Backyard Birds

I've been spending the past few days focussing on getting images of backyard birds. They are very fun to work with and always provide some action. The first two Black-capped Chickadees were taken near a bird feeder, which the perches selected and then placed for the birds to land on. The first image is from this morning, with the temperature around 0 with the wind chill. It was so incredibly cold and windy that I could only stay outside for about 15 minutes before going back in.

I've been using these birds to practice with my new flash, a Canon 430EX 2, which I got for Christmas. It has allowed me to make pleasing images in dark and drabby light which I wouldn't even bother shooting in before. I love the look a little fill flash can give on cloudy or shady conditions, as in the chickadee shots.

The next two photos are of a resident Carolina Wren who lives in the edge of my woods. On nice mornings I can usually hear him singing in the backyard, and using a recording to this species can work great, even this time of year. I only have to play the song for a few seconds, and this bird will pop up hear and there and sing from his favorite perches. I've been able to add a good number of images for this species so far this month, and here are a few of my favorites.

Process Comparison

Below are two images that are from the same RAW file but the top one was processed on my old computer monitor and the second one was just done on my laptop. Which one looks more realistic color wise? The second version that I just did on the laptop seems much more redder that the older one does. I'm not sure if it has something to do with how my laptop is calibrated, but I would like to hear someones opinion on the two images.