This is another recent pic that I took while out looking for melanistic squirrels. Canon 7d, ISO 1000, EF 400mm f/5.6 lens, f/7.1, 1/3200 sec. Processed in Lightroom. Highlights -100, shadows +60, whites +35, blacks +25, clarity +30. Tone curve adjustments - highlights -32, lights -32, darks +20, shadows +36. NR luminance 55. Brushed on Contrast 33, clarity 29, sharpness 38. Cropped for composition and cloned out a couple of small branches at the top of the frame.
Jack, you're becoming fast and furious here. I can't keep up.
I'm not sure about this one. IMO, I feel the perch is a tad too big for the bird and would slice off the bottom to about an inch under his tail...and maybe a bit of the RHS as well. His eye looks a little flat. I would have liked to see a bit of separation between the bird and his perch. But we can't always get what we want!
Jack, I like your bird a lot. Please ask it to use in a different spot next time. I agree with what Glennie wrote about the perch. It dominates the frame for me, and detracts from your nicely focused bird. I especially like that bit of food in its beak. What do you think about adding a highlight to the eye? And possibly making the area around it a bit lighter?
Cute little guy -- we have them out here, too. They don't sit still.
Agreed about the perch -- I'd try some different ones, although they do prefer to climb trees rather than pose on branches, but a smaller perch is worth a try once they've found food.
Definitely get closer, though. There is not much percentage in cropping. Set up on a tripod and park on a chair or stool and drape a camo cloth over you and be patient. Set up so you don't have to move that much when one comes near the food. A gimbal head is perfect for that. I actually clamped arm rests on my tripod so I can sit relaxed with my hands on the controls.
I agree about the crop and perch. For the crop I guess I was originally trying to keep as many pixels as I could. I have since cropped it like Glennie was talking about. As far as the perch goes though, I couldn't really do much about that since I was just walking around the park and it wasn't set up. This is where he decided to land and crack open his seed. Where it is perched is actually a tree that had fallen and was leaning against another tree. I too like the arm rest idea. I didn't know that they made them.
I made the arm rests using two Bogen Super Clamps (mostly used for studio lights),each holding a piece of plexi rod a couple of feet long (dowel bars weren't quite the right diameter) covered with pipe insulation. The jaws clamp on the tripod legs and the bar goes in the hole that is facing to the front right in the picture. Heights and angles adjustable to support each elbow to keep your hands on the camera just as you would hold it -- no need to move anything more than to aim the gimbal head, hit back button focus and hit the shutter button when a bird shows up.
White-breasted Nuthatch
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