This is my first post on the forum. Look forward to learning from the experts!
This picture was taken on a partly cloudy morning (shrike in the shadow of the clouds while the background hills were in the sun) at Joshua Tree NP in California. I have removed a couple of yucca needles from behind the bird and toned down the highlights to darken the background a bit. I chose to leave the one needle in front of the bird.
Raw conversion with Capture one pro 2021, then processed in Photoshop CC. Noise reduction and sharpening done with Topaz AI.
Nikon D850
500mm PF
f/5.6
1/1000s
ISO 1250
Handheld
01-14-2022, 12:29 AM
Andreas Liedmann
Hi Sharif ... first of all a warm welcome to BPN from my side , always good to see new members !!!
You started off with a very nice and clean frame of this species and you present it with a great amount of IQ .
Tones and overall fine details are nicely rendered .... composition , pose , perch are really cool . Well done in the field and in the digital darkroom .
The only thing hat I might change is the color in the subject , not knowing the species in real life , just feel the blues are bit strong . Just my take .
Some folks will say , remove the second piece of perch ... well up to your ethics about removing things or not . I am ok with that piece .
Hope to see more of work .
TFS Andreas ... one of the " experts " , LOL . Just joking :bg3::w3
BTW don't be shy and share your honest thoughts in other threads
01-14-2022, 07:41 AM
Arthur Morris
Hey Sharif. Welcome. I hope that you will be joining our ranks soon as a member. The D850 rocks, and so does this image. The background and the perch needles are superb. Love the pose, the visible foot, and the wonderful fine-feather detail. I am on my way to California as I type.
with love, artie
01-14-2022, 07:42 AM
Arthur Morris
ps: I even like the bit of suffused green in the LRC to complement the greens of the needles.
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01-14-2022, 07:58 AM
Joseph Przybyla
Hi Sharif, welcome to BPN. A really nice image for your first post. I see many of these birds in my travels around Florida, the colors look good to me on my display. The birds feather detail is good, pure background and nice perch. Thank you for sharing.
01-14-2022, 02:37 PM
Stu Bowie
Hi Sharif, welcome to BPN. Yu have captured a good angled pose here, and overall well exposed. You have shown up good detail on the little guy. I really like the colour of the BG.
01-15-2022, 01:14 AM
Sharif Uddin
Thank you, Andreas, Artie, Joe and Stu!
Andreas, the colors look reasonable okay to me. My point of reference was the white wing patch and I don't see any blue cast there.
01-15-2022, 04:10 AM
Andreas Liedmann
Hi Sharif ... i am ok with your view about the color i mentioned .
Just for fun , do me a favor and take color readings of the mask , the feet and i.e. the breast feathers .
Purely as a personal taste ,i would go for a more " neutral color balance " in those areas . Colors can be very subjective and screens are setup different as well .
Cheers Andreas
01-15-2022, 08:42 PM
Sharif Uddin
Hi Andreas, I went back and looked at the black mask and the feathers under the bill. I checked the RGB values on several spots and they do show the B channel values are usually a few points higher. I guess my eyes are not that discerning! Thank you for your suggestion! In the future I will try to pay closer attention to the color balance of the overall subject in situations like this.
01-16-2022, 06:14 AM
Daniel Cadieux
Welcome to BPN Sharif!! What a terrific view of this shrike! Tastefully presented with a good comp, nice processing, and overall feel. Good call leaving that one needle in front.
01-16-2022, 04:27 PM
Brian Sump
Sharif, great to have you. Welcome to the community! Lots to learn here and some solid members with loads of talent.
I used the D850 early on and had much success with it. Still a winner in terms of image quality (IQ) as evidenced here. Check out the faint feathers protruding on the opposing side of the beak, super :-)
A really great first post from my view. Gorgeous pose and head angle, very nice bkg and really love the simple perch. The green underside really adds.
One thing I learned regarding Topaz (assuming that is your NR of choice) is that it really smooths out blacks. I like to duplicate my base layer (before noise reduction), put it under my NR layer and then brush down with a mask, very gentle opacity, to the grainy base layer and let just a little texture come through in the blacks. Maybe something you can try and see.
Do agree with Andreas that you might be able to pull a little blue out selectively, or maybe add a touch of warmth to see if you like it. Very minor, but worth looking at.
Looking forward to many more from you sir!
01-19-2022, 03:11 PM
Jay Ing
Nice image. Welcome. Actually like the second blade of grass showing here... which, surprises me.