"If you can't be with the one you love . . . (bird pics added)

[mmeyer]

Those are fantastic Steve. I really love the blue jay!

Thanks for sharing!

[buzzsaw]

I guess I didn't realize that, Steve. I always thought you were using that 100-400 F/5.6 lens. So it sounds like you would compare it to any of the top or prime Canon lenses? I don't follow Canon like I do Nikon (naturally) so I'm not as tuned into what is their best glass... guess I always figured it was their f/2.8 and F/4 lenses though.

P.S. the gray tones in the WP images really compliment the black and white bird nicely!

[Steve Foss]

Thanks, buzz. For woodpeckers, and for quite a few other birds, I very much like a neutral gray (though not solid gray) BG. It sort of disappears from view easier than green or other colored BGs preferred by a lot of avian photogs, and of course with B&W colored birds like woodpeckers the red head marking really pops when everything else is black, white or gray. This BG is birch trunks with snow on them, which grays things out nicely on cloudy days.

As for the glass, the 400 f5.6L has two things going against it. It is slow (aperture wise) and it does not have IS. All the other Canon 300, 400, 500 and 600 primes range from f2.8 to f4 and do have IS.

On the other hand, the 400 f5.6L is the most affordable Canon L lens that gets you to 400mm (about $1,100 new), the IQ is just as good as the other Canon tele and supertele primes, and it only weighs three pounds. Unless I'm shooting birds in flight, the lens always has a sturdy monopod or tripod under it for stabilization. And with today's newest generation of DSLRs and their amazing noise performance, ramping up ISO to compensate for no IS and a slow aperture in low light situations is not a problem.

I shoot the older generation 20D/30D at iso1600 at will, and if the lens is sharp enough at capture (like this one is), little sharpening is required in pp, which keeps noise from being accentuated. Working on picking up a 50D, but every time I get close to amassing the jing, I hit a setback.

Oh well.

[buzzsaw]

Sweet explanation! I probably should pay more attention to Canon as I wear the Nikon blinders.

Keep shooting those birds with the nice soft BG's and you'll keep producing winners.

[Nymph]

That chickadee is great!

[Catmendo]

Beauties Steve! Chick-a-dee's are one of my all-time fav's!