The Yellow-faced Grassquit (Tiaris olivaceus) is a small, vibrant bird known for its bright yellow face and olive-green plumage. This particular image was taken in San Pablo de Borbur, Boyacá, Colombia, a region filled with rich biodiversity and stunning natural beauty. The bird is captured mid-song, its vivid yellow markings standing out against the green vegetation, creating a striking contrast that draws the eye directly to the subject.
Technically, this image presented some challenges. The Yellow-faced Grassquit is quick and active, making it difficult to frame and focus. To overcome this, I used my Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 lens, paired with a 1.4x extender, resulting in an effective aperture of f/16. This combination allowed me to capture fine detail from a distance while maintaining sharpness in the bird’s delicate feathers. The exposure settings were 1/125 second at ISO 1600, which helped balance the natural light without introducing too much noise, even in such a fast-moving subject.
The 800mm lens and extender setup required a steady hand, and the Canon R5’s in-body image stabilization was essential for minimizing motion blur at such a slow shutter speed. Shooting at f/16 posed additional challenges in managing depth of field, but it also enhanced the separation between the bird and its background, keeping the focus squarely on the grassquit while softly blurring the surrounding greenery.
What I love most about this image is how it captures the vibrancy and energy of the Yellow-faced Grassquit in a single frame. The challenges of working with fast-moving subjects in natural light are always present in wildlife photography, but they make the final shot all the more rewarding.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
