This is a bit of a follow-up to
a discussion in the Equipment & Technique forum. I was fortunate today to find one of the Northern Shrikes at Sam Smith Park in a fairly cooperative mood. (He seemed to be actively hunting rather than parked in the highest treetop.) I took a couple of shots before thinking that with the bright sunshine & clear blue sky, I ought to put on a polarizer. The vantage point on these two shots isn't identical, but it's pretty close.
Here's without a polarizer:
and with a polarizer:
A disadvantage of polarizers is that they reduce the amount of light getting through the lens and to the sensor. Normally that means a slower shutter speed, but in this situation, I had to overexposed the unpolarized shot 1-1/3 stops. In the second shot, the polarizer darkened the sky enough that I shot with no compensation. Result: both shots at F8 with the polarized version at a slightly
faster shutter speed.
Here's another shot of the same bird in a different tree, again with the polarizer:
Aside for the shrikes, the park was very quiet.
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