Good things come to those who wait patiently

Recently Mike talked about finding a spot to let the birds come to him, rather than trying to find the bird and then “sneaking up” on it to take a photo. This is an example of that. I had previously noted this bird, a Green-tailed Towhee, coming to small water source. He was fairly predictable in his timing. I sat, selected the best sun angle (it was shortly after dawn) and this bird cooperated and jumped up on this rock posing. Not long-the sound of the camera bugged him and he quickly jumped down near the water to drink and bath. For me, the key to this type of shooting is patience, making sure you have the best settings possible for the situation, picking out the best background possible (not much to chose from in this location) and then pressing the shutter when all is right. Granted, not everyone likes this “field guide” type pose and picture, but I love to draw attention to the bird itself-I personally think the beauty of the bird is most apparent in this type of shot. Shot with a Canon R5, 100-500 mm lens + 1.4 extender at a length of 661 mm, F/10 (wide open for this set up), ISO 2000. DXO Pure Raw, PS (cropped moderately from bottom and left), Topaz DeNoise AI.