Another yard bird - definitely not a flashy bird. On my last Evening Grosbeak, Alfred wondered where the light came from. The same situation pertains here: we have what is known as valley fog, and the valley is quite narrow. So it is as if we are all inside a light diffusion box - like the ones used for wildflower photography. Thick fog/clouds all around.
Minimum crop, processed in LR2 and PS CS4 - normal tweaking and removed a distracting branch from the bg. I thought about adding canvas to the right, and am interested in your thoughts.
Comments and suggestions are much appreciated.
Thanks for looking
Gail
Canon 7D with 500mm +1.4x, 1/125 sec @ f/7.1, pattern metering, +1/3 EV, ISO 1000
Gail - I like the soft winter colors; and the pose really highlights his handsome beak. Seems like a slow SS, but I guess you didn't have much light to work with. I would vote for a bit more room on the right, and perhaps a tad on top if you're worried about the proportions. Nice image!
Hi Gail - looks a tad soft on my screen - could be the SS - a little slow for nearly 700mm, doable but your long lens technique has to be spot on. Think you would be able to push the 7D a little further than 1000 ISO - Jeff might be able to confirm that?
Id try and selectively sharpen the bird some more - and the eye, a sharp eye will make the whole image appear sharper.
I selectively sharpened the bird in Genuine fractals with Noel Carboni's Med sharp Max texture action - the detail is there just needs some additional sharpening.
Like the BG and the light - wish I had some of that right about now.
Hi Gail,
I like the composition and capture. You have good color rendition with good feather details, I agree with Mr. Peters on the additional sharpening. The head angle is spot on...keep them coming...:cool:
Gail about all I would do now is get out the chainsaw and cut out the branch coming out of his back, I think it will look natural without it !! Fine image !!!
Thanks all and especially for the re-post. I actually processed the images twice, with the first one having more contrast and more sharpening, but then I got cautious with the second attempt. The re-post is really helpful.
I hear you Alfred about the branch growing out of the bird's back. I thought about cloning it out, but I thought that would look quite artificial. I am awaiting Alan Murphy's cd; it is trapped somewhere between here and Florida.
Again thanks for the suggestions and kind words.
Cheers
Gail
I agree with the prior comments. I think it is a great capture..... I don't own a 7D, but I push my 5d MK II much higher on the ISO with good results. Congrats!!
Evening Grosbeak (female)
