Gray Catbird

[Alan Murphy]

Gray Catbird

Upper Texas Coast

D3, 600, ISO 640, f7 @ 1/640, 0. EV comp.

Got this guy last night in the last drop of evening light.

[Mike Lentz]

Super pose, comp and light! The berrie is a nice bonus as well. No nits here.

[DanWalters]

Beautiful image! Great colors and I like the surrounding berries. The berry in the beak is a plus as well.

[Mike Tracy]

No suggestions for the bird and the berries as mentioned are what strengthens it. I find the brightness on the leaves to the right a little too much.

[Mark Dumbleton]

Great stuff Alan. Love everything about this - super light, composition, BG and like the inclusion of the birds environment! Well Done!

[Juan Aragonés]

Superb job Alan. I love the OOF BG, light and perch. Eye contact and bird´s pose are very good and the red berrie on the bill is a great bonus. I would try to rework the levels in the bird´s eye to add more life to it. Very good job

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Stunning composition Alan . Love the beautiful lighting, pose and the berry in the beak puts it over the top for me. Perfect timing !!!

[Stu Bowie]

I like the comp, although I would maybe take a bit off the bottom. Stunning light, with lovely colours, and of course the berrie is the cherry on the top.

[Alfred Forns]

Another Sensory Overload Image Murph !!! Can't imagine how long it took for the precise positioning !!! Big Congrats !!!

[Glenn Bartley]

Disturbingly good Mr. Murphy...

[Brian Wong]

Hi Alan!

Nothing to add except another fine example to add in my memory storage. I really like how the diagonal tail leads into the frame. Fantastic detail.

[Kim Rollins]

Allen-

As others have said "perfect timing" on this one. Excellent composition IMO.

We have these Catbirds here too and as I see them they are as gray as gray can be in most any light.

I know you have said the last of evening light so there may be a actual golden glow from that. I do detect a yellow cast to the hightlights when viewing this one and though no one else mention it I personally find a bit distracting (not necessarily something that is not desirable though and the photographers call completely) . Viewing the cast on the branches and the bird I wondered if some altering of that cast might be benificial. I did a quicky Adj. Layer Color Balance to see what would happen to the birds gray. I did not do it selectively though so some global changes are here in the results in repost for your consideration.

http://upload.pbase.com/image/111599904/original.jpg

http://upload.pbase.com/kwr_01/image/111599900.jpg

[Herb Houghton]

I like the comp and especially the colors, nice and vibrant. Great detail in the leaves and berries as well.

[Dave Phillips]

outstanding pose Alan......I agree something is just a bit unnatural about the light.....just a wee bit!
Kim's repost has turned the catbird magenta on my monitor

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Pssshhh...
This is a lovely bird and a great environmental image! Great pose, colors and sharpness. Great job.

[Kim Rollins]

outstanding pose Alan......I agree something is just a bit unnatural about the light.....just a wee bit!
Kim's repost has turned the catbird magenta on my monitor

Thank you Dave,
I do see that I changed the cast in adding a bit to much magenta so I have learned something here. As there are many techniques to change the color of an image (over a dozen under Image>Adjustments... alone) it is quite easy to not chose the best technique for a particular image on the first go around. That said and with your help in pointing the megenta cast out I reconsidered and realize there may have been a simplier and better way to bring attention to the yellow cast on bird and at possible correction.

Again though it is really up to the photographer to decide if any color cast is undesirable, some are, some are not. Color casts are not always a thing one does not wish to have.

Photo Filter Cooling (80) @ 15% on the bird/branch only -
repost
http://upload.pbase.com/image/111635557/original.jpg

[Alan Murphy]

Peter, you nailed it IMO. Thanks to all who took a shot at the color cast.

[Kim Rollins]

Peter, you nailed it IMO. Thanks to all who took a shot at the color cast.


Yes I believe he did. Very nice.