winter cardinal
Mar, 2015Views
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Zenith Award
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Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in my backyard in Indiana. I have a large pine tree that many cardinals call home.Time
This photo was taken on February 26, 2015 around 4:00 pm. It was a cold winter day. In fact, it had been a very cold winter. The kind that makes your eyes water and freeze to your eyelashes. I was aching to get out and take some photos with my new camera that I had received as a gift.Lighting
I just used the great outdoors for lighting. It was a bright winter day with snow on the ground, and the sun shining high which made for a beautiful,bright scenery. There's nothing like nature's lighting.Equipment
This photo was shot on a Canon EOS Rebel T5 with a 55-250mm f/4-5.6 lens. No other equipment was used.Inspiration
Nature inspires me. With the blistering winter it was hard to get out there, and even harder to find. Hearing these cardinals singing their beautiful songs lured me to them. This particular one stayed right where she was, as if posing for the photo. I think having something in common helped with that. We were both ready for spring.Editing
I just used basic editing. I cropped to bring this beautiful bird to the forefront and brought the colors out a little more with saturation.In my camera bag
For now I just have my Canon EOS Rebel T5 kit that I received as a gift. It includes the EF-S 18-55mm lens, the EF-S 55-250mm lens, and I have an EF-S 10-18mm wide angle lens. I also carry a Promaster XC522 tripod. It is a great piece of equipment for me. I have arthritis and have had shoulder surgery, so it's lightweight (less than 2lbs) makes it easy to carry around. Plus it's small and compact. It also has a built in monopod for added versatility.Feedback
Photography is my hobby, and I am a self taught, very amateur photographer. So my biggest piece of advice is, time and patience. Birds don't sit still and pose for photos, so you have to be patient. You have to be the one sitting still, and waiting to capture the moment. It's easy to make a bird feel threatened, and when threatened they fly away and don't look back. So shooting at a distance is better. When you finally get what you were waiting for, don't just take one photo. Taking several photos of the same thing definitely gives you more opportunities of getting that perfect shot.
