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I shot this today with the following settings

ISO 400  Exposure 1/320 sec and a fstop of 5.6

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My New Avatar is in memory of Nancy my darling wife of 10 years who passed away on Monday November the 16th 2009 after an illness

My photo gallery http://thekiwi.org/photography/index.php

This is so beautiful.  Looks just like the goldfinch I saw in Fairfield recently:I see you are CT based - any chance you found him in Fairfield!

Freebird:

This is so beautiful.  Looks just like the goldfinch I saw in Fairfield recently:I see you are CT based - any chance you found him in Fairfield!

 The other end of the state in Plainfield

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My New Avatar is in memory of Nancy my darling wife of 10 years who passed away on Monday November the 16th 2009 after an illness

My photo gallery http://thekiwi.org/photography/index.php

Gorgeous shot!!  I would love to get a perfect shot like that by my camera is limited

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Life List: 139
Latest: Cedar Waxwing!!!!!!!

Great shot Kiwi, as usual. And Curly bird, at least you have an excuse, cause in my case it's not an equip[ment issue, but rather an operator problem! lol

Beautiful and vibrant shot Kiwi!

I love watching and photographing goldfinches. We've had a number of them at our feeder this summer. Yesterday I saw a male perched like the photo here on my hummingbird feeder stand and a female joined him. Unfortunately they both flew off before I could get the camera. I do have a number of shots including this one that turned out well.

 Pentax K20D/DA*50-135 f2.8 lens - shot at 1/160 sec at f10, 135mm, ISO200 with fill flash - I was probably 10-15 feet from the bird. It was an overcast day.

GvilleRick

Nice shot here is another one I got today using my Nikon D60  set at ISO 800 exposure of 1/500 sec and fstop 5.6

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My New Avatar is in memory of Nancy my darling wife of 10 years who passed away on Monday November the 16th 2009 after an illness

My photo gallery http://thekiwi.org/photography/index.php

Very nice shot.  What was your focal length, how far were you from the bird, did you use flash, and what was the sky/tree shade conditions (lighting)?  I am just starting to get this and the added detail will be very helpful.

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

@thekiwi - Looks like we have a very similar set up. I have a crook type stand in the front yard and the goldfinches love the sock with thistle seed in my back yard.

@matt - I added the information on my previous photo concerning speed, ISO, etc.

This shot of a pair of males was with my Pentax K20D and the Pentax 55-300 lens at 150mm. ISO 800. 1/160 sec. with fill flash. I think I had the camera set to manual mode and flash was about 1/8th power so I could shoot multiple shots. It was near midday and sunny. I also sometimes shoot with a 2x teleconverter on my 55-300 lens and get pretty good results.

Matt:

Very nice shot.  What was your focal length, how far were you from the bird, did you use flash, and what was the sky/tree shade conditions (lighting)?  I am just starting to get this and the added detail will be very helpful.

Hi matt focal length was 200mm (300mm ex 35mm) Auto WB no flash I use aperture priority when I shoot birds I adjust the ISO to get the desired exposure rate (shutter speed) I try to get my shots from 8 to 15 feet away

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My New Avatar is in memory of Nancy my darling wife of 10 years who passed away on Monday November the 16th 2009 after an illness

My photo gallery http://thekiwi.org/photography/index.php

Is there a speed you won't go under if the shot is a hand held?  At that distance what would be your greatest aperture yet still assure yourself that you get a proper depth of field?

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

Matt:

Is there a speed you won't go under if the shot is a hand held?  At that distance what would be your greatest aperture yet still assure yourself that you get a proper depth of field?

the higher the aperture (the smaller the lens opening) the greater the DOF (depth of field) I typically use f5.6 up to f11. f8 will give in theory the best results from a lens but it will increase the DOF. In answer to your question regarding the DOF  F4 to F8 would give you good results

the faster the shutter speed the better the definitions of finer details such as feathers etc. For hand held there is a typical formula shutter speed  x2 the focal length (that means 300mm focal length = 1/640 sec. If you are using an IS (image stabilizer) or VR (vibration reduction) lens then you could drop the shutter speed down 3 stops that would make it 1/320 sec ( 1/640 < 1/500 < 1/320 sec)

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My New Avatar is in memory of Nancy my darling wife of 10 years who passed away on Monday November the 16th 2009 after an illness

My photo gallery http://thekiwi.org/photography/index.php

For the novice (me), that is primarily concerned about bird identification as apposed to a National Geographic shot, it sounds like this (critique please)...

focal length at 200

aperture at f8 (I assume that this opening will get all the bird in focus at 10' or further out regardless of its orientation)

speed at 1/500

then finally the lowest ISO while staying at 1/500 or faster   

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

Matt:

For the novice (me), that is primarily concerned about bird identification as apposed to a National Geographic shot, it sounds like this (critique please)...

focal length at 200

aperture at f8 (I assume that this opening will get all the bird in focus at 10' or further out regardless of its orientation)

speed at 1/500

then finally the lowest ISO while staying at 1/500 or faster   

hi matt

 hope this explains it. Regardless of distance from the subject the higher the fstop you use the greater the DOF example if you shoot a subject in focus at 6feet and then shoot a subject at 600feet the DOF will remain the same at the point of focus.

When using telephoto lenses the higher the shutter speed the better the chance of reducing any camera shake.

When it comes to fine details a faster shutter speed is desired. To get a higher shutter speed you may have to increase the ISO

Now if you want to photograph a waterfall and you want to get that silky water effect then a longer shutter speed is used can be in the set to seconds instead of fractions of seconds as in normal photography

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My New Avatar is in memory of Nancy my darling wife of 10 years who passed away on Monday November the 16th 2009 after an illness

My photo gallery http://thekiwi.org/photography/index.php