Sparrow (I Think)

[VinceRossi]

Pretty sure this is a Sparrow. It was shot with a Panasonic DMC FZ-35.

Sept. 6, 2010
1/125 sec
Aperture Priority
F/5.6
ISO
Focal Lenght 86mm
Center Weight Average

I haven't had much time to get on BPN lately. In viewing it today, I notice a great drop off in responses etc. I hope this will pick up soon.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Vince. I think this might be a female RWBB. The bill is long and pointed, and that streaking on the breast is really pronounced. I'm sure you will get a definitive ID from the experts. You didn't mention your PP, but it looks like you added too much fill light because there is a gray band above and below the eye that seems distorted.:confused:

[VinceRossi]

Hi, Thank you for the response. After further examination I think you are correct

There was some touch up done in the photo which was in BAD shape before getting it to where it is now.

[Julie Brown]

Upon further inspection, I can see other areas with the same issue-such as the legs and the log. Was it underexposed? It looks like you had tricky lighting here. You do have a catchlight in the eye, and a nice HA. Maybe you could post the original so we could see what you were up against. I'm no expert, but personally I do not like to use the fill light slider. I use spot-healing in LR and NIK Viveza to work on problem areas, and I am sure that PS has many useful tools for these situations. :)

[Julie Kenward]

Vince, did you do any noise reduction? That might answer the question of why everything looks smoothed out and flat.

You do have a good HA and a nice catchlight as Julie mentioned and you've got a good pose here, too. The main problem is you're trying to fix an almost unfixable image IMO. I, too, would like to see the original image just to get an idea of what's going on here but I try to keep in mind that photography is first and foremost about the light and this looks like you've really got a bit of a mess on your hands. Let's see the original and maybe we can offer some fixes for you.

[Indranil Sircar]

I too agree with Julie and Julie! There may be way to fix some of the IQ problems from pp. TFS.

[John Chardine]

I've not noticed a downturn in responses Vince. And I'm a firm believer in quality, not quantity anyway.

Although I'm not IDing anything but American Robins these days(!) I agree this is a Red-winged Blackbird. It's hard to tell what happened to the image without seeing the original. Perhaps the exposure was off. The image does look soft as well. There is a certain artistic feel about it though. The basic composition and head angle are good.

[VinceRossi]

Hi All,
Sorry for getting back so late. here is the original as requested. I am not sure if this is the exact original or the one next to it as I changed my filing system just before these pics were taken.