Phainopepla in rough light

[Stan Cunningham]

I've been getting frustrated with our light here in AZ as it's very direct now after 7 AM.
I was able to get close to this phainopepla, a really pretty solid black bird and did the best I can.
Canon 7d, 100-400 5.6L, ISO 400 manual F8 at 1/500 sec, on tripod (always with this lens)
processing includes a little sharpening, dodging the bird at 25% to bring out details, and selected the blue sky and reduced it a 1/3 stop to bring down a stronger blue. Also added some vibrance to the red eye.
Any other suggestions are always appreciated.
Thanks
Stan

[Don_Hill]

Hi, Stan,

I sympathize with your "rough light" issue, as I have similar issues up here in Flagstaff. Having said that, I think you did a wonderful job with this bird. You nailed the exposure on a tricky subject to expose, it being virtually all black. The PS tweaks you did all look very natural to me. And the composition is delightful, with the black of the bird's body contrasting beautifully with the yellow blossoms in the tree. Is that mesquite or palo verde? If I had photographed that bird, I hope I would have done everything you have done it. Nice work.

Don Hill

[Kerry Perkins]

Stan, nice capture - I've been chasing one of these guys around for a year and haven't gotten anything this good. The exposure is spot on and exactly what I would be using for that situation. I don't think you need as much space on the right, and wonder what it might look like with a bit cropped from there. The left half of the eye looks dark. Was his membrane half closed? I would use the brush tool to make that part of the eye match the right half. Good one!

[Stan Cunningham]

Thanks Kerry, and I will give you and a couple others on here full credit for the exposure.
After out last interchange I decided I'm just going to shoot manual, and keep practicing. I take a lot of looks at the pics, first the histogram and then punch it back to full size for "blinkies" as it's tough to see the clips on the smaller thumbnail. But slowly I'm feeling more comfortable, like you said, practice, practice, practice.
I will also admit the only way I've gotten so close to a lot of birds the last couple weeks is by playing calls. I know some oppose their use, but I'm pretty sensitive to overcalling and move on after 5 minutes or so. It does work when each species is starting breeding, it doesn't work until they are or after eggs are laid though.
Thanks for the comments and I'll take a look at the eye. The dodge and burn tools are becoming my favorite tools with the harsh desert light we have currently.
As for the crop, the reason for the space was not to have him dead center. To the left is very dense Palo Verde and it would be a distraction. I'll take a look at that also.
Stan

[Ian Cassell]

Nice capture here, Stan. The ones that I see are all grey ... is that a regional or gender difference? I think the exposure is fine.

[Kerry Perkins]

Ian, the gray ones are females. Sounds like you haven't seen daddy yet.

[Stan Cunningham]

Ian
I took thay at the Phx DBG
So you and I don't have any great geographical difference, and Kerry is correct, I don't have a good one of female yet.

[Ian Cassell]

Ah, OK. I've never seen them at the DBG, but I've seen lots at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. I guess I've only seen the ladies, though.