Grackle

[Reza Gorji]

Enclosed is my first submission to this forum.

Nikon D300
Nikkor 200-400 mm lens with TC1.4 Focal Length 550
ISO 3200 1/800 sec F/5.6
Spot Metering
White Balance Auto
Sharpness Normal
Contrast 0
Saturation 0
Subject distance 7.1 m
Color Adobe RGB
No flash
RAW file converted here to JPG
Tripod used: Manfrotto 055cx with Wimberley Gimbal Head.
Almost no post processing although I took so many pics that day I am not 100% sure.


These were noisy and beautiful grackles which I recently saw at the Merritt Island NWR in Florida USA.
This one is a boat tailed grackle.
They are very fast moving and difficult to capture as they don't sit still for even a few seconds. They are VERY busy birds and love to socialize.
Another problem I faced was lack of sufficient light thus some pic noise due to high ISO.
Overall I think I did Ok given the circumstances.
Hope folks like the image. I will now sit down and hold my breath for the critiques.

[Kurtis Diffenbaugh]

I would like a larger image if possible, it's hard to see some of the smaller detail with this size (especially with my netbook). From what I can see, the detail in the wings is good and the image appears nice and sharp. I would prefer the feet and tail were not cut-off. Part of what makes a Grackle interesting to me is the tail.

[Reza Gorji]

Ok I resized it and tried to keep it less than 200k per the guidelines.
You are very correct about the legs and tail. I have other pictures of this bird with tail an legs but the background is not very good.

[Alfred Forns]

Those are common but difficult birds for sure, the female is one of my favorites !!!

Wished you had turned the camera vertical to have the entire bird in frame, best not to cut parts of the bird. If you can't get the entire bird in then go ahead and deliberatley cut a part, here you could go tighter and make it a larger head shot !!!

Also is good to have room in the direction the bird is looking, tight at the top. Will try to work and post ... btw working from laptop !!!

... you did get the colors to come through and they are very nice !! .. also if you can check in your software the af point placement don't think its on the eye !!

Got it .... sorry about the bill, just noticed I hit it with the clone tool, added canvas to the top (fast and dirty just to show you) then cropped the bird. Also a slight curves adjustment and darken the eye pupil.

btw check image size Can only go 800 on vertical Looking forward to the next one !!!

[Reza Gorji]

THANK YOU!!!!! Much appreciated.

[Lance Peters]

Hi - Al's repost certainly improves - difficult to expose properly and you have done well.
Agree about the missing tail etc - If its worth including its worth including all of it!!

Not sure about the spot metering - why are you using spot metering???

[Alfred Forns]

...thanks for bringing up the spot metering Lance !!! Not sure how you used it !!!

[Reza Gorji]

Thank you for your comment as well.
The spot metering was an attempt to get good light levels for the grackle colors the scene has a lot of contrast. Probably an error but at the time thats what I did.

Here is another shot with a better view of the tail and legs. Minor cropping done.

Thank you again for the replies.

[Lance Peters]

Hi - Al's repost certainly improves - difficult to expose properly and you have done well.
Agree about the missing tail etc - If its worth including its worth including all of it!!

Not sure about the spot metering - why are you using spot metering???

ill let you handle the reply AL - sunrise here in a a hour and just heading out the door on my way to one of my fav spots.
:)

[Lance Peters]

Hi - most use matrix metering or the canon equivalent - spot metering whilst possible is more complex than using matrix. IMHO - spot metering requires a good understanding of the zone system. (Lots of variables with spot and really need to be sure about what is covered by the spot) but in the end whatever works for you.
Al covered the critique looking forward to seeing more :)

[Reza Gorji]

Thank you Lance. Much appreciated. If I was in the same situation, I would have not used spot metering.