Taken at the end of January at my garden feeding station.
Nikon D200
Sigma 150-500mm
Not overly worked on, except for localised sharpening.
Still trying to perfect post camera work flow order.
Love the look back pose, the fine feather details and the diagonal perch with moss on it. The bird seem to be nicely expose too. What is your ISO setting, I'm not sure if it's jpeg conversion artifact or NR artifact in the background. Wish there is more room on the right for bird to look into.
Hya Thanaboon, i think the ISO was 640 or 800. I'm not really happy with the background around the bird's head, its a bit messy. I shoot in JPEG (fine).
Agree that cleaner background would make this image better. Nothing wrong with shooting jpeg, but be careful with camera setting, sometimes you cannot change it back like shooting with RAW (not that I mean you don't have to be careful when shooting with RAM too).
I think this is an excellent capture of a bird with very appealing colors.
With some selective adjustments, perhaps some detail in the head whites could be drawn out.
I agree with you Frankie about the background color around the bird's head. I might play with bringing that part of the BG to the darker hues of most of the rest, and in effect place the bird in 'limbo.'
That works at times to create a very artistic impression.
Overall a very appealing image, and thanks for posting ! :)
Hi Frankie - would definitely consider shooting RAW much better options for exposure adjustments and the likes with a RAW file.
Do always include your full shooting info as it will help everyone see what is going on and in turn help you to improve.
Looking forward to seeing more :)
Hya Lance, thats good advice, but i don't think i have time for RAW manip. I dont know how to recover my exif data either. I have had another go at the image, and i have spun it, cropped it, darkened the entire background, and sorry Bill, i think i've blown the whites even more. Aah well, maybe next time. Thank you all for the help.
Last edited by Frankie_flea; 02-07-2010 at 04:10 PM.
I know the raw processing takes a little extra time but it is a big deal. With some programs like LR it would not take any longer and even in PS just takes a second, don't have to spend much time in the conversion.
At home since you can have more control would try setting up a bg or at least shoot into an area without prominent light areas. I don't mind the look of the first on at all, would just try having the head with all dark bg which looks pleasing. ... btw great looking perch !!!
frankie, if you have time to change the bg like that, you could do the raw conversion too!!! will help tons and give you the ability to control the whites a lot better. better control of everything!!
i really like the simplicity of the repost. bird looks great on the black back. you did really well with that lens too!!!! really found the sweet spot!!!
I dont contemplate getting into RAW shooting just yet. Maybe when this computer finally gives up the ghost, and i get one with more memory. Then i'd have to get a proper image package like PS, and take a tutorial or maybe go to evening classes and learn how to use it. At the moment i'm managing with free downloads for basic manip. and this seems to provide a good image when i get it right. I'm going to change my garden shooting station soon, so that i have lighter backgrounds and the light behind me, as the raking winter sidelight has been a problem. Thank you all for the sound advice and friendly comments.
Long-tailed Tit
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