Hooded Oriole

[Kerry Perkins]

A colorful find out in the field yesterday. This fellow was captured at a park that sits in a canyon about a mile from the ocean. There were lots of perching birds there.

Converted in LR, then off to CS4 for noise reduction (Topaz Denoise) on the bg, sharpening on the bird (Nik Sharpener Pro), and the usual color and curves work.

50D, EF400mm f/5.6L
Shutter priority, 1/250@f/10 ISO 400 AWB EC -1/3
AI Servo autofocus using back button, HH, 580EX II with beamer at -1/3

Thank you for your comments!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Kerry - Good looking bird - HA might be a tad off and the eye area is a little soft.
I think you can improve it just a little - only tweaks really - your blue channel is just a tad blocked and the red channel just clipped. Not badly - but really just want everyone to see the below thread.

This thread in educational resources is essential reading for YELLOW birds especially and one of the best explanations I have seen.
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=35243

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Kerry Might have used the lens wide open to minimize the bg? Could try blurring a bit to simulate the wide open lens !!! Will make the bird stand out even better !!!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Kerry,
I like the composition and capture...Agree with Mr. Peters' assessment...the thing that catches my eye is the catch light...it looks artificial, not natural...would also recommend on opening up the eye area and selective sharpening it...:cool:

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Just a few tweaks Kerry. I desaturated it a bit, then put a cyan filter on it at 8 percent. ( Might be looking a little blue:) You could do all this in the RAW conversion. Looks like the 400 is really working out for you. Nice and sharp. Thanks for posting all your techs, I have learned so much from them:)

[Kerry Perkins]

Thanks everyone.

I applied the "blue" photo filter at 16% strength. This pulled the blocked blues up and also brought down the clipped reds. Bonus! Thank you Lance. I have been using the color histogram and find it quite useful. I just let this one slip! The subtle, but noticeable change in the image is a reduction in the "glow" of the yellow and some subtle details in the reds were reclaimed.

Worked the eye a bit, but the catch-light is indeed artificial, as it was from the flash. Hope it looks better!

Blurred the bg a little but didn't want it to get artificial looking, so it didn't do that much.

What I have been trying to achieve with these weird settings is to use the flash to fill in the shadows on a bright scene. I think I am over-flashing. Still sorting that all out...

[Kerry Perkins]

Jackie, I didn't see your repost until I added mine! Thank you! We ended up in pretty much the same place. :)