This black-capped rascal was one of the most exasperating birds I ever aimed my lens at.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Wilson’s Warbler is a species I rarely see so one year ago today in the mountains I worked hard at trying to get some decent photos of this presumed male as he gleaned insects from a fragrant sumac bush. Here we only see a portion of his distinctive black cap but it’s obviously there. In this shot I like his berry perch and the fact that he’s far enough away from the background leaves to put them out of focus so they don’t compete so much with the bird. That’s what bokeh is all about.
I worked my butt off on this bird but he seemed to be deliberately uncooperative, almost like he was teasing me. I photographed him exclusively for over 18 minutes but out of 760 shots I got only a handful I like and none of them were excellent (this one has been cropped significantly). He never once came in very close and he was nearly always at least partially buried in the leaves.
Another problem was the light angle and he seemed to deliberately be using it to stymie my attempts at decent shots. He was strongly side-lit so he had to be turned at a perfect angle to the sun in order to get light on his entire body and a catch light in his eye. On those few occasions when I had good light on his body he always kept his head turned at an angle that wouldn’t quite provide a catch light. And when I did get light in his eye much of his body was shaded or blocked by leaves.
But for an instant when this shot was taken he screwed up and gave me reasonably good light on his body and a catch light in his eye.
I’ll take it because it’s the best I got.
Ron
PS – Apologies to my blog subscribers. Last night while I was working on this post I once again clicked on the “Publish” button instead of the “Save Draft” button so emails with a link to the post went out to subscribers prematurely. At the time all I had in the post was the title, this photo and a single line of text so I had no choice but to disable the post.
I wish WordPress would make publishing a two step process so you had to click two buttons to get it done but until that happens I’ll probably continue to make the same mistake occasionally. It’s very easy to do. I suspect most subscribers knew it was a mistake when they received the email at such an unusual time of day for me.
You are naming all the nuances that go into getting a good shot of a bird, as well as the patience it takes. I am enjoying seeing this handsome fellow this morning. Thank you!
Beautiful little golden bird in an equally beautiful setting….
I’m glad you like it, Patty. Thank you.
Beautiful photo.
Thanks, Jean.
760 photos. I can see why it took you a year to sift through them all😉. Glad you did and posted this one.
You’re exactly right, Lyle. I never sorted through them all until last night!
Birds often seem to follow the ‘Do what you do do well’ mantra. And mess with our minds SUPREMELY well. I am impressed at your perserverance, and really enjoyed seeing the result that you felt ready to share.
Thanks, EC.
Third try was the charm– clicked thru OK just now, so please disregard comment before– just a fluke, I guess !
Glad it’s resolved.
Hi Ron–although your blog showed up this morning on my e-mail feed, my browser repeatedly failed to be able to connect on the content–I entered thru your www address, and had to find the
“comments” line to click on at the base of that page– is there a technical problem or is it just my server ( Safari ) ?
Kris, It’s working for me and no one else has reported a problem. It may be that you need to clear your cache? Or you could try rebooting. Other than that, I dunno…
They knoooowwwwww. 😉 He is a handsome fella, though.
Just call me Pavlov’s dog — I clicked away last night even though I knew what was going on. 😛 You’re just trying to keep us on our toes, right? 😉
“Just call me Pavlov’s dog”
Does that confirm my suspicion that you’re a drooler, Marty? 🙂
Sluuurrrppp! 😛
I’m with you. I think they deliberately stymie our attempts to adequately capture their intricate beauty (but you did, despite all 760 attempts). I think they hold their cards close to their breasts, reserving the whole of the magic to themselves. And therein lies the challenge for you 😉 If it were easy, everybody would be doing it. LOL!
As for the premature posting, mistakes happen. Look on the bright side–nobody died and you knew your mistake the moment you pushed the wrong button!
Yup, it could have been worse, Laura. Especially if I hadn’t noticed what I’d done.
Wilson’s Warblers can be a frustrating species. They are very elusive and don’t like being in the open very long. If I only have my binoculars, it seems like they often make short trips into the open, even sitting on an open perch in full sunlight for a moment. But bring out my camera…. They seem to tease me by always finding a leaf to hide behind. Of course I know it’s not real but it sure seems like they know what a camera is and do all they can to keep me from using it, and laughing at me all the while. Thanks for sharing a nice photo of a difficult photographic subject. Off to Portland shortyl to find out what we hope are good results from the oncologist.
Dan, I guess it’s a little comforting knowing I’m not the only one this species gives a bad time.
I wish you all the luck in the world with your oncology report!
I knew it was a mistake. Clicked anyway in case I could see something early. LOL! I really like this picture.
Thanks, Arwen.
Lovely little rascal even if he didn’t cooperate! 🙂 Love the setting with him parked on the berries and the contrast between him and the background. 🙂
Laughed at the early post since I was pretty sure what had happened. Had to check tho as “someone/something” hijacked my email account yesterday afternoon. Only way I knew was my provider was bouncing back a couple of hundred with bad addresses. THEN provider caught something going on and deleted my password – of course they didn’t tell me so had to call when the login wasn’t working………. 🙁 Got receive fixed and had to call back for send which involved changing some information in the computer……. I was NOT a happy camper since I have 3 devices that sync and…………
Deleting your password without informing you is very little short of criminal! I’d have been really pissed off!
Operator error, but never a problem Ron. “I worked my butt off on this bird but he seemed to be deliberately uncooperative, almost like he was teasing me.” We all know it is not logical, but it sure seems that way with photographing birds. For me the worst one is always the Belted Kingfisher. I have successfully sneaked up close enough for a great shot and I am now focusing in and then – whoosh – that sucker is gone and screaming back at me with that raucous laugh. But regardless Ron, your hard work and patience paid off for a pretty nice shot of this elusive guy.
Yup, kingfishers are charter members of that group of uncooperative species. Thanks, Everett.
Yup…I got one of those e-mails last p.m. Didn’t know what to think but surmised ‘operator error’. 😫 Back to the bird…looks like a perky one. Actually with the bright spot on his chest he looks like he just jumped into the sunshine. It is a nice pose and great photo. Looks like a bit of fungus on some of those berries. I have fragrant sumac in my yard but I’ve never gotten berries. I must not have both male and female counterparts.
Thanks, Kathy. Whenever you get one of those emails from me at anytime other than early morning you can nearly always assume operator error.
OH Man, this is a great shot! I can understand your frustration especially with this species! I’m lucky to have an instant look at one.
Thanks for the explanation, thought it was something I or my computer had done and was going to email you if I had had a problem today.
Dick, It’s so frustrating when I hit that button prematurely! It takes about 5 seconds to post but after you hit the button it’s too damned late so that 5 seconds seems like an eternity with what I call the “Oh no’s”. Then I have no choice but to disable the post.