Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 cropped — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — image data
Bush of Goldfinches
Lots of goldfinches at the feeders at my folks' place in Ohio. During the summer they're brilliant yellow (as seen in “Goldfinches on a Feeder” a few years ago), but they're less vibrant during the winter.
I didn't bring many lenses on this trip... I would have liked the 70-200, but I made do with the Voigtländer 125mm and some cropping. Good birding pics are very difficult and I certainly don't have the skill, but these are fine for me.
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 cropped — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — image data
Keeping an Eye on Me
The bush was just a staging ground for the feeders. They'd all cleared away when I stepped out, and were just now starting to return...
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 cropped — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — image data
Plenty of Free Parking
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 cropped — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — image data
Twenty Five
not as full as it was before, but still more than two dozen birds in this picture
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 cropped — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — image data
I Twitched
not quite as mean as this
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 cropped — 1/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 — image data
They'll Be Back
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Quite different to European goldfinches, which I have been trying to photograph here, along with other finches on the feeder. What is in these feeders — nyjer seed ?
We’ve always called it “thistle seed”, though it’s really niger seed. Mom sends her warmest regards… as do I! It’s been a while, Peter. —Jeffrey
These are seriously good images Jeff.
On the technical side, it looks like it wasn’t windy and birds weren’t on wing***, so you could have used more like ISO 500 and 1/250 handheld or ISO 100 and 1/50 on a tripod or with your elbows planted on a table. I don’t know what the snowflakes would look like at that point, but some motion blur on them might not be out of place; people’s expectation of snow is that its falling. You can also use second-curtain flash to give the snow a little motion-derived comet tail AND sharp definition, and simultaneously knock the ISO down another stop or so…
(*** and even if they were, motion blur can look v cool, as in: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200506934737400&set=a.10200506147717725.203213.1278661772&type=3&theater )
Thanks Frank. In this case I specifically wanted a faster shutter speed because I’ve done the blurry-wing thing before (such as these) and wanted to try something different, so I was in manual mode at the settings I wanted this time. The combo of the D4’s low-light prowess and Lightroom’s amazing noise reduction means that I don’t care much about the ISO up to about 6400. A flash would definitely step things up a notch, but I don’t have one with me at the moment, and even if I did, I have no confidence in how to use it so I’d leave it in the suitcase. /-: —Jeffrey