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Starling and Sparrow
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Starling and Sparrow



behind the lens badge
cameraCanon EOS 7D Mark II

settings Aperture f/5.6 ISO 2500 Shutter 1/1250 Focal Length 340/1 

upload_dateJan, 2019

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1400

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3 Comments |
keepclicking
 
keepclicking March 21, 2019
Brilliant capture. Love it.
831John
 
831John March 21, 2019
Beautiful, this could be in a competition for. The best caption!!
JenRaymond PRO+
 
JenRaymond November 23, 2020
So perfect!

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Tags

#bird #animal #beak
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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photograph in my front garden in a village in rural England.

Time

It was taken on a snowy winter's day, from the comfort of my living room.

Lighting

The sun was on my right and low in the sky creating a lovely side light. I had my lens hood shading the front of the lens to try to avoid glare.

Equipment

I had the camera supported on a stool, locked down onto a Platypod . The lens was my 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM on my Canon 7d mk ii. No flash was used.

Inspiration

I was watching the birds squabbling over the seed I had put out on the bird table and noticed that they perched on the end of the branch before heading for the table. I thought the moss hanging on the branch made an attractive scene so waited for the action to happen. At first there were just sparrows about, but then the starling joined in. I loved this particular shot due to the expression of the starling looking down on the smaller bird. It wasn't until I viewed the photo on the computer that I noticed the larger bird was pinning the smaller one down by the foot.

Editing

I did basic processing in Lightoom, and a small about of cropping.

In my camera bag

I normally have my Canon 7d mk ii and 5D mk iii in my bag. The 100-400mm lens is my most used lens for wildlife with the addition of an 1.4x extender when required. My platypod comes everywhere with me and I use it when I can to stabilize the setup. Spare batteries, cards and snacks to avoid diabetic hypos when out and about are popped into spare corners.

Feedback

Before shooting through double glazed glass I made sure the window was as clean as possible both inside and out. I positioned the lens as close as possible to the glass, with the lens hood almost touching to reduce any reflections from items inside the house. I also turned off the room lights and drew the curtains at the other end of the room. I wore dark clothes, to again reduce reflections and also to avoid spooking the birds.

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