From the SUV Trip

[Arthur Morris]

Have been trying to get my 2008 taxes done so have not been out much. Will be out with James Shadle on the Hooptie Deux next Tuesday... The displaying Bronzed Cowbird was photographed in Roma, TX with the Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/160 sec. at f/5.6. Mongoose M3.5 and Gitzo 3530 LS. Fill flash with Better Beamer at -2 stops.

Dont' be shy; all comments welcome.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

Nice head angle :), like the puffed up look, lovely colors on wing, good details in blacks, nice eye.

Not my favorite perch, a bit large for this bird. With this in mind, might consider a small crop in from the left, perhaps 1/3 of the open space, and a slightly larger crop in from right side. I might also consider burning in the perch a bit more, esp. on the right side.

Just an option to consider. Have a great time on the Hooptie Deux.

Cheers

Randy

[Brian Barcelos]

Artie, another wonderful image. The blacks and blues are beautifully exposed. Only wished for a smaller perch. I'm a little jealous that we only get the brown headed variety up here. Congrats.
Brian

[Dave Phillips]

have never seen this bird...quite a little stunner.
IMO, about 3º cw rotation is needed. The bird seems slightly off kilter "to me".
I tried it and it also helps the appearance of the almost vertical tail set.

lol, this was not shy heh? :)

[Raymond Barlow]

very nicely done Artie., a wonderful looking bird, and excellent technique.

[Tony Whitehead]

superb feather detail, pose and BG. I like the comp as presented but agree on toning down the perch.

[Randy Stout]

Tony:

The reason I made the crop suggestion was in an effort to downplay the massiveness of the perch compared to the size of the bird. Perhaps just toning it down will make it less massive appearing.

Bon voyage.

Randy

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Great looking bird.
Great BG and love the eye. I only wish I could see the entire feet. I am not crazy about the perch.

[Ed Cordes]

I love the eye. The puffed out pose is interesting. Perch mentioned.

I wonder if you thought of a vertical crop?

[Mital Patel]

Dear sir,

This is a fantastic image and after looking image i am so curious to know certain points i found.

Please bare with my english


Were this picture captured originally in vertical mode?
Reason why i felt that so is

Generally on long lenses if its horizontal you get nice horizontal sharp focus on pane or the level camera targetted on the spot.

In this image if we take that point the focus is nice arround the tail and the vertical bird but suddenly on the left and right tree the focus gets out.

Next in the image i found is a few point blue cast and i feel that adding 20% of yellow photo filter to make it a neutral would be a good idea.

giving little blurr on left top harsh green circles would be good to me

rest nothing to say or critique on the image as its a fantastic pose and everything which needs to be there is there and sharp ..

[Steve Canuel]

Neat looking bird giving you a nice pose. I don't mind the perch, it has some texture to it.

[Stu Bowie]

Superb flashwork to bring out those colours, and so well exposed too. Sharp, super pose, with a great BG. The perch is fine to me, but I would maybe add a tad to the bottom.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I feel the perch is a little on the big side for the bird? What would you say Artie? Also for me the bottom is a little tight.

Otherwise exposure and colors and eye contact are super. I do like it, just being tough on YOU for a change. ;)

[Morkel Erasmus]

super flashwork, exposure and detail Artie! top class. I'm curious why the perch would bother some folks?

[Mark Dumbleton]

I like this image Artie! Like the composition and head angle looking slightly over shoulder. Bird stands out nicely against the green BG. If this was mine, I might burn the perch a bit to slightly darken it. Lovely detail on the bird!

[Krijn Trimbos]

I like the BG, the colours and the perch is fine with me as well. What makes this one for me is the cool pose and the excellent feather detail! It almost looks like the bird is wearing a furry/or in this case a feathery coat. Am not too crazy about the oof right part of the perch but seeing your techs there is not too much you could have done about it. All together a really nice shot!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Arhur...lovely shot as usual. 2 questions: (a) why the flash comp. at -2? (b) and why did it work so well?

My experience is that even if I am close enough to the bird and dial in some positive exp. comp, with flash exp. comp of -2, I never get details in black birds (unless there is sunlight). I dont use BB and use a 430ex....so I know that is a part of the problem. But still I am surprised how much details you got out at flash comp. -2. I use 40d and usually dial in +2/3rd ex. comp for such shots too. I should go +1 or more I guess.

My guess to question (a) is the bird has a natural shine that you did not want to overflash. My guess to (b) is very good PP skills and accurate metering of 1D :-)

Thanks in advance

[ChasMcRae]

Great black exposures and you always do great exposure on extremes.
I wonder if a vertical crop would work allowing the perch to be less prominent in the picture ?
Chas.

[Karl Egressy]

This is the best Bronz Cowbird picture I have ever see for sure. The greenish background mkes the bird pop.
The pose, details are great.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks all for commenting. The perch was not set parallel to my position--my fault, and this is why the right side is so o-o-f. And it has already been toned down I did struggle with the rotation....

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Kaustubh,

re:

Arthur...lovely shot as usual. 2 questions:

Thank you sir.

(a) why the flash comp. at -2?

In low light and cloudy conditions I usually have the flash set at between -2 and -3 stops, the former for dark toned birds.

(b) and why did it work so well?

No clue....

My experience is that even if I am close enough to the bird and dial in some positive exp. comp, with flash exp. comp of -2, I never get details in black birds (unless there is sunlight).

No matter the situation, it always comes down to the same thing: set the EXP so that there is data in the fifth box. With black birds especially, push the histogram to the right as far aas possible while getting only a very few flashing highlights. In most cases this will ensure that the histogram on the left will not be touching the axis. Then, be sure to have the Shadow warning activated in ACD and move the blacks away from the Shadow axis.

I dont use BB and use a 430ex....so I know that is a part of the problem.

I actually do not think that the flash had any great effect on this image.... I use the 580 EZ II.

But still I am surprised how much details you got out at flash comp. -2. I use 40d and usually dial in +2/3rd ex. comp for such shots too. I should go +1 or more I guess.

See the histogram advice above. Folks interested in learning digital exposure should see the "Exposure Simplified" section in the CD book, ABP II. Folks interested in mastering EXP theory need to study the chapter on exposure in the original ABP. Find out more about each book here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/ca....aspx?catid=32 There is a nice discount when folks order both books together.

My guess to question (a) is the bird has a natural shine that you did not want to overflash. My guess to (b) is very good PP skills and accurate metering of 1D :-)

Pretty good, but again, the histogram never lies. :)

[Karl Egressy]

It is the best Bronzed Cowbird picture I have seen so far, Artie. Love the colours, background, pose and details.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Karl! No wonder I thought that you were a nice guy!