The cedar waxwing is one of those birds that for whatever reason, has eluded me up to this point. While visiting the Cuyahoga National Park last weekend, however, I saw a whole flock of them. This guy grabbed a few quick berries before flying away. Note the red and yellow markings on the bird’s tail feathers.
Amazing shot! They are hard to capture. And they love their berries. I once witnessed a dozen of them on a single branch. The one on the left plucked a berry and put it in the beak of the one next to him. They passed this 1 berry all the way to the last one, who ate it. Then the one on the left repeated the pattern. I was on a birding walk and the scene was amazing. I’ll never forget it. Sometimes you’ll find one with a red tipped tail. This is rare. I’ve read it has something to do with what kind of fruit a juvenile eats that causes the red tip tail. If you ever spot a red tail tip, get the shot!
I’m on your one a day list and every day I’m astounded. Your captures are just amazing.
Is there any way you could post lens data? I always find myself wondering “how big a lens did he have to shoot that?”
Thanks Rick. Most of my close up shots of creatures are taken with my Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 lens. I couple that lens with a Nikon D300. I also carry a D700 with either my 70-200 or 17-35mm lens. This shot was with the former combo, at 400mm, handheld at ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600 of a second. The birds had been in a darker area so I was getting much slower shutter speeds, but then this guy flew to a branch with fairly strong backlighting. I evened the light out in Photoshop.
Thanks John, it was with my Nikon D300 with a 200-400mm lens at 400mm handheld. ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of second. There was some strong backlighting so I lightened the bird in Aperture using the shadows/highlights sliders. In Photoshop I add a tone curve and also run a set action before posting (basically just resizing and adding some sharpness).
Wow, this is a gorgeous shot. It looks like a painting! Also, today I’m playing catchup on the Photo of the Day, congratulations on the contest wins from earlier this month!!
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Amazing shot, Sean!l
Amazing shot! They are hard to capture. And they love their berries. I once witnessed a dozen of them on a single branch. The one on the left plucked a berry and put it in the beak of the one next to him. They passed this 1 berry all the way to the last one, who ate it. Then the one on the left repeated the pattern. I was on a birding walk and the scene was amazing. I’ll never forget it. Sometimes you’ll find one with a red tipped tail. This is rare. I’ve read it has something to do with what kind of fruit a juvenile eats that causes the red tip tail. If you ever spot a red tail tip, get the shot!
Now that I would like to see. And photograph.
I’m on your one a day list and every day I’m astounded. Your captures are just amazing.
Is there any way you could post lens data? I always find myself wondering “how big a lens did he have to shoot that?”
Thanks Rick. Most of my close up shots of creatures are taken with my Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 lens. I couple that lens with a Nikon D300. I also carry a D700 with either my 70-200 or 17-35mm lens. This shot was with the former combo, at 400mm, handheld at ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600 of a second. The birds had been in a darker area so I was getting much slower shutter speeds, but then this guy flew to a branch with fairly strong backlighting. I evened the light out in Photoshop.
Once again! GREAT SHOT!! WOW!
Beautiful shot. What were the camera settings and post processing?
Thanks John, it was with my Nikon D300 with a 200-400mm lens at 400mm handheld. ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of second. There was some strong backlighting so I lightened the bird in Aperture using the shadows/highlights sliders. In Photoshop I add a tone curve and also run a set action before posting (basically just resizing and adding some sharpness).
Wow, this is a gorgeous shot. It looks like a painting! Also, today I’m playing catchup on the Photo of the Day, congratulations on the contest wins from earlier this month!!
Unbelievable.