Birds in the snow

[HJMinard]

It has been snowing all day. On April 23rd. Less than a week ago it was 80 degrees. The birds do not look happy ...

Male House Finch
http://www.pbase.com/hjminard/image/42467800.jpg

White-breasted Nuthatch
http://www.pbase.com/hjminard/image/42467802.jpg

[tupe]

Those are beauties, Jay. Detail on the finch's eye is unbelievable.

Amazing how much they puff up in the cold.

[Airedale1]

Very nice captures. Boy, the winter does not give up easily up there.

[mrclark321]

I see your getting the same crappy weather ( I'm accross the creek in sarnia )

Very nice shots.

Dan

[sparker1]

Beautiful shots, Jay. Poor birds must be confused.

[herderdog]

Wow. Those are great. The finch especially so.
Sorry your weather has gone bad. :(
Hard on the birds to be sure.

[mikesd]

Great shots Jay, simply awesome!

[swoop1156]

It's snowing at home? Man...I need to watch the over-seas news more...BEAUTIFUL shots!

[Paul A]

Beautiful, did you use artificial lighting?

[pcasciola]

Very, very nice, Jay.

[MarkoPolo]

Great shots, that was Colorado two week-ends ago. Now it is warm, for now, at least.

[HJMinard]

Wow, 10 replies in two hours ... gotta be a new record for one of my posts :)
Thank you ... everyone, for your generous comments. I guess the lousy weather didn't ruin everything.

Beautiful, did you use artificial lighting?

Thanks! No, all natural lighting. Used exposure compensation (+1 stop) due to the snow.

[skade]

Excellent shots!

[RockOne]

Wow. The first one is fantastic. Hope he didn't sit still too long though - otherwise he may have frozen to the branch - sure looks cold :-) !

[Titus213]

Amazing! The detail is beyond belief. Great shots, thanks for sharing them.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Jay!
Beautifull! The snowflakes captured in mid air add a lot! Just wonderfull images.

[dkord]

Impressive, which lens? Did you use a hood covering for the camera?

[LadyHawk]

Beautiful shots, Jay! Like dkord, I would like to know which lens you used and any other exif data you would care to share. Thanks.

[Maz]

Two great photos, very nice capture!

Thanks for showing them.

Maz
http://www.homesteadsforsale.com

[Alan B]

VERY VERY nice photo's :cool: :cool:

[yeah1000]

Which lens did you use?
Very nice images

[HJMinard]

Thank you, everyone ... each and every thoughtful comment is greatly appreciated!

I used the 400/5.6L on my Gitzo G2220 tripod ... safe and dry just inside an open window - so no special lens covering necessary. Brief exif for the finch iso800 1/400s f/6.3 ... and for the nuthatch iso800 1/640s f/5.6. Both shot on Av and, as mentioned previously, I had +1 EC dialed in to compensate for the snow.

[PhotosGuy]

Excellent shots! (Michigan weather sucks!) ;-)

[Reigh Higgins]

Jay, really great shots! Congratulations

[TammieO]

The birds are so sharp and the falling snow makes for an incredible photo. Jay, these are really exceptional...at least IMHO.

[Mills]

Great shots Jay. Gotta love Midwestern weather.

[mguna]

Wow, the first pic is stunning....in detail and background.

Regards
GunaM

[RbrtPtikLeoSeny]

I love the first one!

[HJMinard]

Again ... thank you for having a look and for the nice feedback.

Gotta love Midwestern weather.

This stuff is unbelievable ... it's still snowing - two days, nonstop. People posting pictures of flowers ... and here everything is covered in white. The birds have apparently taken shelter - only the faithful house finch has visited today. This has to be some kind of Michigan record for snow volume this late in the year.

[Dragonslayer]

Yeah time to look over old posts and I love bird photography as much as Dragonflies, I love the finch shot here the snow falling is a real bonus here and is my favorite of the two mostly because of the hot colors of the bird with the cool effect of the snow. The nuthatch is a great shot and a bird I have no images of todate. Just doesn't pop the same as the finch though :)

[Big_B]

Wonderful shots. They really give me a sense of winter and I feel cold just looking at them!

[foxbat]

A deserving bump. These images are great.

[guitarman3]

Yes, a very deserving bump. I missed these the first time around. What superb photos. Can't think of any way to improve on them. Jay, do you find the 400 plenty of reach for these types of shots in general or is your 500 used more often? I.e, which gets more use for your bird/nature photography?

[HJMinard]

Yes, a very deserving bump. I missed these the first time around. What superb photos. Can't think of any way to improve on them. Jay, do you find the 400 plenty of reach for these types of shots in general or is your 500 used more often? I.e, which gets more use for your bird/nature photography?

Thanks for the kind words, Dennis. Yes, I find the 400 to be plenty long for controlled situations like this (a feeder + natural branches setup in my backyard). I'd certainly like a longer prime lens, but it's not financially prudent at this time :) .

I don't have a 500 ... that Sigma in my signature is a flash :). Sorry for any confusion ;)

[ScotlandPictured]

just exceptional