Greater Antillean Grackle

[Oscar Baez Soria]

This is a very common bird here in Puerto Rico. It adapts basically to every condition. Young ones have darker eyes that gradually turn golden in color. Size is between 25 to 30cm.

PP on this one was pretty basic, trying to bring out detail and contrast to his dark feathers.





Someone commented that the bird had some kind of sinister, mysterious look.

Comments and critiques welcomed!

[Jeannean Ryman]

Oscar, you did a nice job on the blacks from what I can tell. I can see the variation of colors in the feathers. The shooting angle is a bit high for my taste. Since the birds are plentiful, finding one closer to eye level, who is looking towards you instead of away from you, will make a stronger impact on the viewer.

[Oscar Baez Soria]

Thanks for passing by and commenting. Yeah the bird was up in a tree. I do my shooting in my backyard mostly on weekends and when I get back from work if I have the time. Im a doctor so my time for this activity is sometimes short. Most if not all of my shots will be from this level. You think this will be a problem? In my mind I have some good shots but now Im not sure if i will post them or not....LOL! Close I have to eye level is this:

[Jeannean Ryman]

Better! I know what you mean about the "eye level" shots. Sometimes it just isn't possible. I'm passing that bit of advice on since it was given to me when I first started shooting birds. It was something I didn't even think about, and now I think about it all the time (although like I said, sometimes it just isn't possible).

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Oscar,

Thank you for the nice picture - please try and post one at a time that is the protocol and helps with the critiques. I like the initial post but you need to include exposure information so we can see exactly what you were trying to do. As you know DoF and shutter speed help the photographer tell the story. The composition is appealing but I might level it a bit and align the branch on the right with the side of the frame and crop off a small layer - make sense?

Update with exposure and camera/lens info and we will go form there.

[Oscar Baez Soria]

Here its the EXIF info of my original post. The second one was posted since I happened to have a more "eye level" pic of the same bird, not to be critiqued or anything but I get it, will just post one picture in any thread I start.

Camera Maker: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 7D
Image Date: 2012-10-21 13:36 +0000
Focal Length: 500mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
ISO equiv: 400
Exposure Bias: +1.00 EV
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Manual
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Oscar, thank you for reading and understanding the posting guidelines. We prefer that you start a new thread to post an additional image. It is ok to repost the original image if you have made some adjustments that were suggested by someone or on your own. We just think it is better for each image to have its own thread!

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Oscar,

Just wanted to follow up and let you know that I like the picture but the angle is steep - for some reason it makes a connection with me. I like the look and feel of the subject and wonder what has his attention - great eye and the image has a unique look to it. The exposure techs are fine might try for a faster shutter for more feather detail. I would crop the distracting branch parts from the bottom right hand corner. Thanks for sharing and keep em coming.