Trogon Photo Tours

August 2019 - This month's newsletter focuses on backgrounds for photos.  During a recent family trip to Oregon to visit relatives I did some bird photography and I ended up thinking about backgrounds for bird images a lot so that is the topic of this month's photography article. 

Clark's Grebes photographed at Klamath Falls, Oregon June 2019. Canon 5D4, 100-400 at 400, 1/320 F6.3, iso 1250, Av mode, evaluative metering -0.3, handheld.  I was hoping to be able to photograph some Western and Clark's Grebes with babies on their backs but at this point in early June I didn't see any chicks.  It turned out the best photo opportunity was across the road from Putnam Point where the trees and hills were making some fantastic reflections in the water.  This first afternoon I didn't have my large lens with me and the birds were a long way off but the water colors made up for it.  Kind of hard to appreciate at this small size but I may put this one on my wall.  I tried until it was quite dark and then decided to go back the next afternoon with my 500F4.

Clark's Grebe from Klamath Falls, Oregon June 2019.  Canon 5D4 500F4 1/800 at F5.6, iso 1250, Av mode, evaluative metering -1.0, handheld.  I did manage to get a couple of grebes a little bit closer the next afternoon but the colors were not as dramatic as the previous evening and the birds were not quite in the right spot so I prefer the first image to this one.

Song Sparrow photographed at Yaquina Head Natural Area, Oregon, June 2019.  Canon 5D4 100-400 at 400mm 1/2000 F6.3, iso 800, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0.  The Yaquina Head Natural Area is a good location for photographing nesting Murres and Cormorants, the birds are generally a little bit far out but it's possible to get some good flight and group shots there.  But it turned some of my best images from the 2 mornings I spent there were of sparrows.  I came upon this Song Sparrow singing, the background is a rock face a long way off.  

Song Sparrow photographed at Yaquina Head Natural Area, Oregon.  Canon 5D4 100-400 at 400mm 1/2500 F6.3, iso 800, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0.  While I liked the previous image I saw that by moving a few feet to my right I would be able to get a green forested area in the background instead of the brown rock face.  This is something to remember whenever you are using a telephoto lens, that by moving just a bit you can often get a dramatically different background.  I guess some people would prefer removing the out of focus tops of the trees in the lower right of each image but they don't bother me.

Song Sparrow photographed June 2019 at Yaquina Head.  Canon 5D4 100-400 at 400mm 1/2000 F6.3, iso 800, handheld.  This I think is the worst of the 3 images due to the head of the bird being at the horizon line of the sky and forest backgrounds and the out of focus large tree top on the left.  In the previous image with the nice green background the Song Sparrow didn't go into full song facing me, he turned his back a bit to me so to try and get him facing me more I moved but in doing so I lost the nice background of the previous shot. 

White-crowned Sparrow photographed at Yaquina Head Natural Area, Oregon June 2019 by Nate Chappell.  Canon 5D4 100-400 at 400mm 1/2000 F6.3, iso 800, manual mode, handled.  This White-crowned Sparrow looked to be collecting bugs to feed its babies.  I fired off a lot of shots when it landed on top of this perch and was happy to catch it with its wings out on this one.  This is one of the reasons I almost always shoot in bursts and take a lot of images because if I was just taking a couple of shots I would have missed the action with the wings out.  It's also the reason I try to keep my shutter speed up fairly high unless there is just not much light.  I didn't have much choice on the background here because if I moved much the bird would have been obscured or I would have ruined my sun angle (having the light at my back).  I really like the pine cone on the perch in this one. 

Yellow-headed Blackbird photographed June 2019 on Greenhouse Lane, Burns, Oregon.  Canon 5D4 500F4 1/2500 F5.6, iso 1250, Av mode, evaluative metering +0.3, handheld.  We had only one night in the Malheur area and the most productive area I found in the short time there was on Greenhouse Lane.  There were a lot of Yellow-headed Blackbirds in the area and some were displaying in flight such as this guy so I focused on them.  While the plain blue sky isn't a great background, it's not a bad one and I liked the pose on this shot. 

Yellow-headed Blackbird photographed June 2019 on Greenhouse Lane, Burns, Oregon.  Canon 5D4 500F4, iso 1250, 1/2000 F5.6, Av mode, evaluative metering +0.3, handheld.  While I liked the pose better in the previous shot I think the background is much better here as it complements the bird.  I had to darken the image a touch as the metering was more set for the sky. 

Royal Tern photographed October 2012 at the Rockport Beach Park, TX.  Canon 7D 500F4 1.4x 1/2000 F8, iso 400, Av mode, evaluative metering at -0.3, handheld.  Your angle makes a big difference with the background as well.  I was fairly low here but not sitting or lying on my stomach, it's not a bad shot but contrast it with the next one.  

Royal Tern photographed April 2014 at San Luis Pass County Park, TX.  Canon 5D3 500F4 1.4x 1/2000 F8, iso 800, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0.  For this shot I was lying on my stomach so the background is completely blurred out.  Notice the settings are pretty much the same for the 2 shots.  While the lighting is also better here, the big difference is the angle with me being on my stomach for this shot and just squatting down for the previous one.   The more you can get on the same angle as the bird, the better background you will generally get. 

In conclusion always be aware of your background when you are photographing birds and wildlife, moving just a bit with a telephoto lens can often make a big difference.  Generally a lower angle will produce a better background.  I didn't discuss it with the images here but a lower F stop will produce less depth of field and therefore a more blurred background and generally a better background.  But it's a trade off as you also want to get most of the bird sharp, so depending on the lens I often shoot about 1 stop down from wide open.  With the Canon 100-400 I am most often at 6.3, just 1/3 of a stop down from wide open.