Another photo from earlier this year. An American Goldfinch perched atop an evergreen tree with a bright blue sky in the background.
Read MoreAn American Goldfinch perched atop an evergreen tree.
Downy woodpecker searching for food
Downy Woodpeckers
Downy woodpecker scaling a dead tree
I took the Canon 7D Mark II and the Canon EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens for a walk a few weeks back. We have a pair of Pileated woodpeckers that live in the neighborhood and I see them frequently when walking my dog, but of course I never have my camera or cannot get very close with the dog. So most weekends I spend some time by myself looking for the Pileated...with no luck to date.
On this day, the sky had turned overcast and the background was gray and muted. I came across this Downy woodpecker and followed him for ten minutes as he flew from tree-to-tree looking for food. At times I was able to get within ten feet and capture some descent candid images.
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Downy woodpecker searching for food on a dead tree
Abstract Motion
While taking photos the other day of the very warm directional morning light, I had the idea that the trees, lit up as they were, would stand out in a black and white conversion with the Fuji X100s. The wind was blowing and the motion of the trees coupled with intentional vertical camera motion would result in a interesting shot, or so I thought.
The process was trial-and-error; adjusting shutter speed and modifying the motion of the camera. The results were less than successful overall as this was my first attempt at motion and I had many images that were blown-out, or just too blurred.
The two images here represent what I thought were the best of the bunch. Post-processed in Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro II to enhance the white of the trees and darken the blacks of the shadows.
The images are slightly more abstract than what I had been trying for, but I liked the way these two turned out.
If you want to purchase a print, clicking on either image will take you to my Zenfolio site to buy a print.
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Warm directional morning light on the trees and cold sky
Morning Light
Morning light striking the trees
The other morning while getting the kids ready for school I happened to notice the very directional light illuminating the trees in the back yard. The light was falling under the cloudy sky to the northwest giving it a very bluish tone.
I grabbed the Fuji X100s and took a number of images from my back doorstep handheld. At first I thought this would make a great black and white image, but this very unique light made for a dramatic image straight out of camera. The image above uses the Fuji Standard color simulation with some minor exposure adjustments in Lightroom CC.
The image to the right is a black and white conversion using the Fuji Red simulation in Lightroom CC.
The image below is a black and white conversion in Nik's Silver Efex Pro II. I like the way Silver Efex Pro can tease out the detail and contrast in the sky quite easily with minimal edits.
Ten minutes later I was extremely glad I had put my coffee down and grabbed my camera as the light had completely faded and we were back to our typical gray winter day.
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Black and White rendering of the scene
An American Robin sits on an ice-covered branch.
Frozen Dinner
An American Robin sits amidst the crab apples and ice.
An American Robin clings to an ice-covered branch on my ornamental crab apple tree during a early-Winter ice/snow storm. A large number of robins had found the fruit and were gorging themselves on it during the storm.
Photographed hand held with the Canon 7D Mark II and the Canon EF 100-400 F/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens in a light freezing rain.
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An American Robin reaches for a frozen treat.
American Robins in Ice and Snow
American Robins eating crab apples in an ice storm.
During the holiday break, the New York Capital Region received its first ice/snow event of the Winter. While I was walking past our front window, I noticed a flock of American Robins had descended on our ornamental crab tree and were gorging themselves on the fruit. I grabbed my camera and slowly made my way out the front door and maneuvered into position about fifteen feet away.
As a light sleet fell in fading light, I was able to capture a number of images with the Canon 7D Mark II and the Canon EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens as the birds fed on the fruit. The above image was one of my favorites, more so because I did not realize I had captured it :)
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American Robin perched in an winter storm