bluebird working parents

[Ann Gray]

Canon & d Mark II, 100=400 mm lens with extender

f/8 1/400 sec, ISO, 640

focal length 560

taken in my yard in Williamsburg, Va

[Tim Foltz]

Hello Ann nice picture of 2 bluebirds bringing home a meal for the little ones. A few pointers to give would be:
Try to have more room in front rather than behind the birds. Manmade objects aren't the best to have in an image. On this image I would recommend some noise reduction.

I hope this helps. Regards -Tim

[Bob Miller]

Ann...I too agree that you should try to compose to leave room in front of the birds. To me the perch is fine but I would use PS to clone out the part of the perch within the arc. Also using noise reduction will make the image look cleaner/ brighter. What processor are you using? PS, Lightroom?

[Ann Gray]

I mainly use LR....but I have photoshop.
I will give it another try!
many thanks!

[Ann Gray]

I used Macphun noiseless to reduce noise...I added "canvas" on right"...sort of sloppy...
thanks for suggestions!

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Ann, May I be brutally honest?

A

[Ann Gray]

Of course! I wouldn't expect anything less! :-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Arthur Morris]

Of course! I wouldn't expect anything less! :-)

Thanks. I will try to be as gentle as possible. And helpful.

The subject to film plane orientations are perfect as are the head angles. For me, the meal worms are a negative. I would far prefer natural prey items, maybe a few spiders or a damselfly :)

The original post is not accurately focused. There is no fine feather detail. It is very noisy. How big a crop is this? Were you working off a tripod? How did you focus?

In the repost, the composition is better but the NR is way overdone... Did you apply it to the whole image? The NR has spilled over to the metal chair at least on the lower right.

As others have mentioned, it is generally best to have the bird or birds back in the frame.

Speaking of the chair, it might work out well to erect a natural perch or two near the nest box. Lastly, the dark line through the left-hand subject is distracting.

Where is the nest?

You have good gear so keep practicing and keep posting. Suggestion: work on one thing at a time; it might be best to start with improving your sharpness techniques.

a

[Ann Gray]

VERY HELPFUL and I so appreciate your thoughtful comments, as I know you stay so busy.

First, I know very little about noise reduction.....I didn't even know you could just do part of a photo...

It is not cropped. I have been posting "as is" photos for this forum...as I think I can learn the best that way....I can always crop a photo...I am trying to "get it right" in camera..If I did crop, I would add that to the post.

That was hand held.....These bluebirds are "my friends".....I feed them all year......and when I go out my front door....they come to me! I feed them dried and live worms.....and I have never observed them with any other tidbit.

I understand about the "natural" perch....and I can work on that.....I set one up in my back yard...but they don't land there.....

The nest is not far from my front door....and I also have a box in my back yard....enough territory for 2 families. I know I have had 3 groups of babies in my front yard...and at least one in the back.

On the advice of some nice folks at William and Mary, I have my feeders located near my house....which unfortunately stays in shade most of the day.

We have an abundance of hawks/falcons in our area, and the theory is the birds of prey don't dive near the feeders so close to the "wall " of my house because they can't get their full head of steam.....so far it seems to work....

I just got myself a new tripod with gimbal head...so I can set up better...

Thanks again for your comments.....I know I have a lot to learn and I am appreciative that this forum provides an opportunity to improve.

Hope I can go on another workshop with you some day!

Ann Gray

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Ann, You are most welcome. Thanks for being open and for being so eager to learn. Get to work with the tripod and start posing some sharp images.

Do you use Photoshop?

I am afraid to ask what gimbal head you purchased...

a

[Ann Gray]

yes,
I use photoshop...and just when I think I am fairly proficient...I find that I am not.

In general, for landscapes and such, I use Lightroom......

My gimbal head is a jobu.....so far it seems fine for my purposes....

will be out looking for birds later today!

thanks!

Ann Gray

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Ann,

Good realization. I would humbly suggest that you get a copy of my Digital Basics File and study it. I never use LR and do not understand why anyone does but hey, that's me.

Ah, Jobu, that is what I was afraid of. Vastly inferior to the Mongoose M3.6. The clamp on the Jobu is much to small and I have seen the clamp fail several times with big expensive lenses on them... Just another reason why all bird photographers should subscribe to my blog :)

I post this every day:

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

a

[Ann Gray]

Thanks for your suggestions...

I just purchased Digital basics....AND the guide to noise.....as I only learned today how much I don't know!

I understand your point about the gimble......

will post somewhere if I have questions about your PDFs..

thanks!

ann gray

[Arthur Morris]

Thank you and get in touch when you need help. I would suggest that you master the stuff in Digital Basics before tackling the Post Processing Guide...

a

[Stuart Philpott]

Ann thanks for sharing these stunning little birds,I know of them ,but very little about them. I can't wait to see more of them Ann. It sounds like you have a cool little photo chance here although I suppose the shade might make life more tricky. Keep pushing Ann i'm able to offer little in the way of help,but feel with the help given here so readily,you'll be taking some stunning images very soon. As well as showing me these stunning birds the read has been cool too thankyou Ann

Ann you mention they are your friends and come to you how close ,do they feed off your hand? As artie mentions i'd like to personally see something more natural as a perch aswell,I feel that with your special relationship with these little gems you might be able to build off that to huge advantage,it's just finding a way to achieve this. So although i'm just learning in a huge way myself, that would be my main offering to you ,to encourage you to explore this more. Ann ponder the background aswell as the perch that you will be shooting against. Frankly I can't wait to see how you fare Ann,and frankly i'm also pretty jealous right now ,I adore your friends

Good luck

Stu