House Wren
Earlier this week it became clear that our House Wrens will finish the incubation of their eggs pretty soon and yesterday I finally saw the male deliver tiny insects and caterpillars to the nest. I study the wrens since many years and always get excited when they start feeding their offspring in one of our nest boxes.
The question that I ask myself is, what can be improved in my photography after all these years of aiming the lens at the little House Wrens? The biggest goal is to get closer with the camera without disturbing the birds. Since I shoot with the full frame sensor on the Nikon D750 I have to get a lot closer than with the old Nikon D300s, which has only a half size sensor. The reward is an image that can be printed much bigger with more detail. Finding better spots where to place the tripod without putting stress on the birds is key. Knowing their biology and behavior helps to understand when it is time to back off or stay away.
Looking at my older pictures I realized that many shots were made with the wrens sitting on a perch, which is usually dead wood. So another goal I set for myself is creating more photos with the birds in natural vegetation, without that it distracts from the subject too much.
The snacks became bigger already today...
I love to shoot with an overcast. It beats the harsh sunlight we have here during the day quite often by far. The downside is, it requires a longer exposure while keeping the ISO in the basement and obtaining a sharp image is a lot more difficult. Mastering 1/50 or 1/60 s with a 600 mm lens, even on a tripod, requires practice. As you can see, it doesn’t get boring with some goals for improvement in place , even with a tiny bird that I have photographed many times before…