Flocks of Cedar Waxwings appear from nowhere in the fall and devour red berries, including this crabapple (?) tree by a suburban sidewalk. Light was good today for the first time in a week, with some clouds, and they are working their way toward the front of the tree where there is less cover.
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Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Is this a composite? No.
Canon R5, 100-500 + 2X, f/14 (wide open), ISO 3200, 1/100 sec. Sturdy tripod with Wimberley II head and dot sight. Topaz Denoise, camera raw filter after NR, but original exposure was good so I didnât need a lot of shadow recovery and probably could have done it in raw conversion. Some BG cloning (much of it partial opacity). Cropped to 55% of full frame.
If itâs this cloudy the next few days Iâll use the 600 f/4 + 2X and have f/8, but the Vello adapter I got is junk and I didnât find it out until after the 30-day return window from B&H. A real Canon one arrives in a week.
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Wonderful photo Diane. Love the soft background and also how the angle BKGD trees and the bird are parallel . . .but the thing that caught my eyes, is the limb the cedar waxing is perched on is going the opposite direction. . . . adds a bit of energy. At first I thought the berries were tiny tomatoes! Also looks like you captured its tongue in motion?? Very enjoyable and nicely done.
I like this, Diane. Excellent job showing the fine plumage detail in this bird. The composition and background are very good. Exposure looks fine to me. Whatâs a âdot sightâ ? Just curious. I used to have a camera lens combination that I found difficult to point accurately and I mounted a pistol sight to the hot shoe. Just wondering if this is something similar.
Itâs indispensable for getting on a flighty subject quickly.
@linda_mellor, they use their tongue to push the whole berry down their throat. I have some shots that show it well â Iâll dig one up an add it here. It must be a standard bird thing since they wouldnât be good at chewing.
Nice one Diane. The soft light and bg goes go with the soft texture of Waxwing. Nice pose also as bird looks about to gulp down the berry. The berry looks like a berry off a Mountain Ash tree.
Thanks guys! @David_Leroy , when I first spotted the tree full of berries two winters ago, I thought the same (I love mountain ash!) but then found some leaves, which are more like âstandard-issueâ leaves. Several people have suggested crabapple.
