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Coy


Coy
Photo Information
Copyright: Lesley Mattuchio (Lesley) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 297 W: 13 N: 913] (2988)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-12-31
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EF100-400 IS
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/250 seconds
Details: (Fill) Flash: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2005-01-02 10:40
Viewed: 1936
Favorites: 2 [view]
Points: 34
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Another shot from the day with my duppa in the snow. There were 7 brilliant males flitting about the shrubs and it was difficult to know where to point my lens a few times with all the activity going on. The Northern Cardinals can be found living in small groups, but it isn't often when you feel like you are surrounded with blinding red on a winter's day.

There isn't a whole lot more I can say about Cardinals so I will write a little about fill flash and how I use it. I always have my speedlite on the camera, but I don't always use it. If my subject is in good natural light I don't use fill flash, but if the light is less than adequate I do. I use a flash extender called a Better Beamer. It is a device that attaches to the head of the speedlite and helps to extend the reach of the flash. The Better Beamer is used by the majority of professional wildlife photographers. For the Canon Speedlites you need to set the flash to High Speed Sync, this way you don't have to worry about using a shutter speed above your camera's flash/sync . You set the zoom distance on the flash to 50mm and then the exposure compensation to your desired amount. I usually use between -1 2/3 to -3. Fill flash can make all the difference if used properly.

I titled this image " Coy " because I thought this little man's pose looked like he was playing hard-to-get or coy.
bartove, carper, willie, rlortie, pompey, Fisher, milloup, marhowie, Leace, Levant has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
Better BeamerLesley 3 01-02 15:48
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Critiques [Translate]

Beautiful bird in a great composition. Splendid colors.

  • Great 
  • carper Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2192 W: 124 N: 2600] (8410)
  • [2005-01-02 12:52]

Wauw Lesley I like this one,
The soft red colours are subliem, the pof is great even as the dof. Yes this is a fantastic capture, fantastic shot

  • Great 
  • willie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1023 W: 61 N: 648] (2083)
  • [2005-01-02 13:05]

Amazing shot Lesley. The bird is very pretty. TFS

Another very good one from your beloved Cardinals. I always have a couple of them, year round, in my backyard. They have a special feeder for them (based on their weight).
Thanks a lot for your very interesting and informative note about how you use your fill flash. I really appreciate the effort.

  • Great 
  • pompey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 205 W: 4 N: 780] (2762)
  • [2005-01-02 14:22]

Great shot Lesley, the bird is really posing for you.
Lovely colours, good Depth of Field and great note as usual.
Well done!

  • Great 
  • Callie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1243 W: 106 N: 2606] (7501)
  • [2005-01-02 14:54]

You can dance with the guy who gives you the eye . . .
Mr Cardinal is beautiful no matter how you shoot and present him, Lesley! And coy he seems.
I had a flash extender, and sold it, I did not know how to use it, and it (read I) messed-up the exposure. Does the BB come with instructions on "how" to? Maybe you could drop the wed address, please?

  • Great 
  • japie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1814 W: 100 N: 1904] (5187)
  • [2005-01-02 15:16]

The image is great as usual, but I found your note very interesting. I have often wondered about getting a "Better Beemer" as I often shoot at long distances and would like to get more reach from the flash. I am definately going to explore this route, possibly having to learn a couple of new tricks as well.

Thanks for this note and the great image.

  • Great 
  • Fisher Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1540 W: 309 N: 2234] (8915)
  • [2005-01-02 15:22]

Excelent pose of the Northern Cardinal. Well done on the composition.

Mike

Now you've just managed to convince me that the females are prettier than the males, and then you bring on this.. ;-))
Another great capture with excellent colours, sharpness and DOF and bg nicely thrown oof. You do know how to nail these little guys ;-))

This is such a great shot! He is so charming even while playing coy. As far as I know we don't have cardinals here in the Pacific Northwest, at least I've never seen any. What stunning birds! Your note was great. Excellent shot, he looks like I could reach out and touch him.

Lesley, Very nice. I've also shot this bird numerous times as you may know. I have some similar shots with the head seemingly screwed on backwards with a hard look-back. It's amazing the flexibility they posess. Anyway, Happy New Year Lesley!

This time I've done it.... My camera is in the garbage :-)

Great shot stunning colors.
Well done.
TFS.

  • Great 
  • sixtl (0)
  • [2005-01-06 16:16]

Cudowna fotografia, niezwykle wdzieczny obiekt. Świetne kolory i kadr. Pozdrawiam

You cant be ,,just lucky,, because you've done it too many times ... a great emotional eye you posses !
Best regards,
Yoda

  • Great 
  • optic Gold Star Critiquer [C: 322 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2005-01-28 21:33]

Very nice cardinal and great photo, i missed one yesterday.. it was too fast for me ! nice composition great dof & pov,
very well done Lesley

Regards,

The Cardinal (what a nice name...) which is so sharp and so colourful. What I like, is that we can find these same colours in the soft background, great shot of this "kardinaalvink".

  • Great 
  • Levant (0)
  • [2006-12-31 0:15]

Great capture. Useful tips on the fill flash. Your work is first class.

Regards

Jeff

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