Eastern Bluebird Male
Eastern Bluebird keeps watch while the female eats
Eastern Bluebird keeps watch while the female eats
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Apr, 2016Views
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Summer 2020
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Behind The Lens
Location
The Eastern Bluebird has been a regular visitor to my yard in Central Massachusetts for the past 20+ years. When I first moved here, my backyard was ground zero for bluebirds each fall. At times there were 100s of bluebirds flying through my backyard.Time
Early morning.Lighting
This picture was taken on a somewhat cloudy day. No flash, just ambient lighting.Equipment
Canon 7d mkii, 400mm, f/6.3, 1/800, iso 640. Camera mounted on Induro tripod with Induro gimball, pre-focused on tree stump, fired remotely with Pocket Wizard Plus IIs.Inspiration
When I first moved to my house, my backyard was ground zero for Eastern Bluebirds in the fall. I would watch as 100s of bluebirds would swarm through out the field in my backyard. Over the years, urban crawl has reduced the numbers to all but a few bluebirds each year. I wanted to document the Eastern Bluebird while they were still around. I wish I as into photographing birds 20 years ago so I could have captured the beauty of the swarm of bluebirds. I figured I better capture what I could while they were still around.Editing
I import the RAW photos into Lightroom and select the images that I want to keep. I export my keepers into Canon's DPP 4.0 and adjust my exposure, highlights, shadows, and export them into Photoshop for any cropping or image touch-ups.In my camera bag
Canon 7d mkii, Canon 1dx, Canon 300mm f/2.8, Canon 400 f/5.6, Canon 500mm f/4, Canon 18-55, and extenders. Also Vivitar 285HV flashes, Nikon SB-25 flashes, Pocket Wizard Plus II triggers, YongNuo YN-622C triggers, and RAM mounts. For Camera Trap photography, home-made Arduino-based DSLR camera trap, TRLcam trigger, and Pelican case for dslr and lens.Feedback
In the 20+ years I've lived here I've seen in my backyard: bobcat, moose, black bear, coyote, red fox, grey fox, deer, beaver, weasel, and fisher cats. I never had my camera with me. Now I take my camera everywhere I go. It is always in the backseat of my car, or on the back porch when I'm outside. I recently stared to get involved with camera trapping and have my DSLR mounted in a pelican case and attached to a PIR sensor to capture whatever moves through my backyard when I'm not around to watch. I've captured some pretty interesting wildlife that only is awake at night.
