I tried to get a decent picture of a male redstart.
This is the one I like most, because of the green cherries and green food matching so well.
Light wasn't very easy but as it was my first meeting with a Redstart (not very common in Germany) I feel not too bad about that image.
Any ideas to improve the image? (I am sure, there are some...) :)
Mark III Canon 500 + 2.0 TC
1/250 sec
f 5.6
ISO 1250
After uploading I find that the black looks a bit dull, did not in the Original.... does it need more contrast?
Hi Rosl, it's always fun to photography not so common birds isn't it! You have a great looking bird here and the lunch bonus is a nice touch. I like the leaves and the fruits - they add some dynamics to the image. I agree with your own concern about the blacks. Did you also run NR on the bird itself? It seems smooth in some areas, especially on those blacks.
As I am in the middle of photographing common redstarts at the moment I thought I would add some comments on the your photo. Firstly congratulations on getting a photo of one. They are not a particularly common bird here in the UK either. However, you can stack the odds in your favour if you can locate a nesting site as they respond very well to setting up a small feeding station and being fed mealworms. In fact I went to fill my mealworm feeder during my lunch break today and both birds were in feeding on them as I walked away. As the male in your photo has a beak full of food, it suggests that the nest site is not far away from where you took your photograph so it might be worth considering. Another useful point is that they will regularly come back to exactly the same nest site year after year.
There seems to me a bit of a yellow / greenish tint to the photograph but that is not unexpected with the light reflecting off the surrounding vegetation. I like the pose of the bird and you did well to get a relatively clean background with the bird perched up in the tree and with the bonus of a beak full of food.
As you will have found the males are an exposure nightmare with the black head and white forehead. The blacks look well exposed but lacking in some detail as Daniel mentioned. The white however look a little 'hot' to me but I know on some males it literally looks like their head has been dipped in white paint. Out of interest did you selectively sharpen the eye on this photo?
Redstart
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