Carolina Chickadee hovering 8166 - a photo on Flickriver

            Carolina Chickadee hovering over field of snow. Better view at large size. No tricks involved here. Prefocus, use location with plenty of activity, try to time shots best you can considering how fast these little birds are. Use high quality lens and low iso to make crops higher quality. Try to work the light and the background. The best lighting for me has turned out to be about 10-20 minutes before sunset and then there is not enough light for in flight shots. Gives me something to work on and think about. I love the way the shadows and light play on the snow at that time of the day. Maybe i will try some scenic with multiple captures with a tilt/shift lens and then stitch them together. 
  This image has hit over 100 comments in a short period of time so I will include more details. At some of the local parks people regularly feed the squirrels and birds. When bad weather or snow comes in the birds may concentrate near the parking lot or more easily accessible feeding locations and this is a golden opportunity. There are so many more birds than normal and they are so hungry that they will literally feed out of your hand!  As far as timing the shots when the bird flies into the feeding location: This can often be a matter of confidence. If the bird unexpectedly flutters and hovers then of course shoot away, hopefully using a cable release or remote control. But normally as they fly in there is no advantage to taking more than a few pictures each time. If there is a tree overhead that they are using as a staging area that is a big advantage as more often they will have wide open wings above the landing zone, vs. coming in at the level of the landing area and then dipping down at the last second.

Taken on: February 19, 2010

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Carolina Chickadee

Parus carolinensis

eco-friendly

winter

snow

cold

healthy

ecology

gray

black

brown

white

single bird

bird

single main subject

beautiful

tranquil

bliss

freedom

health

landscape

environment safe

horizontal

movement

afternoon

Maryland

USA

foraging

hunger

hungry

prey

alert

survival expert

survival

tenacity

sharp focus

bird foraging

cute

seeds

seed

food

frigid

warmth

foraging for seeds

sustenance

nutrition

park

Harford county

NaturesFinest

bej

physis

miasbest

ubej

ABigFave

flickrvault

NGC

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Camera: Canon EOS 40D, f/5.0, 0.001 sec (1/1600) sec (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 40D
Aperture:	f/5.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1600)
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