I have several bird photos today, including three of mockingbirds under three different sets of conditions. This first mockingbird was photographed sitting on my neighbor’s light pole at 10:23 AM, when it was bright and sunny. The camera was on manual and I forgot to check settings, so the photo came out darker than it should have. I brightened it in post-processing but it would have been better if I’d had the settings correct to begin with. Settings were f/8, 1/2500, ISO 400.
The next mockingbird was sitting on top of the flag pole out front, and I took the photo through the window at 11:30 AM. The overhead sun and a hazy glare on the window were the problems here. Settings were f/7.1, 1/320, ISO 400.
And the third mockingbird was on the neighbor’s light pole like the first one (that light pole is a favorite perch for mockingbirds) at 7:35 PM. At this point the sun was going down and the light was decreasing quickly. Settings were f/5.6, 1/100, ISO 400.
I noticed that ISO was 400 on all three photos. I had the ISO set on auto, and the camera chose 400 for three different sets of conditions. I’m going to take it off auto and set it myself tomorrow, and see how that goes.
Here’s the top of the big pine tree in the sun at around 10:30 this morning: green tree, blue sky, white clouds. Settings were f/7.1, 1/1250, ISO 400 again.
I saw a little House Sparrow on the side of the trunk of the pine tree. Settings were f/7.1, 1/640, ISO 400.
While I was outside around 7:30 this evening some Cattle Egrets flew by and I tried a few shots. I brightened this one in post-processing and it’s better than most of my attempts at the Cattle Egrets. Settings were f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 400. Yes, tomorrow I’m going to take some photos with an ISO of something other than 400.
