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Pine Marten-
Pine Marten-

The log in this shot was at one of the bird feeders in the Sax-Zim Bog. Pine Martens, aka American Martens, frequently stopped by the feeding station to nab some peanut butter placed there to attract them. Smooth or crunchy one might ask? I didn’t get an answer but assume either would work. When not eating peanut butter, these guys feed on red squirrels, snowshoe hares and voles. They are a species of weasel, and it was a thrill to be able to photograph one. Many years ago, while in Canada shooting snowy owls, we traveled several hours to a park where Martens frequently raided the trash cans, and I suspect peanut butter as well. I saw one but was unable to get a clear shot. It disappeared into the trash can from the bottom and ran out the back side a few minutes later. Several Martens were spotted in the Bog, but this is the only one I saw. (Martes americana) (Sony a1, 400mm @ f/2.8, 1/2000 second, ISO 1600)

Nerd Alert: A note about the settings. I like shooting wide open to render the background out of focus and draw attention to the subject. Some people like the eyes sharp and everything else soft. I like the entire animal to be sharp which sometimes causes me to stop down to as much as f/11, depending on the subject and how close I am to it. The closer one is, the shallower the depth of field and hence the more the lens must be stopped down. I was far enough away from the log in this case that I chose f/2.8, which worked out. I wanted to use a relatively fast shutter speed, expecting some quick movements from the Marten and chose 1/2000, relatively fast for a mammal. F/16 was what I needed with those settings to get a good exposure. The sensors we have now allow a lot of flexibility in that regard but it’s nice to get it right in the camera. I’m of the school that exposing to the right (the apparent majority position) is often a mistake. In a scene like this, with no bright whites, it would have been fine. But had I exposed to the right and had the Marten exposed his pearly whites, they might have been blown. I’m happy leaving some space on the right to protect the highlights and dealing with the noise in post. I use Topaz.

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Taken on: February 3, 2024
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Camera: Sony ILCE-1, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec, 400mm, ISO 1600 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Sony ILCE-1
Lens: FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 0.001 sec (1/2000)
Focal Length: 400mm
ISO: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Manual
Light Source: Shade
Contrast: Low
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.1 (Windows)
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