This is why I always have my smaller zoom lens with me in my pickup.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in
Two days ago while shooting mostly Yellow Warblers in the mountains and lamenting the fact that they almost never came in close or perched out in the open this one unexpectedly did both. He landed on a branch about 6′ out my pickup window and sang his little heart out. He was too close for me to fit all of him in frame and probably too close for me to even focus on so I reached over and grabbed my much smaller zoom lens and got quite a few nice shots of him singing. I liked this one best, despite the out of focus greenery in the foreground.
Typically I use my “baby lens” at least once on most photographic excursions. Without it I’d often be up that proverbial creek without a paddle.
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in
I also used it on this warbler the day before in the same location for a different but related reason. This bird was a little further away as he scurried around in the brush looking for food and then paused for a moment to pluck a tiny insect off of the shaded catkin next to his bill. In this situation I could probably have fit all of him in frame with my big lens when he wasn’t moving but that was almost never the case. When they’re moving so fast and so erratically you need some extra wiggle room in the frame to give you a better chance of not clipping any body parts.
Normally I wouldn’t even keep an image this cluttered with branches and leaves but I like this one for the behavior and I enjoy the peekaboo effect with his face and eye so well-lit.
Ok, lets look at the difference between my two setups in numbers. I have both lenses mounted on Canon 7D Mark II’s which have cropped sensors. With my 500mm and attached 1.4 teleconverter I’m shooting at an effective focal length of 1120mm but with the zoom lens (100-400mm) I’m shooting at a maximum of 640mm and I have the flexibility to zoom all the way down to 160mm.
1120mm fixed focal length versus 640mm to 160mm – that’s a lot of wiggle room with my smaller lens!
I realize that it isn’t practical for many bird photographers to carry two bulky lenses but for me it is and I wouldn’t be without my “baby lens”.
Ron
Note: Twice in this post I’ve referred to my 2014 Ford F-I50 as my”pickup” and not as my “truck”. Occasionally I’m asked why I prefer the former over the latter so I thought I’d finally explain. Growing up on the Montana farm we had both pickups and grain trucks so we had to distinguish between the two.
Once as a fairly young kid while I was helping my dad during harvest he climbed down off the combine he was driving and asked me to go get the truck so he could load it with wheat (or barley, can’t remember). Both the truck and one of the pickups were over a half-mile away so I hiked that distance through the soft “summer fallow” that was very difficult to walk in. But at that point I didn’t yet comprehend the difference between “truck” and “pickup” so I brought him the wrong vehicle.
In the meantime the combine had broken down and dad needed to return to the shop in order to get a part so he used the pickup I’d just retrieved and told me in disgust to “go get the real truck”. So I had to slog through that half mile of soft dirt again, grumbling all the way.
Believe me, I didn’t make that mistake again.
I always call a pick up, a pick up….trucks are bigger and heftier vehicles.
I really like the soft focus on the greenery…it doesn’t compete with the focus on the bird…a technique many artists use…I call these little guys “spirit lifters”…they always have lifted mine…even on cold, rainy mountains…
Agreed, they could cheer anyone up, any where. Thank you, Patty.
Snippets from your life AND a glorious little songster. Which makes for a perfect post.
And thank you hugely for the small patch of singing sunshine.
Glad you enjoyed it, EC. Thanks.
Beautiful birds. I wish they were around my neighborhood more. We get them sporadically due to Red Butte Creek behind us.
is bulk and wight
The one complaint I have about my camera gear is the weight and bulk. When I hike I take my 100-400 lens. my macro and my 24-70 in my backpack. I have to take time to change lens depending on what I am shooting. No wonder friends who are not photographers hate to hike with me!
April, I NEVER see Yellow Warblers in my neighborhood.
I don’t blame you, or your friends… 🙂 , that’s a lot of bulky gear to hike with.
sorry about the strange post my phone is doing strange things on my posts this morning. I think I will try turning it off and back on.
