If You Buy It, They Will Come

[Julie Kenward]

Mom and dad saw their first Baltimore Orioles arrive this week so I knew mine would be coming in, too. I stopped off at my local birdfeeder store and stocked up on the bird jelly that they couldn't get enough of last year. I got home and got it out and the female Oriole showed up! She was so skittish, though, that I had to shoot this from behind the glass door so the details were a bit lacking. I decided to take it for a spin and see what I could do with it.

I started with an exposure layer, using the gamma slider to help decrease some of the glare that comes from shooting behind glass. Then I ran a round of noise reduction and put it through Topaz's Clean filter using the 'cartoon' setting and then lowering it until I got the look I wanted. I then added Nik's Color Efex 'Foliage' filter and bumped the yellows to the green side a bit.

Here she is...the first Baltimore Oriole of the spring...

[Kerry Perkins]

She's a cutie Jules! I like the effects you applied and the nice compositional elements at play. Sure is a great sign of spring and what a happy color!

[Paul Lagasi]

Nicely captured, these birds are always skittish at first but they get used to people real quick....bird jelly didn't even know there was such a thing . Gotta look around and see if I can find some, very nice composition and subject, nice effect...TFS

[denise ippolito]

Jules. I like the comp[ and the filtering you applied. I think the colors scream spring and congrats on the first Oriole of the season.

[Julie Kenward]

Paul, if you can find a place that sells bird food and feeders, they will probably carry it. It's called "BirdBerry Jelly" and its made by a company called Songbird Essentials. It's almost exactly like the grape jelly you would buy in the store for people except the sugar content has been lowered and the preservatives and corn sweetener has been removed so its more acceptable for birds. They simply cannot get enough of it. It also seems to be a big treat for house finch as well.

[Gus Hallgren]

Nice going Jules, little late back east as we have had them for a month, and they are fading away now. Out here they love suet and oranges. Tanagers & Grosbeaks love the grape jelly up the hill though where Cora has been using Welches for years. Right now the birds are eating us out of house & home.

Thanks for sharing your lovely capture.

Gus