20120103

Dunnock (Prunella modularis)

This little Dunnock (such a handsome, unassuming bird, I think) seemed to have found the perfect vantage point from which to search for insects, worms and seeds. Typically, however, he didn't hang about for very long and this was the only half decent shot I got. Indeed so fleeting was the opportunity that I didn't have time to expose the shot properly and was forced simply to hope for the best at 1/30th second at f/10. So much for a shutter speed no less than the focal length...

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/30th sec, f/10, 400mm at ISO 500. Distance to subject: c 4m

5 comments:

  1. Hi Tim,
    Enjoying your recent 'crop' ( pun intended!) of photo's. :-)

    I'm always interested to see what camera settings you used on each shot, how about putting the subjects distance from camera ( approx) ?

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  2. Hi Warren. It's a good idea; this Dunnock was, I think, about four metres away. But please don't take much notice of these camera settings – here, with time, I would have wanted to open up the aperture setting (for speed and to blur the unnecessary background detail further) and bump up the shutter speed to something much closer to 1/800th sec. Technically, this shot shouldn't really have worked.

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  3. You've captured the little orange legs perfectly.

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  4. Beautiful photo tim, many thanks for the advice I will try your tip when there is no danger of me drowning (horrendous wether today) regards,
    Bri "old git"

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  5. I agree Tim, these are very nice little birds, I love the orange coloured legs. You did great to get an image at that speed.

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