Spring singer
Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus), Lake Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 5, 2009, 2:22 pm, by Brian Hansen
Published: June 25, 2010
 Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus) by Brian Hansen
That’s where he found the Blue-winged Warbler shown above. It started singing while he was shooting a Black-throated Green Warbler. Recalling the first time he had seen a male Blue-winged in breeding plumage, and how striking its colors were, Hansen immediately switched gears to look for the bird.
After finding it, Hansen moved around quite a bit until he was able to compose a scene that was clear of distracting, wayward branches. When the bird threw its head back in song, he had his shot. He tells us that he used the widest possible aperture so the resulting narrow depth of field blurred the leaves and buds in the background.
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Equipment used
Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III, handheld
Lens: Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS with 1.4x extender, focal length 700mm
Settings: ISO 500, 1/1600, f/5.6, aperture priority, +1/3 exposure compensation with evaluative metering
Light: No flash
Format: RAW converted to JPEG
Adjustments: Cropped 70%. Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Camera Raw used for processing.
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Meet the photographer
OUT OF THE OFFICE: Brian Hansen, pictured here with his Canon camera, manages Toyota dealerships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He recently took a year off to photograph wildlife in Costa Rica, California, and Colorado as well as many of his home state’s best areas. He has been a Birder’s World subscriber and website member for two years.
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