Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/05/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This weekend I made a quick trip (for family) to Brookings Oregon, on the Pacific coast just north of the California/Oregon border. While there I found a female Ruffed Grouse who was far more tolerant of a camo-clad photographer than I expected: http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/phasianidae/rugrou00.html The background was a bit difficult to work with because of the clutter of the leaf litter on the forest floor; also the grouse' preferred habitat is the dense understory of the Pacific Northwest's temperate rain forest, so getting a clear view of the bird meant getting really really close with an ultrawide-angle lens (100mm APO in this case). Now, about the background... I wanted a darker background behind the bird's head, which in this particular case was more distant. The best way to get the dark background was a very low camera angle, which meant on my belly in the rain forest with huge banana slugs nearby. technical stuff: R8/DMR, 100mm APO, slight crop, shoulder stock, heavy fog/light drizzle lighting. All comments welcome. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com