Evening song
A bluethroat briefly sang its song just when the sun set. After 10 seconds or zo he flew off to another spot and that was when this beautiful moment passed....
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A bluethroat briefly sang its song just when the sun set. After 10 seconds or zo he flew off to another spot and that was when this beautiful moment passed.
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Apr, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo just north of Rotterdam (the Netherlands), at Ackerdijkse Plassen. I don't have a car, so I had to rely on my bike to get there in time before sunset.Time
I was just chillin' at the park with some friends when I noticed the changing sky. I raced home to get my camerabag and biked like crazy to this spot. When sunset completely set in, I was almost overwhelmed by its beauty. When the bluethroat started to sing from the top of the reed it totally made my day even though it was only a brief moment. I ditched my friends for that evening, but it was totally worth it.Lighting
I had to shoot directly into the sun. Fortunately there was a bit of a haze from clouds, and therefore I was able to get all the colors in the sky. Just before the bluethroat came to this spot, I was making a landscape photograph. Therefore, my f-value was still at f14. In this case it really works, I was close enough for a nice depth of field while maintaining sharpness. Because of the diaphragm, the shuttertime was pretty slow for bird photography: 1/500. Thankfully it was still fast enough.Equipment
This shot was taken with a canon 70D and a 70-300mm lens. The lens was equipped with a polariser filter, but no other equipment was used.Inspiration
I have seen photo's of bird silhouettes before. I always liked them, but often the photo's could be a little bit boring. From the moment I discovered this place, a photo like this was high on my wishlist. I deliberately did not zoom in completely in order to show the bluethroats' habitat. The reed, where it sings so often completely hidden, had to be in the photo. The extremely colorful background of the setting sun made it the perfect moment.Editing
Since I shoot in raw I post-process every photograph I want to publish. In this case, I only had to adjust the contrasts a bit, and to lighten up the shadows of the reed and the bluethroat. It was also necessary to do some noise-reduction because of the high iso-value. A small vignet finished the photo.In my camera bag
I don't have very much equipment, so usually I just take it all. There are three lenses in my bag: a kitlens (Canon 18-55mm), a wide-angle (Canon 10-18mm) and a telezoom (Canon 70-300mm). Since I love landscape photographs, I also take a filterset with me. This is a cheap plastic imitation of the Cokin P-series. I bought this set some time ago just to find out whether I like using filters. And since I like it, I will replace this set with some good quality glass. I always have a circular polarizing filter on my lenses. I really love the effect it creates and how easy it is to use without a big filterholder.Feedback
I can only say to just get out of that lazy chair (or in my case on the day I took this photo, to get of my towel). You have to put yourself on the right spot on the right time. Find out when which animal is active and explore the area to find a perfect spot. This way you can anticipate correctly when the circumstances become perfect for the shot you want to make.
