Hi ,
I think this is a field sparrow.
Captured today during a light snow shower at Hendrie Park in Hamilton, Ontario.
Nikon D200 w/ 300 f4 and 1.4 Teleconverter (420mm)
f8 at 1/160sec ISO 320 on a Monopod.
It was a very gray overcast day, very soft lighting but not a lot of it. I struggled all day to keep my ISO at 400 or less. I tried to keep the shutter speed over 300 didn't always manage it.
Post processing - All in Lightroom - Converted from RAW. Cropped approx 50%, Saturation+, WB, Exposure+, Lightened the Eye, Sharpened, cloned out a small branch in the lower right corner.
Thank you for looking and you comments,
Clive
Last edited by CliveTonge; 01-16-2011 at 01:00 AM.
Hi Clive, I'll say it is a Tree Sparrow bc there is a little darkened "knot" of feather on the breast and that helps me distinguish between field and tree (knot as in tree!!!, well knot as in wood)
I like your image very much, great pose and w/o clutter. BG is nice and would add a catchlight. Nice feather detail and colors TFS ann
Clive, that is a lovely image of a field sparrow. The bones of the image are very nice - good position on the bird, nice HA and good background - as well as a nice diagonal perch.
I pulled the image down to check the whites on the belly area because they seemed so bright but they are within the range of the histogram so exposure looks good. Still, that area being so much brighter (probably a reflection of the snow below him shining up) I used the brush tool set to 20% opacity and lightly painted the soft light beige that's in area above that to soften it just a bit. I did the same thing with the BG, choosing the soft blue to lightly paint over the greens so they blended a bit better, taking the viewer's eye off the change in color and back onto the bird's eye.
I also recropped a bit off the left side to get the eye in the ROT's position. I then noticed how dark the eye was so I selected it and did a curves adjustment on just the eye area to brighten/lighten the natural colors and catch light.
These are all very minor things - but its the details that can take a good photograph to greatness. Here's the final I came up with...feel free to take or leave any changes as you see fit.
Definitely American Tree Sparrow. The head pattern is right, it doesn't have an obvious white eyering, the bill is bicolored black and yellowish (not pink), and the rufous tones are really bright.
Other than the whites, the only thing I might want to do to it is open up the crop a little.
Clive, I like the soft colors here. The overcast day worked in you favor here. The Sparrow on the leafless branch shows winter is still with us. I like the position of the bird as well.
Nancy
Real nice image, like the colors and detail. The soft BG and colors really compliments the sparrow's colors. Nice comp with the diagonal twig. Agree with toning down the whites a tad on belly. Jules repost works too.
Thank you Ann and Paul for correcting my Identification on the American Tree Sparrow.
Wow! Jules your repost just knocks it out of the park. I will definitely be going back to the original to try again. I stayed in Lightroom 3 for all of my adjustments but I can see that Photoshop will let me get more out of it.
Nancy you are correct about the light. Perfectly soft. Thanks.
Tom, Brendan and Peter I appreciate you taking the time to comment on my photograph.
Take care,
Clive
Field Sparrow?
