20 April 2009

More Redwings

Not a good photo; I didn't manage to get the focal plane actually on, as distinct from near, our full-spring-plumage example Mr. Glowy Bird, here. But for a "what bird is that?" shot it's more than sufficient, it's what they more typically look like, and I like the overall sense of thicket. (Which I won't be able to get when it stops raining; things are leafing out.)
Mrs. Red-winged Blackbird is a better example of the focus-through-the-vegetation technique; there's less vegetation, the shot is from a tripod, and I've actually got her in the plane of focus, so we have feather detail rather than just colours burning against the sunlight.
The more I use the Rokinon 800mm/f8, the more I want a Pentax DA version, or at least some version with SMC coatings. This is an extremely useful bird lens, despite its considerable technical limitations.

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