Eastern Chipmunk
With the loss of leaves in the trees we may have quite a bit of dappled light, and that is not always desirable for making a good photo. But if we keep our eyes open, we might be able to use it to our advantage. The light in the fall can be just gorgeous and if a spotlight hits our subject in the picture just right, it adds some drama even to a simple gesture of a bird or critter. Exposing for the highlights is mostly the key for success if we don’t want to blow any colors out. If the part of the animal that is in the shade is a little too dark, we can bring back the shadows in post process easily to overcome the high contrast situation.
During the last couple days I spent some time in our front yard, using the morning light or the still intense power of the sun during the early evening. Four examples are shown today that hopefully underline my approach.
One of our Eastern Chipmunks stopped briefly to check the surroundings for any danger while digging between the leaves for food. I had followed the critter with the lens for a while already and was hoping for a moment like this.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
We still have a few Yellow-rumped Warblers around here, who may have migrated from up north. One of the birds rested briefly on a twig in a Forsythia bush and the light falling through the trees hit the front side of the warbler just right. A little underexposure helped to keep the bright parts of the bird intact, while the shadows on the backside where lifted in post process slightly.
American Goldfinch
The American Goldfinches are pretty much done with their second molt of the year and it is almost complete. Only parts of the males remain still in a bright yellow. You can see that both finches are covered in dappled light. Well, the eyes are clear, have even a catch light from the sun, and the yellow feathers are in great light and this all makes for good storytelling about the season, at least in my books.
American Robin
Very seldom do I post a picture of a bird at a feeder or on the bird bath but I couldn’t resist to make the click of this male American Robin in wonderful Sunday Morning light. Yes, the sun puts some light onto the bird, but it is the reflection from the water and the bowl that holds it that make the colors of this robin just look like at ”mating time in spring”. The exposure was set for the throat of the American Robin but it also rendered the bowl a little too bright, which was an easy fix in post process.
I hope today’s blog post gives the photographers among you some hints for your own fall bird photography and anybody else gets a kick out of the photos as well.
All photos: Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S