Painted Redstart

"Been away so long I hardly know the place..."
                                               - Paul McCartney

So welcome back, dear readers. Sorry that it's been so long since the last post, but the vicissitudes of my day-to-day existence caught up to me and allowed no time to add to the blog. Nevertheless, I'll make every effort to be better and more regular with my posts in the future.

I've had requests for my most recent bird photographs from the Birmingham News, so I'm going to post the Painted redstart from last week now. I will freely admit this is not the best shot I've ever taken, but the problem is that these little guys move. Constantly.

(Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Tech data is as expected: Nikon D700 camera, 300mm/2.8 lens w/2X teleconverter. Shot at f/6.3 equivalent, from atop a Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod, and Arca-Swiss head, and using a Nikon SB-900 flash with a Gary Fong Origami diffuser.

Photographing wildlife is difficult to begin with: you're often dealing with tiny, easily frightened subjects who may be in semi-permanent motion. Add to that the fact that most wildlife is most active at dawn and dusk, and that many species have camouflaged plumage or coats, and that most individuals make every attempt to work from behind cover, while avoiding you, and you see the dilemma. Wildlife photography is HARD. And it's vastly under-appreciated. Take a photo of somebody's kid and the world reacts with awe and wonder. But you worked out location, time of day, lighting, wardrobe, hair, and told them where to stand and how to look. Yeah. Not saying it's easy, but try the same thing on a warbler. Not happening. When you see a great wildlife shot, you are seeing the combination of art, technology, zoology, a dollop of psychology...and a huge pile of good luck. One in a hundred critters will allow close-enough approach to get a "decent" photo, and only one in a hundred of those will be so cooperative as to allow a really satisfying shot. Live for those. Live for those.