First Post - House Bunting

[Rhys Marsh]

Hi All,

I am brand new to birdphotographers.net and from looking at the last few posts it seems that I will have an opportunity to learn a tremendous amount from the collective talent on this forum. For my first image, I have selected a House Bunting from a trip to Morocco from which I have just returned. I was particularly drawn to this photo in part by the splash of color from a purple curtain in the background that is offset by some pinkish hues on the right side. This image was taken on the roof of my riad (hotel) in Marrakech, Morocco and is minimally cropped. Shot in RAW, I added some vibrance (+14), boosted blacks (+11), increased exposure (+0.40) and slightly increased brightness and contrast in Photoshop Camera RAW. I look forward to your thoughts and critiques!

http://gallery.birderproject.com/Geography/Birds-of-Africa/i-Hpj2M8H/0/L/House-Bunting-Final-L.jpg (http://gallery.birderproject.com/Geography/Birds-of-Africa/20942242_hKDrJn#!i=1659261541&k=Hpj2M8H&lb=1&s=A)

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: EF 70-200 F/4L IS USM w/ 1.4x Extender II
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/1000 f/5.6
EV: 0
Handheld
No Flash

[arash_hazeghi]

nice low angle, good details and relatively good HA. The BG and the perch are distracting and have man-made elements. Try to photograph this guy in a more natural setting.

Welcome to BPN, you will receive great critique here

[Amol Khedgikar]

Nice First post Rhys.

Nicely blurred BG but the dark patch is distracting. Apparent noise in the image

The perch looks like a railing pipe. Wish the feet and the tail was not clipped. JMO

I like your overall treatment.

[Rhys Marsh]

Thanks for the feedback and thoughts on the BG, regarding noise any suggestions on how to better post-process? I sometimes struggle with loss of detail vs. noise, in this case I'm already at ISO 100 so there isn't any more room there on my current camera. The bird is standing on a marble ledge, agree on the tail crop.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rhys, a big welcome to BPN, and hope you enjoy your stay and pick up as you go along. Its always great to capture images on one's holiday, but a few pointers in this. When looking at your subject, always look for any distractions behind your subject - a clearer BG always renders a better image. Move to your right or left if possible to get the best shot and ensuring you are capturing a good pose. I can understand you wanting to add colour to your image, but unfortunately, the purple curtain is fairly distracting in this, as it over powers the rest of the image. For a colourful BG, the colours need to blend in neatly together. Comp wise, try and place your subject in one of the thirds of the image ( rule of thirds ) In this, just moving him back to the right a bit would have placed him nicely.

As others have mentioned, shooting in natural surroundings will always produce better results. Good luck, and remember to participate on other images too. In that, you also pick up pointers along the way.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Welcome aboard. Always great to have new folks with great attitude.

your shooting angle is nice but the dark patch is an issue as others have noted. iso 100 was ok for this shot but its better to have higher ISO as you never know when birds turn their heads, open their bills etc.