Robin Feeding Young

[Ginny Gielow]

Canon Rebel XTi;1/200 sec;shutter priority;f/4.5;ISO 800

[Harold Davis]

ginny, awesome interaction!!! i love the feeding. i might crop some off the bottom and add a little up top and run some noise reduction on the bg. nice detail in the birds with good dof.

if there was a way that you could have moved right the mom's eye would be more prominent and the limbs on the left not in the frame as much making even more stronger!!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Ginny,
I agree with Doctor Davis on the techs. and good advise. I would also recommend on adjusting the mid-tones just a tad...:cool:

[Alfred Forns]

Nice one Ginny !!! I like the suggested crop, will get rid of some of the oof nest and concentrate on the action !!!

btw tech wise would go with Av rather than Tv, in case the light increases you will be having more shutter speed rather than dof !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Ginny - love the interaction - great advice above - keep em coming :)

[Ginny Gielow]

please explain how I would deal with "noise reduction". Sorry...am very GREEN!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Ginny there are many programs for dealing with Noise. Noise Ninja, Topaz DeNoise. Check out the Educational Resources section, I think there is a thread on Noise Reduction. Agree great behavioural shot, but at ISO 800 with the Rebel, you get a lot of noise.

[Desmond Chan]

I think this looks a bit flat and bright. Would be tempted to enhance the over contrast of the photo.

Looking forward to the next one.

[Dave Phillips]

Ginny, do I recall you have Adobe Elements?

If so learn to adjust tonality of your image first......start with "levels" and
learn adjusting a visual histogram(picture of your image's tonality.....like a graph).
Many articles available. This will help somewhat with exposure correction too.
And sharpening as a final post process work. Start learning how to apply these processes
the photo globally and later learn how to do selectively

Then you can deal with noise reduction......many will work as a plugin filter
for your Elements.

I would turn down the sharpening in your camera if shooting jpeg, as it is likely
sharpening noise making it much more difficult to deal with.

It sounds overwhelming, but taken a step at a time and working with a purpose
brings it all together. These are just a few basic thoughts to consider

The image is a wonderful capture and many of us would like to call it our own

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ginny,

Listen to Jackie's advise regarding noise, keep it simple. You need to develop a workflow and among the first steps is NR (check out Topaz). Like Jackie said check the educational forum too. Regarding Peter's comments, if correct this is a big NO NO !!

This shot should not be attempted unless you were far away (>50 feet), hidden and completely undetected w/o any flash.
I had a nest of Robins close to me and refused to photograph them, when ever anyone came close the mother would fly away - I basically protected the entire area from any traffic the best I could until the fledge was over - but that's me.

[Harshad Barve]

Hi Ginny, although you captured nice behaviour and a nice image, I am not too thrilled about this ... using flash at a nestsite is something that should not be advocated and encouraged. At 173mm you must have been very close and a disturbance of you and/or the flash could cause the parents to abandon the nest. So far my critique to the nature of the image.



I would request you not to go so close to nest , this can be disturbing and showing way to predators

[John Chardine]

Hi Ginny- I'm not sure how you obtained the image but regardless, I would echo previous comments that it's probably not safe to get that close to an active nest and use flash. It's all about distance and the potential for actual disturbance of the nesting birds.

[Alfred Forns]

Not sure what was going on while making the image but I like to give the person the benefit of the doubt that all was done properly. Seems that now we can only make a nest image if we use an 800 mm lens with a 2X and a large crop.

Flash wise we routinely use flash while photographing at the Alligator farm with NO harm to the nesting birds, can not speak from personal experience for this species.

[John Chardine]

I agree about the flash Al. In my experience it depends a lot on the species and the ambient light levels. In overcast shaded conditions a flash will really scare up a small passerine bird but in the same circumstances a gannet just goes on with its business. On bright days, the light output from a flash does not complete with natural light and the flash appears to have no effect.

[Alfred Forns]

Thanks for the info John.

I usually like to learn before hand what I can and can't do so birds will not be harmed. Being informed is the key. I think before casting judgement on the photographers actions we also need some specific info before casting stones, thats all I was trying to get across.

[Ginny Gielow]

I appreciate alL of the helpful comments.

please!Let me reassure you about my proximity to the mother and her young. I wojuld never ever harm or threaten or endanger ANY animal. I am very well aware of the etiquette about nests and breeding birds and breeding animals of any type. I am a mother of four so totally understand "don't mess with a mother and her babies".
It is imperative to me that you all understand the type of person I am. Please understand that I was not intentionally(or even unintentionally) harming the bird and her nest. I am totally cautious about nesting birds. The location of the bird was within 10 feet of the board walk at Magee Marsh/Crane Creek in Ottawa County and I was not in front of her but off to the side so was even further from her than her nest was from the boardwalk. She was in no way bothered...or so it seemed, by the literally hundreds of people that were in close proximity to her all day and were also taking photographs. She was there before I arrived, she went off and got lunch for her kids and then came back and on and on..... without any apparent concerns for all of the folks watching and photographing her. I was back there numerous times on my several hour stay there and she continued her feeding/foraging process. Magee Marsh is a madhouse with people so I believe she would have abandoned her nest long before if she had been bothered.I was even surprised how very close the best was to the boardwalk and I positioned myself way off to the side of her when I took the shots.

I apologize if I offended anyone with these shots.

[John Chardine]

Hi Ginny- All your details are very useful to understand how you made the image without overtly affecting the bird. Thanks for providing them.

[James Shadle]

Ginny,
Thanks for the image and your explanation.
It will help others!

Jeff,
his shot should not be attempted unless you were far away (>50 feet), hidden and completely undetected w/o any flash.
I had a nest of Robins close to me and refused to photograph them, when ever anyone came close the mother would fly away - I basically protected the entire area from any traffic the best I could until the fledge was over - but that's me.

The difference here is Ginny was on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh/Crane Creek. The boardwalk and people were there when the Robin started nesting and was obviously habituated to humans. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be vary careful but it does explain why the bird was not stressed and seamingly oblivious to Ginny.
James