Female cardinal

[darren]

The male cardinal always seems to get the spotlight, so here is a shot of the female cardinal. Not as showy, but still pretty.

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Yah, that is a bird feeder. She just would not go up on the branch.

- darren

 

[Papa Bear]

Question: did you intentionally let the back part of the bird fade out of focus, or were the conditions such that you could not increase the depth of field to get the tail into focus?

I kind of like the way the focus brings the face and neck into strong relief but I'm wondering what it would look like with the whole bird in focus.

Of course the cropping and the way the bird is looking back into the frame is just nice.

 

[kmorgan]

Another really nice shot! Cardinals are awesome. I remember growing up when they weren't around this far north. (At least that's how I remember it.)

Kevin

 

[darren]

Another really nice shot! Cardinals are awesome. I remember growing up when they weren't around this far north. (At least that's how I remember it.)

Kevin

That is a Northern Cardinal. My guide book says they range as far north as the Canadian Border. Just how old are you?!?!?!?!?!?

- darren

 

[darren]

Question: did you intentionally let the back part of the bird fade out of focus, or were the conditions such that you could not increase the depth of field to get the tail into focus?

It was fairly low light, so I shot it at ISO 800 at f 7.1, 1/80 sec. I would like to have had a little more depth of field but shooting a twitchy bird with a 400mm lens at 1/80 is about as good as it gets. I was lucky that the bird sat still for that single shot. I could have upped the ISO to 1600 and shot at f8 at teh same shutter speed and gotten a little more depth of field, but I would have had more noise. I would like to have had the whole bird in focus, but the light just didn't support it. Now if I had a 600mm lens...

- darren

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I think she is a beauty. I love the twist in her pose, she knows how to model. She is probably too smart and practical to opt for the branch. I would not change anything in the photo.

 

[Brambor]

I like it. Nice eye contact.

 

[kmorgan]

That is a Northern Cardinal. My guide book says they range as far north as the Canadian Border. Just how old are you?!?!?!?!?!?

- darren

I'm 48. I grew up on Long Island in the '60's and 70's. I don't remember seeing many (or any?) cardinals on the Island, at least in our yard in Suffolk County, back in the 60's. According to the information I could find here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/NORCAR/ and here: http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=80&articleID=1197 they moved into the northeast in the late 50's. So being scarce back then would have been the norm compared to their relative abundance these days.

Kevin