Rain or Shine

Rain or shine, sparrows, finches, and juncos keep coming back for a free lunch at the feeder. It sleeted and then rained for most of the daylight hours.  The tops of the bird's heads were soaked, but the rest of their feathers were not.

Have been experimenting with flashgun lighting at our bird feeder on dark days such as this. The most effective indoor solution so far is to mount the flash on a lightstand and elevate it so that it's leaning out and pointing down from a transom window above the back door. Nasty shadows from direct flash can be mostly avoided by selecting only certain positions for photos such as the deck rail and left/right (not center) perches on the feeder.

Shooting with a flash darkens the background, adds a catchlight to the bird's eyes, adds sparkle to rain on the bird, and makes for a well-exposed photo. Setting the shutter for flash sync speed gives motion to rain in the immediate background.