Black-headed Bulbul (Thailand)

[Dorian Anderson]

Here's another shot from the deep forest hide in Thailand. Light was severely limiting, but I think the image is workable with the strong NR I've applied to the background. At
least f/4 blurred the backing forest beyond recognition.

I know the perch isn't ideal, but it's literally the only one the hide offered. I also know the angle through the frame isn't ideal, but I had no ability get anything different with another
photographer occupying the other shooting slot. Again, the set-up experience is very different from the neotropics.

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX2
1/125 at f/4, ISO 3200, tripod
Processed in LR CC. Cloned out one distracting turd on the perch.

184652

[kevin Hice]

Neat bird Dorian looks good to me other than the perch which you addressed.You did well with the available light. TFS

[Colin Driscoll]

What a beauty. Good detail and exposure on a smooth BG.
Would you consider reducing the catch lights to just one?

[Dorian Anderson]

Thanks, Colin! And no, I won't alter the catchlights. The image was captured under canopy on a cloudy day, and the eye reflection is indicative of those conditions.

It's funny what I will and won't do. I will, for instance, removed a one of a double catchlight when photographing shorebirds on a setting sun, for example. There
it's just cleaning up the image; it's not suggesting the image was captured under different conditions or circumstances. Everyone has different standards though.

[dankearl]

Cool looking bird... As far as IQ, this is not really up to your standards (not a lot of detail
on the head),but very good for most. I am really enjoying your bird tour.

[Dorian Anderson]

Cool looking bird... As far as IQ, this is not really up to your standards (not a lot of detail
on the head),but very good for most. I am really enjoying your bird tour.

An honest and accurate assessment. Thailand was probably the hardest shooting I've encountered, so I had to compromise a bit
to walk out with anything. There aren't many good frames of a lot of these species, so I'm just happy to be improving the overall
quality of the available image pool.

[Aditya Sridhar]

Very nice shot, Dorian. I've never seen this bird before, so it's nice to see a new species. Re the IQ, I think you might've applied just a bit too much NR on the bird as the fine feather detail appears slightly smudged. I don't think there's motion blur even at the low SS, so I think with some processing you might be able to recover some of the detail. Exposure looks good and I love that blue eye. I might shift the bird slightly to the left and add more room in front of the bird - as is, the composition feels a bit too tight on the RHS.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Cool looking pose. I like the colors, May be NR is a bit aggressive for my taste.

Everything else looks good. You got a good Head Angle of this bird.

TFS

[Dorian Anderson]

Thanks, all. And yes, I had to get more aggressive with NR than usual with this image. It is what it is given the lack of light!
I'm used to shooting in bright sun, so I have to hone my NR/sharpening craft on more challenging images like this.

I'm working up to the better quality shots from the hides, so stay tuned fo those!

[John Mack]

Nice frame of this neat looking bird. Background is killer. Hope to see more.