Indigo Bunting Vertical, Passerina Cyanea, Dauphin Island, AL
©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com
Canon EOS 1DMKIII, 500mm F4 Lens with 2X II Tele-converter
ISO 400, F8, 1/500s Aperture priority (evaluative +1/3), Canon 580EXII Flash ETTL II -2+2/3
I love photographing birds perched in the shade against a sunlit background using flash.
Indigo Bunting Horizontal, Passerina Cyanea, Dauphin Island, AL
©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com
Canon EOS 1DMKIII, 500mm F4 Lens with 2X II Tele-converter
ISO 400, F8, 1/80s Aperture priority (evaluative +2/3), Canon 580EXII Flash ETTL II -2+2/3
Male Indigo Buntings are actually black; it is the diffraction of light through their feathers that make them appear many shades from turquoise to black. Using the pattern of stars nearest the North Star to guide them, Indigo Buntings migrate at night. In captivity, they will become disoriented if they can’t see the night stars in April/May and September/October.
Thinking back to Daulphin Island, Alabama, the southern hospitality shown by everyone we met was beyond kind. We met Mike Rogers on our first day there and he kindly showed us around Dauphin Island’s birding hot-spots, then took us to his gorgeous ocean-side resort home and cooked us an amazing crawfish, shrimp and crab dinner. Mike also introduced us to Terry Hartley and together they introduced us to Chris and Michele Steber who let us takeover their bird feeders and setup perches for Indigo Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks and a few other great birds. Thank you Chris & Michele, Mike and Terry. After our first morning, Mike and Terry took us to the home of John & Jennie Stowers who were hosting a marvelous lunch for the Alabama Ornithological Society – what a great way to meet many wonderful birding folks!. I had my first (and definitely not my last) bowl of Gumbo, WOW!
I would like to say that photographing these birds at feeders was easy, but it did require quite a bit of patience. I wasn’t until our third session (and after an amazing smoked turkey beast dinner that Chris and Michele had made) that we were able to produce useable, full-frame images. Leaving the blankets that we had been using as a blind blowing in the wind overnight proved to be the key to acclimatizing the birds to our close proximity. I love the effect of flash on a bird in the shade, against a sunlit background. In fact, while photographing migrant warblers, I’ll take the birds in the shade over harsh, or dappled, sunlight any day.