Cedar Waxwing
This was the first time I went to a shopping center to photograph birds; but thats were they were. Taken this morning in Newport News, VA. SonyA700, 70-400G @400mm, f5.6, 1/250, iso800. Very cloudy. I boosted the saturation and darkened the sky, cloned out a few branches in front of and behind the bird. I cleaned up the beak a little and a touch of sharpening on the bird. SHOULD I ADD A CATCH LIGHT IN THE EYE???
Peter,
Perch out of corner is kind of iffy for me. I would leave little more space at the bottom. is this a large crop? I see a bit of detail loss.
-Sid
Awesome action shot Peter. I love the Cedar Waxwings - they make excellent subjects.
Couple of things that would perhaps make it even better.
A catch-light in the eye (your suggestion)!!
The cloning has made the edges of the perch and some edges of the bird look a little cutout. You might need a softer mask. You might also want to mask out the sharpening on these edges.
I agree with Sid on the crop. A little more room to breathe would be great.
Was the shot handheld?
This is not a large crop, 80% of FF.
This is handheld, I left my tripod at home:o
Peter, never be ashamed of where you find the source for your images...heck, I'd chase them to the garbage dump if that's what it took to get the image! Lovely action image - wish he was turned more towards us but it is what it is. I agree with the other comments and wonder if the "loss" of detail is maybe just that the body is a little overexposed? You might try bringing the mid and/or dark tones into the feathers just a little bit more to see if that helps with detail. (I wouldn't add anything to the face - that's already quite dark.)
As for the catchlight, blow the image up to 100-200% and look closely. I think there's a lighter area on the right side of the eye that you could easily enhance with a soft brush set to white at 120-20% opacity or try using the dodge tool.
I love these birds so I'm glad you found an opportunity to share this with us. In my few encounters with them they seem to have softer feather detail than most birds so that might also be what's making the image look a bit soft.
Thanks Julie, this is only the second time I have had an oppurtunity to shoot this species and I find the natural soft feather detail quite a challenge.Originally Posted by Julie Kenward
Peter
hey Peter, beautiful bird and great picture --- I'd chase him wherever he is to get the chance to photograph him too. I love that you caught him with the crabapple(?) in his mouth and on the perch and how they echo the color in his feathers. I think i'd like to see a little more room around him too.
Peter, this is a nice shot of one of my favorite birds. I've been chasing after them for a year and still only seen glimpses of them.
Nancy
Peter, I agree with the ideas on the eye and the crop; aside from that not bad at all. You and Julie are right on the feather detail on these birds, it looks really soft (coloration, maybe?) even with the bird in hand (they unfortunately tend to fly into windows and patio doors, often with fatal results). We see a lot of them here in winter, sometimes in huge flocks.
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