Creepers Don’t Pose

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Creepers Don’t Pose

The Brown Creeper is a tough bird to shoot.  Reasons: it’s almost always walking vertically up the trunk of a tree; it blends in well with the bark on many trees; it seems to always be moving; and it has to be in one of two specific positions on the trunk to get a good profile pose and hopefully at camera level, all while the background is preferrably uncluttered.  On top of this, the bird is almost always in the shade due to the fact it likes tree trunks.  Unless you turn up your ISO or use a flash, the resulting shot will likely have motion blur because of the bird’s seemingly constant movement.  On this shot, I used a flash so I could at least keep my ISO low and my shutter speed at 1/250, and I shot from my car window.  1/250, f7.1, 400mm, ISO400, 0EV on camera and flash, EOS40D.  Taken at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in November 2009.

The Brown Creeper is a tough bird to shoot.  Reasons: it’s almost always walking vertically up the trunk of a tree; it blends in well with the bark on many trees; it seems to always be moving; and it has to be in one of two specific positions on the trunk to get a good profile pose and hopefully at camera level, all while the background is preferrably uncluttered.  On top of this, the bird is almost always in the shade due to the fact it likes tree trunks.  Unless you turn up your ISO or use a flash, the resulting shot will likely have motion blur because of the bird’s seemingly constant movement.  On this shot, I used a flash so I could at least keep my ISO low and my shutter speed at 1/250, and I shot from my car window.  1/250, f7.1, 400mm, ISO400, 0EV on camera and flash, EOS40D.  Taken at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in November 2009.

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