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Thread: Pine Siskin, at sea

  1. #1
    Dan Cushing
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    Default Pine Siskin, at sea

    Hello All,

    This is my first post here at BPN. Thanks for a fantastic website!

    This photo is of a Pine Siskin, perched on the anchor chain of a ship underway in the Gulf of Alaska, about 75 miles offshore. More about it below. Critiques very welcome!



    I recently stepped up to an autofocus 500/4 and a gimbal mount. I work as a field assistant on avian research projects. My first photo opportunity turned out to be a pelagic seabird survey in the Gulf of Alaska, so I got to try handholding the thing from the flying bridge of a pitching ship at sea. Keeper rate was pretty low. The birds where fantastic - as well as seabirds, there was a great variety of migrants flying by, and half a dozen passerine species and a Black Oystercatcher landed aboard the ship.

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    Dan,

    Big welcoem to BPN,

    Harshad

  3. #3
    BPN Member Tony Whitehead's Avatar
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    Welcome, Dan. Lovely post. I really like the colours in this image- the blues work well with the yellow highlights in the plumage. I like the contrast in weight and texture between the bird and the heavy chain links. I find the bird too centred and think a crop may improve the comp - pity to lose the links on the left though. Ran a little NR on the BG too. It would be nice to include technical data re camera, ISO, aperture, shutter speed.
    Tony Whitehead
    Visit my blog at WildLight Photography for latest news and images.

  4. #4
    Axel Hildebrandt
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    Welcome to BPN, Dan! Not the species you would expect to find on a pelagic trip, did the siskin stay until you reached the shore?

    I like the fluffed-up pose and eye contact and like Tony's crop. Could you have moved a bit to your right to avoid the vertical line? Keep them coming!

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Now that is a unique setting for this species (or any other for that matter!). I like Tony's crop. I would have preferred abetter head angle. I'm also curious to know if it hung around for a good while?

    P.S. Welcome to BPN, hoping to see more from you :-)

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    Welcome to bpn. Looking forward to more from you. Well done here

  7. #7
    Dan Cushing
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    Thank you all! I've tried several crops, and I like Tony's composition the most. Moving the bird higher seems to add to the feeling of lightness of the bird to me, and it also enhances the parallel diagonal lines created by the chain links and the bird's bill - I like it.

    When taking the shot, I probably could have moved a little to the right, to keep Tony's improvements in the composition, get the chain links in on the left, and lose the background line. I'll have to learn to compose faster!

    Next time, I think a beanbag would be helpful - I was struggling just to get the bird in frame and in focus. Here's the technical data: Nikon D200, ISO 400, 500mm, f4, 1/1000.

    I last saw this bird towards evening the next day, as we approached shore. All the passerines were gone by the next morning. When land first became visible, I saw some flying out towards shore, only to return, exhausted. They mostly waited until we were quite close to land to leave the boat. Of 14 individual passerines that I saw aboard, one, a Fox Sparrow, died - its body was thin and worn out, its breastbone keel sharply protruding. It must be incredibly taxing for small landbirds to migrate over the open ocean.

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    I think the huge steel links are essential to what this image conveys: the smallness and lightness of that fragile little
    bird. So I would leave more of the links in view, especially those on the left that tower above the tiny creature.
    If I cropped the original at all (and I'm not sure I would), it would be more like this:


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