Hoopoe with a grub...

[Gerald Kelberg]

Another image exploring a new processing workflow starting with conversion in DPP. This time a portrait of a Hoopoe (Upupa epops), taken in Hungary in May 2010. It is really an iconic bird and I just wish I had used a higher aperture for more depth of field.

Canon 1D MkIII, EF100-400 at 400mm,
F/7.1, 1/500 sec, ISO 800
DPP, Photoshop, Neat Image and Smart Sharpen.

How am I looking, now? Comments and suggestions appreciated!

Gerald

[arash_hazeghi]

sweet pose with tack sharp details for both prey and bird with excellent BG and good soft light. processing is spot on here!

[Andre van As]

Gerald
A very nice pose and excellent rendition. I grew up in RSA with hoopoes in our back yard and recall that they were somewhat browner than your version. Are the European versions lighter in colour?

Regards

Andre

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hello Andre,

Thanks for your comments. In fact there are considerable geographic variations in colour and size. Apparently, the 'Upupa epops africana' that you would have grown up with, is "more deeply colored rufous". Plus there are variations in the patterns of black and white on the wing feathers. This is according to 'Birds of the Western Palearctic'. I can let you have more specific details separately if you wish.

Regards,

Gerald

[Gerald Kelberg]

Thanks for your feedback, Ari!

I am sure I never would have gotten these results with my old processing methods. Some other images that I have reprocessed look so much better than my previous attempts.

Wouldn't have been able to do it without your guide. A good investment; well worth it!

Thanks again!

Gerald

[Andre van As]

Hi Gerald
Thanks for the clarification - I suspected that regional variation was the explanation. I wonder if this is some sort of adaptive evolutionary process driven by the environment they live in. It, for practical purposes, never snows in Africa - I lived in Johannesburg for 44 years and saw snow for only 5 minutes one spring. It snows in the winter in Europe/Hungary and these birds would be very visible then, so a lighter feather pattern may give them some sort of an advantage. I wonder what our ornithologist colleagues think about this.

Regards

Andre

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi Andre,

Agreed, this is probably some adaptation to the local environment, but I suspect not quite as you have suggested. The Hoopoes in Europe only come here to breed, commencing around April/May, and once that is done they head away again with dispersal from late July through to October or even November. So normally they would be away before the snows arrive.

The rest of the year they seem to be in sub-Saharan Africa, in a band between Senegal and Somalia and southwards into Kenya and Uganda, where they are found in the savanna and thinly wooded countryside. Perhaps it is more this environment that has driven the adaptation rather than the European one.

Thanks for asking the question - made me do some background reading on one of my favorite birds.

Regards,

Gerald

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Gerald - not sure what you are doing to your workflow now, but it works! Spot on with the sharpening on this one. Details are great, colors look good as well.

[Arthur Morris]

Looks great to me with a killer bug and BKGR. d-o-f works for me.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

NICE great details bg and even a bug for a plus

[Kerry Perkins]

Lovely image Gerald, a real standout in my opinion. Everything is working well in the image, exposure, detail, color, background... Well done!

[Andre van As]

Hi Gerald
Thanks for the info on the migration - I did not think of that. So the question springs to mind - which sub type was the progenitor?

Regards

Andre

[Daniel Cadieux]

Superb details, colours look good, and the grub looks..well...yummy. No issues with dof for me either.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Excellent image, good details within dof, perfect pose, the pray is a big plus and super BG. I like this a lot!

[yogesh_puranik]

awesome details and nice behavior captured. Superb BG. Can you share your workflow pls?

[Gerald Kelberg]

... Can you share your workflow pls?

Hi Yogesh,

I have recently changed my workflow starting with Canon DPP for conversion from RAW, then making adjustments in Photoshop CS5.1, Noise Reduction with Neat Image and using Smart Sharpen in Photoshop. Much of the inspiration and technical detail I needed came from Arash Hazegi and his e-book "Professional Photographers' Guide to Noise Reduction for EOS Cameras". You can get it by following the link in his comment above. I found it very good.

Gerald

[Gerald Kelberg]

... So the question springs to mind - which sub type was the progenitor?...

Hi Andre,

It seems that Linnaeus defined the 'Upupa epops' as the type found in north-west Africa and Europe in 1758. Other types such as the 'senegalensis' and 'africana' were identified and classified much later. But as to which came first... that is beyond my knowledge!

Regards,

Gerald