Mountain Bluebird

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

Just returned from Wyoming. Really didn't find the number and species of birds I usually find in north central Wyoming. They had a very late spring and I think the birds were on nest. Anyway I did see quite a few Mountain Bluebirds and this is one of them. Nikon D300, Nikkor 500mm lens with 1.4 extender. Shot at f/6.3 @ 1/640, ISO-500, meter - pattern. Hope you like this one. I appreciate any comments you might want to share.

[Ramon M. Casares]

I like the light and details, pose and eye contact, altough the background looks funny, as if you'd digitally blur it or something. Thanks for posting and sharing!

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

Ramon,
You are absolutely right on as to the digital blur. The BG was very patchy with bright sky coming through the BG trees. so I painted the bright spot out and blurred the result. Guess it didn't work as well as I hoped. Thanks so much for your thoughts.
Mac

[Raymond Barlow]

nice looking bird, too bad about the bg.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Wheeler! I'd be interested in seeing a JPG of the original RAW file. Maybe the PS guys will be able to give you some ideas on how to improve your image.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the soft light and details. I wish for a bit more head turn and you could try a more subtle blurring technique, for example just despeckle the BG or run NR on it.

[Lance Peters]

Like the bird and the pose.
Agree with the rest of the comments - seems to be a halo around the beak area.

:)

[Ramon M. Casares]

Thanks for the answer, it is much apreciated! And the Despeckle option it is not a bad advice at all, but I would go with less blur so it doesn't loose "real-ness" :) My english is so bad.. sorry for that.