Scott Martin Photography

Happy New Year everyone and I trust you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season and are looking forward to 2021. Take some time to get outside, walk a local nature trail and enjoy God’s amazing creation, like Deb and I were able to do over the holidays. Yesterday we started off the New Year seeing this female Pine Grosbeak, a locally unusual bird. They are the largest of the Northern finches and as their name suggests they have a preference for pine trees. Although they move southward in the winter they rarely get as far south as Durham region where we saw this one.

Male Northern Cardinal from the Cranberry Marsh. In preparation for a new camera I am selling both my Canon camera bodies, a 5D Mark III and a 1Dx. These are two terrific cameras. If you are interested contact me for details.

A general ‘rule’ in taking video is to use a shutter speed that is twice the frame rate of the video. Most videos you see on the internet are 30 frames per second meaning that the ‘ideal’ shutter speed of the camera should be 1/60 sec as is the case with this clip. The slower shutter speed creates a smoother flow or more cinematic effect. The last video I posted was taken at a shutter speed of 1/200 sec which makes the movement of the feathers seem too quick or choppy as compared to the clip in this post. This clip was also formatted in a portrait orientation which should look better on mobile phones (where most of us check Facebook :)). So here is a video of a Barred Owl which should be more pleasing than the last one.

It's not often I take video, and probably shouldnt have taken this one without a tripod, however this Barred Owl was quite active, it was windy and too dark to take a good photograph. Taken with a Canon 5D III and 100-400 zoom lens.

After the first good snowfall of the season it was time to get out and find a nice perch for some Christmas card shots. Happily Chickadees, Juncos, Nuthatches, Cardinals and this Blue Jay stopped by and posed. Taken Monday morning before the snow melted.

Yesterday afternoon it was great to see a Barred Owl for the first time this fall. It was late in the day which made getting a decent shot a challenge. This was taken handheld, 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000 at 360mm.

In keeping with the Chickadee theme, here is another only with a brighter background.

The Black Capped Chickadee is the most widely distributed bird species in Canada and one of the most common with an estimated Canadian population of over 22 million. Their white nape and upper chest make them difficult to expose properly and care must be taken not to overexpose the whites. #chickadee