to camera shake.

Just take your camera out and experiment with the aperture and shutter settings and see what they do - take multiple shots of the same thing - boring, but you'll start to see the difference.

S. Etole said...

looks as though the Mr. has a bit of attitude ... great shot!

S. Etole said...

I just noticed your awesome slide show, too ... WOW!

Rick said...

@S. Etole - thank you Susan. Yes, I saw a bit of that male attitude ('leave the housework for her') on his face with that over-the-shoulder look :)

Thanks for stopping by and your kind words.

Katherine said...

What a sweet little fella Mr Chickadee is! I like his name!!!
It is such a clear shot Rick.. I love him..he's a cutie!

Tim said...

Amen to paragraph one! It's quite interesting how much your 365 experience parallels my own.

Unknown said...

Oh, I LOVE Chickadees! They are so cute. This is a great shot Rick! I bet you'll find plenty of great subject matter at your pond. :o)

Rick said...

@Katherine - thank you; he seemed to be taking to me - didn't flinch when I moved closer for the shot.

Rick said...

@Tim - congrats on making it through; it's a great experience!

Rick said...

@Krista - thank you. I'll be checking it out again a little later to see who's there today :)

Anonymous said...

Thats a beautiful bird and a lovely shot.

What you said is right, spring makes taking photos easier, it doesn't only help with the subject but the lighting too.

Rick said...

@M - thank you M. I agree with the lighting comment.

Kerri Farley said...

This is a BEAUTY!

Rick said...

@Kerri - thank you Kerri!

Lisa (Mountain Photog) said...

Great shot! The lighting is perfect. I love the Chickadees and their constant presence, winter and summer.

Rick said...

@Lisa (Mountain Photog) - we do too - they're always waiting their turn at our feeders in winter; so nice to have them with their chatter.