I honestly had no idea what I was going to photograph today. I hadn’t planned anything out, and when I got off work the sky was cloudy, but not dramatic enough to produce a good photo. The light was bad for landscape photography, and no indoor subjects came readily to mind. I went home, hoping maybe the clouds would break enough for a good sunset.
Checking the weather, I spotted a bright red male cardinal on the tree in the front yard. The tree had yet too leaf out, and the bird was a bright contrast against the dark branches and the grey sky.
Birds are not easy to get near. Fortunately, I have a telephoto lens. I quickly switched lens on the camera. I put the camera into it’s intelligent auto setting, and used the auto-focus as well.
I first tried a few shots through the window. Not ideal, but I didn’t want to scare the bird by opening the door without getting at least one or two photos. He did jump when I went outside, but stayed in view. I framed him with some branches for the first few shots. I moved away and tried a different angle. Then I attempted to get even closer by using the camera’s internal zoom. By then, the cardinal had moved again, so he had some branches obscuring him.
Here’s my favorite photo of the cardinal. It was my third image of the day.
Photo #2: Cardinal in a Tree
Tech Details:
Equipment: Sony NEX-5R, 55-210mm telephoto lens, haze filter.
Image: 1/400 sec exposure, f/6.3, ISO-1600.
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