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Thread: Australian Owlet nightjar

  1. #1
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    Default Australian Owlet nightjar

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    A new location and a new "lifer" has made for a fun week so far. The Owlet nightjar is Australia's smallest nocturnal bird and lives in the same patch of woodland for most of its life.

    In the wild they are harder to find with a torch or spotlight than most of Australia’s other nocturnal birds because their large brown eyes do not reflect the light. I waited for around 30 minutes at the location before it popped its head out! Processed in PR3, ACR and PS.

    D500/500PF, 1/400th sec@f5.6, ISO3200, HH in fading light. Cheers.

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    BPN Member Volkan Akgul's Avatar
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    Merhaba Paul,

    Kuş türü ve yaşam alanı olarak çok güzel. Bakışlar, izleyicinin dikkatini çekmeye yetiyor. Fotoğraf estetik değil ama keşif olarak çok iyi.

    Tebrikler.

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    BPN Member William Dickson's Avatar
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    Well done Paul...and, well worth the wait...Again congrats on the lifer, it's been a great week for you....Lovely detail you captured, I've never seen this bird before, so maybe I'm wrong, but I think reducing the blues on the bird would make a difference....Nice one.



    Will

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Paul a very nice catch you made with this , glad you have a lot of success with your new species . Very nice that you share them with us .
    I do like the scene with the Nightjar peeping from its hollow tree .

    Overall it does look ok on the processing front ... just asking myself if the beak , the claws , the eyelid and parts of the plumage are so blue .
    For a more artistic approach ... I would try to darken the tree and lighten the subject .

    Anyhow a very cool capture

    TFS Andreas

    Just for the sake of interest , which sharpening setting are you using in PR3?

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    Thanks so much Will, Volkan and Andreas. Yes, it's been a good week with 3 lifers and yes, the blues are too much...I'll reduce them.
    Andreas, I've turned lens softness off in PR3. Also using deep prime xd.

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    BPN Member Dorian Anderson's Avatar
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    Great view of an elusive and bizarre bird! The direct stare is great, and you captured some really nice detail. Foot peeking out is a really nice bonus. Processing looks pretty good save for a slight blue cast on the bird, particularly the beak. I'd be pretty stoked with this result though!

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    Default Owlet re-edit

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    Hi all. Thanks again for the feedback/suggestions. Here's a re edit with the blues reduced and the tree darkened and Owlet lightened as suggested by Andreas. I like the final result. Cheers.

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    Paul I think this is a great shot but that you have gone too far nearly back to black and white.
    If you do only what Dorian suggested with the blues I reckon you will have one of your very best.

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    Hi Ian. You're correct! Here's a final "3rd time lucky" edit (and much closer to what I actually saw on the day)
    Last edited by Paul Burdett; 04-14-2023 at 03:13 AM.

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    You got it!

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    I too like the third one (taught I have never, of course, seen this species in life).

    My two cents FWIW -- perhaps a bit less sharpening on the bird?

    with love, artie
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    Hi Ian and Artie. Thank you for the feedback...appreciated.

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