Sparrow, Female RWB, and a colorful Grackle

3 more from today.

This was one of the 3 (or 2?) female RWBs that I saw today, getting a lot of attention from about 30 males in the area.

Really good shots, Scott. I especially like the colors of the grackle.

Great shot of the female RWB, It looks like she is doing some singing herself. I think the second is a Song Sparrow with great light, detail and wonderful background. I like the Grackle and in the right light they do have some nice irredescence,,,again a very nice background.

Another awesome captures. I agree on the song sparrow. Love the colors of the grackle.

All with the 500?

Great shots Scottes, don't think I would recognize a female RWB until now, sure looks like the song sparrows I submitted for id earlier, I take it that is the Common Grackle.

Thanks for the comments, and confirmation of the song sparrow.

Gary, I like grackles too - in the right light when they show their colors. In shadows they seem very crow-like to me, and boring.

Reewik, yes, these were with the 500mm + a 1.4 TC. The first two had some fill flash with the 550EX + Better Beamer.

Dennis, the size is a giveaway (they're a bit bigger than song sparrows) but I know that's difficult to tell without reference in a pic. The orange-ish patch under the beak is also a giveaway, and if you ever saw their back - http://www.itsanadvent​ure.com/postimages/RWB​_51455.jpg - their rufous stripes are also a key. And yes, that's a Common Grackle - I always wonder about this name, because I don't think there's a Uncommon Grackle, or any other type of Grackle...

Ooops, I take that back - Sibley's also lists a Boat-Tailed Grackle and a Great-Tailed Grackle.

Superb shots!

Great shots,really like the deep blue background in the second shot.

Dan

30 guys for 2 girls eh?
wow,aren`t they lucky?
Great sharpness (again) and that bokeh is...oh,milky.
Excellence Scotees,pure excellence.
I don`t expect anything less from you.

The Grackle shot is very nice considering the way you captured it, it has a very metallic look to it.

Nice trio of shots here.

Scottes wrote:
Thanks for the comments, and confirmation of the song sparrow.

Gary, I like grackles too - in the right light when they show their colors. In shadows they seem very crow-like to me, and boring.

Reewik, yes, these were with the 500mm + a 1.4 TC. The first two had some fill flash with the 550EX + Better Beamer.

Dennis, the size is a giveaway (they're a bit bigger than song sparrows) but I know that's difficult to tell without reference in a pic. The orange-ish patch under the beak is also a giveaway, and if you ever saw their back - http://www.itsanadvent​ure.com/postimages/RWB​_51455.jpg - their rufous stripes are also a key. And yes, that's a Common Grackle - I always wonder about this name, because I don't think there's a Uncommon Grackle, or any other type of Grackle...

Ooops, I take that back - Sibley's also lists a Boat-Tailed Grackle and a Great-Tailed Grackle.

I did post the boat tailed grackle from here. I have had poor luck using the external flash and better beamer, can suggest a thread or site that would help me figure out the setting. Right now I use Tv mode, set the camera for max flash synch (1/250), I get either too dark (when it is bright out) or too light (when it is cloudy).

Very nice and I never knew what a female RWB looked like till now.:o

Thanks for the comments. I'm glad you like them.

Dmitri, thank you very much for the kind words.


Dennis, I found the answer to better Better Beamer performance here:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=157763
As well as some tips from CDS and Liquidstone:
https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=1357429&p​ostcount=9
https://photography-on-the.net …hp?p=1370542&po​stcount=20

In a nutshell...
--- Look for a brighter background
--- Set FEC to -1.33 to start
--- Make sure the flash is set to 50mm per BB instructions
--- Make sure the BB is aimed up properly
--- Use Av mode
--- Stay at or below below sync speed (There's a custom function for that somewhere)
--- Adjust the exposure of the background with EC, subject with FEC
--- If the background gets *too* dark or bright change the ISO accordingly
--- Use center-weighted metering mode

All of these changes are kinda done "on the fly" by chimping the histogram and checking each shot's aperture and shutter. As the light changed I adjusted ISO to suit, trying to keep the shutter at 1/250 and aperture at about f/11 (I had the TC on, so one stop below wide open). Chimp to check the aperture and shutter! Even though you're in Av mode the camera will adjust the aperture to keep the shutter below sync speed, so do not expect the aperture to stay locked at what you chose. (Edit: This is apparently because I enabled Safety Shift which is one of the Custom Functions available on the 10D/20D/30D but not the 300D/350D.) When the background was dark I'd bump the EC up, if bright then EC down. If the subject was too dark the FEC up, if bright then FEC down. If the shutter got too slow I'd bump the ISO up.


I have to admit that this is really all I've tried so far, but it seems to work. I'd like to play with Manual Mode for a day and see how that works, but the above worked for me. Last week I took the 500mm + 1.4 TC + 550EX + Better Beamer and set it up on my porch and got this shot of an American Goldfinch near my feeder: