Shooting Finches from the Couch
I've mentioned the remote shooting capabilities of my new camera before. Essentially, there's an iPhone app that allows me to see what's in the frame, adapt several settings from the iPhone (ISO, shutter speed, focus behavior), and activate the shutter.
I've been plotting for weeks to stake out the Goldfinches at the thistle feeder, and I finally managed it this morning. I set the camera a few feet from the feeder, got the feeder in frame, focused manually on the feeder itself, and went back in the house.
It took the finches about fifteen minutes to feel safe enough to return to the feeder, and by that time, I had my coffee and was sitting on the couch, watching the feeder on the phone.
There's a bit of delay between triggering the shutter from the phone and the actual snap at the camera, but by taking lots of exposures ( about ninety over the course of a few minutes), I was able to get a handful that were really nice.
The shutter on the 6D isn't at all loud, but I think all the clicking did occasionally cause the birds to look over quizzically, because there are more than a few shots in which at least one bird has cocked a head at the funny box.
I'm also very much enjoying the full frame sensor on this camera. For remote shooting, it allowed me to keep the whole feeder and a good margin in frame, and then I could crop very aggressively—as I did below—while still keeping great clarity and detail.