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Oh wow! what a pose you have caught - an image I have been trying for myself. Congrats on this one - I wish it were mine.
I personally would not worry about adding noise to the BG. Perfectly I would like to see more of the eye but this is such a fine catch of a tough subject I'd be elated to capture this.
Allen
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Lots of detail in your text, Smon. I've bolded your words.

Originally Posted by
Smon d'Entremont
(edit: this image looks less sharp than the original...I may have messed up in downsizing to meet forum rules).
Smon, it looks plenty sharp, and the colors are quite nice. In fact, maybe the inside of the beak is a bit too bright -- I had trouble "reading" the beak until I concluded that it was almost wide open. If you kept your layers, you might experiment with that portion of the image.
BTW, I use LightRoom to prep images for emailing in various sizes and densities. Just highlight your image, press CTRL/Shft/E, and set up your export that way.
- removed branch (coming from branch on the right) coving last 1/4 of tail...reconstructed end of tail and fixed branch on the right (I'm amazed I was able to do this).
You did an excellent job on that process!
- made layers for the background (smoothed using Gaussian and Lens blurs) and bird (lightened up inside mouth and brightened eye)
I don't think the background is too smooth, but --again -- if you saved the layers (sometimes I don't, unfortunately) you could try different intensities of blurs and take snapshots, then compare the different results.
- in retrospect, I should have traded some shutter speed for increased depth of field to get more of the bird in focus...but things happen fast with these little birds.
They are indeed fast, but you might have sacrificed 1 stop of speed to get an extra stop of aperture for this shot, given that this bird was not in motion. Of course, they don't sit still for long, do they?
A question...is the background too smooth? (looks that way to me) Should I add noise to it? If yes, what's the best way to do this?
A good way to roughen the background might be to use less blur in PS. How's the bokeh at F4 without all those background changes?
Bottom Line: Great image. I wish it were mine.... ~jess
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Great feedback and tips. On the bokeh question, the bokeh at f4 is great and is was very good on this image, but I had some artifacts from some of the processes that I was trying to blur. I'll try less blurring in future attempts.
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Wonderful first post...and welcome! I use the same method Smon. The "step backward". Jess has covered a lot of detail. The image looks sharp where it should be and the pose is good. The front on open mouth is unusual but it doesn't concern me. I like the background as is.
Keep them coming!
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Wow!
great detail, excellent time, lovely light!
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Hi Smon i'm another learner ,but way behind you!! Would you be able to give me a latin name for this bird please (it looks like our firecrest)? I love the capture Smon the pale subdued background really lets the colours of the gape and crest pop,wonderful image thanks for sharing
Stu
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Hi Stu. It's a Regulus satrapa.
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Hi Simon, and welcome! I'm rushed at the moment so will only make a brief post for now. A gorgeous bird on a nice perch and background!
At ISO 400 the 7D2 should be very low noise, but you don't want to underexpose and bring it up in post -- that will bring out noise. Overexpose as much as you can without blowing out whites and bring exposure down in post, for minimal noise.
I love the raw conversion of Lightroom -- I assume it's a recent-enough version to have the Shadows and Highlights sliders. They are awesome. And you're right about shadow detail in the 7D2 having some noise,
Good cloning work. The noise reduction looks good. You might try Nik's Dfine -- it often doesn't need to have the BG and subject separated -- seems to have some magic.
The BG might be a little too smoothed. Don't add noise -- back out of what you did. Never try to cancel something with what looks like an opposite because it isn't.
If you kept the layers just reduce the opacity of the too-smooth layer. Or else start over and try different methods or settings. Always leave an out. Layers are great for that.
Look forward to seeing more!
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Originally Posted by
Smon d'Entremont
Hi Stu. It's a Regulus satrapa.
Many thanks Smon our firecrest is R.ignicapilla so similar but a different species
take care
Stu
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I really love this one I can't fault it I don't have a problem with the background.
Cheers Frank.
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BPN Member
Hello, Smon. I applaud your effort and achievement with this photograph. My first thought when seeing it was, "Why is that bird fussing at her?" The way you've imaged it immediately leads the eye to the head of the bird. Especially with the reflection of the inner feathers on the crown matching the color inside the beak. Nice introduction to the group. I wonder what you think of a bit of a vignette. It might help subdue that branch on the right.
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Good thought, Jim! I'd also suggest a slight crop from the left to remove the two small "spotlight" areas on the left edge. They pull me eye from the very nice subject.
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Publisher
Hi Simon, Welcome and thanks a stack for your membership support. First off, where was this image created???
As a general thought as to how much I like this image, you might have posted it in the Eager to Be Honored in a Major Photographic Competition forum rather than the Eager to Learn forum... You did a fine job of with the elimination of the branch. As for the BKGR, my rule is that there is no such thing as a BKGR that is too smooth...
As for your thinking about more d-o-f, I would suggest that you abandon such thoughts now and forever. Focus on the eye or the face and let 'er rip and let the aperture be damned! I have been doing that for 30 years and it have worked out just fine for me...
Lastly, with the light from the right the the right side of the bird's face is a bit in shadow. Once you get into NIK Color EFEX Pro you can apply a layer of 50% opacity Tonal Contrast and 50% opacity Detail Extractor to that area only (and then fine-tune the effect of that layer with a Regular Layer Mask). That will open up the shadowed side of the face very nicely. a
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.
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Publisher
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"...Focus on the eye or the face and let 'er rip and let the aperture be damned!..."
Art, thank you for that comment. Like Simon, I worry about d-o-f, and it calms me no end to read it it.
BTW, I enjoyed your photos in The Shorebird Guide (O'Brien, Crossley, Karlson) --- especially the Stilt sitting on his heels (p 72)
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Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
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Thanks for your generous feedback Art. I follow your blog and work and have learned much from it and your videos.
As as for this image, it was taken in rural Nova Scotia. I had shot plenty of Golden-Crowned Kinglets before, but this was the first time I was able to capture him displaying his orange crown (usually is just a yellow stripe visible) in decent light. The open mouth and uncluttered background was a bonus.
thanks for the tweaks and tips on NiK products. I'll have a look.
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Publisher

Originally Posted by
Simon d'Entremont
Thanks for your generous feedback Art. I follow your blog and work and have learned much from it and your videos.
As as for this image, it was taken in rural Nova Scotia. I had shot plenty of Golden-Crowned Kinglets before, but this was the first time I was able to capture him displaying his orange crown (usually is just a yellow stripe visible) in decent light. The open mouth and uncluttered background was a bonus.
thanks for the tweaks and tips on NiK products. I'll have a look.
Hi Simon, YAW. For some reason, I assumed that this was a Feildcrest... It is indeed a spectacular display and these birds are so, so fast. a
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.