That Warbler looks like he may be the Pavarotti of birds. In the second photo he is clearly taking a deep bow after the aria.
Warblers, lenses, cameras, pickups and trucks, dad, harvest, and grumbles…. A lot of subjects for one post.
“A lot of subjects for one post”
You’re right, Lyle. Sometimes I get on a roll when I’m composing my posts. This time I knew I wasn’t going shooting this morning so I had the time to do go a little berserk with photo-geekiness and some of my memories. Besides, that “truck distinction” of mine comes up often enough that I wanted to explain.
Not feeling so hot today, so bright yellow songbirds are the perfect medicine. I especially like the second shot because of the dappled light effects. And the headstand. 🙂
I grew up hearing pickup truck or pickup to describe vehicles like your Ford. The outdoor ed school had both, although the pickup was more fun because the floorboard was rusted out and you could see road though it. My mom used to get so mad if anyone took me in the pickup — I think she was afraid I’d fall through.
Ha, one of the pickups I drove was like that, Marty. Not only did it have holes in the floorboard, it also had bucket seats – literally. There was no seat in the interior so I used an upside-down bucket. It was my first vehicle – dad bought it for me at auction for $37 when I was about 10 years old. I spent much more time working on it than I did driving it around the farm. But I learned a lot with that piece of junk and I’m sure that was dad’s intention when he bought it for me.
Hope you feel much better real soon!
To me a pickup and truck are also different types of vehicles. Love the pictures of the Yellow Warbler. Have a wonderful day.
Than maybe you have a farm or ranch background? Thanks, Trudy.
First image = the essence of JOY……..I can “hear” that gorgeous song, just by looking at this photo .
I’m glad you like it, Kris. Thanks.
Great photos as always and you were wise to keep the peekaboo photo – love it. Good to have close up photos of these Warblers to remind us of just how stunning their vibrant colors are. Your dad story reminds me of many such events in my youth where I got a disgusted look or remark from my dad for handing him the wrong wrench, fishing lure, or whatever else he had expected me to know and I didn’t. 🙂 I am sure all sons or daughters can relate to that.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Your “dad” story made me smile and brought back many similar memories, Everett. That’s how we learned as kids. My dad usually had a lot of patience with me but during harvest it could be a much different story…
Great story and lovely bird photos! I love the branches and the bird peeking through. I think that when they work, the photos with a lot of brambles and details are fantastic. And this one works!!
I think it does too, Joanne. And I also like his upside down pose.
I like the peek-a-boo photo because that is how I usually see them in the field – through the greenery and moving fast.
Understand mortgage the house, but recently purchase a photography course, the first lesson was it is not the camera, it is the person holding the camera that takes the picture. Ron you prove that everyday.
Thanks, Steven. I always laugh when someone sees an exceptional photo (mine or anyone else’s) and says to the photographer “Wow, you must have a great camera!”.
In my opinion three of the most important components of a great photo are the photographer, the lens and the camera, in that order of importance but the first one is far ahead of the other two.
These are eye-popping images. I am reluctant to change lenses in the field. This goes back to New Mexico when the cottonwoods were blooming and launching all those fluffy seeds. One found its way into my camera in between lenses!
I know what you mean, Ken – there’s that problem plus we often miss shots as we’re swapping lenses from camera to camera. I’m lucky in that I have each lens mounted on its own camera so I don’t have to swap them out.
Lovely photos. They are such a perky bird and photograph so well. That particular 100-400 lens is my ‘go-to’ lens so the extent I reach is not nearly what you can. My only hope is sitting and waiting and hoping birds venture in closer. But it has taught me patience; I’ve learned a lot about behavior because of it. Also I can get some pretty good almost ‘macro’ shots with it.
Kathy, that zoom is a nice little lens. Yes, you don’t have the reach you’d probably often like but then you didn’t have to mortgage the house just to purchase it!
I find that second photo positively in enchanting…
Good! Thanks, Alison.