I am SO excited to have my first fig harvest close upon me!

But since I am new to this, I want to make sure I don't pick them too soon, or worse wait too long and let the birds eat them.  Last year I had about 50 figlets on this Celeste and I lost all of them to birds or other pests before they ever ripened.  So this year I bought one of those outdoor cams to keep an eye on things and be able to react accordingly to protect the golden fruit!

Any advice on when is the right time to pick?  I have picked figs in Europe many times, so I do know how to do it by feel, by giving a gentle squeeze and looking for a soft texture, but what about colors?  Also is this the normal time for Celeste or next month?

See attached pictures.  There is one fig that looks like it's turning brown/purple that is very soft.  Odd... I thought all Celeste stayed green?

When it feels soft when you squeeze, it is ready.

Some ripe celeste figs

When it's ripe like in chapman's picture, it has that frothy/smooth taste, but if you can wait until it turns raisin-like, the flavor is so concentrated, it's amazing. Mine turns black at that stage.

Oh my gosh, Chapman! very nice looking figs!

1st pic=EAT IT before the birds do!

They will taste better if they fully ripen so you have to protect it from the critters.  Search on critter or protect to find out how.  The fig should hang loosely and fall off with a light touch.

Look for the "hangman's neck" on the fig. Take a close look at Chapman's pic, just left of center and you will see a good example of this.

Also, one reason you may not have gotten very may figs last year is Celeste is bad to drop figs, esp. when conditions are on the dry side. My whole crop dropped last year too here in Central Arkansas. But when you get them, Celeste is a great fig!

One of my best surprises of the season is my Celeste tree. It produced some of the tastiest figs in my collection and considering that it's growing in pot, it must've produced over fifty fruits this season. They get soft to the touch when ripe.

Thanks so much guys!  My little celeste in the pot produced about 40 or so total figs (my only tree out of 4 with fruit).  
There were some as small as a marble, but most were as large as a quarter.
I was able to eat about 4 every day over a 10 day stretch, July 23 - Aug 3 - I feel lucky to dodge birds/squirrels/ants!

Dan, I did exactly as you suggested and tried tasting them at different stages.  
As Gene suggested, I first tried eating them when the got the "hangman's noose" and those tasted good (those were soft, but still green skin)
Then I left many on the tree a lot longer, and those turned a dark purple (not the whole fig, but patches) - I found those to be the absolute sweetest and best tasting!

Here are some pictures of the more purplish raisin-like ones...

 

 

Pick a couple and experiment till you get what you want. You will be tempted to picl too soon, so err on the too long side, if you can. Here in drier climates, we wait till they are starting top wrinkle/shrivel a little bit. If it is really low humidity, they will almost dehydrate on the tree, and then they are to die for. They should be "jammy" inside.