Red-winged Blackbird

[Mike Landwehr]

This image was taken late afternoon in the Celery Fields, near Tampa. Some extraneous plant stems were removed (quick mask) from the image.

1D Mark II N
1000mm (500mm +2.0x)
ISO 320
1/125 sec at f/8
Tripod

[Randy Stout]

Mike:

Excellent display of the epaulets, the far wing is excellent,calling pose, minimalist perch, nice BG.

I would think a bit higher ISO to give you more shutter speed flexibility would be a worthwhile option.

Did you do anything special to prevent blowing out the reds?

Cheers

Randy

[James Shadle]

Mike beautiful specimen and very interesting behavior.
The image is sharp and well exposed. I like the fact that the perch is sharp all the way through.
By the way, the background rocks.

Considering how nice the background is, I wouldn't mind seeing more of it.

[Mike Landwehr]

Thanks, Randy and James, for your thoughts.

Regarding the reds, Randy, the original image was (I'm embarrassed to say) overexposed by nearly a full stop. After adjusting the exposure, the epaulets were still overexposed, and I desaturated the red channel (about 10 points, I believe) to take care of them.

James, I have more canvas to work with, and will take a second look at a wider crop (perhaps 2x3 rather than 4x5).

[dankearl]

Very nice exposure of the black feathers and very nice pose.
Agree that it could use a larger frame.

[Mike Landwehr]

Randy and Dan, here is a look at a wider crop. What do you think? Too much negative space, or just what it needed?

Thanks

[dankearl]

I like the wider crop better. Maybe take just a tad from the right. The pose looks even better to me from a bit more distance.
Nice job.

[Bill Dix]

Terrific display shot, Mike. These are tough to expose properly, but I guess by overexposing the original it helped you bring out some of the detail in the blacks. I like the format of the repost.