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Thread: Tufted Titmouse

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Default Tufted Titmouse

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    This fellow is the most frequent patron of my feeders, shot in April on a dogwood branch borrowed from a nearby tree. In the interest of full photoshoppery disclosure: he chose to perch facing the other way, but I felt it composed better if his head was to the left, so I turned him around. Otherwise just slight levels tweak, eye brightening, crop and USM. C&C appreciated.

    D7000 | 80-400 VR @ 370mm | ISO 640 | 1/1250s @ f/7.1 | +0.3 EV

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    Hi Bill.

    This is a sharp, beautifully exposed and composed image of a bird we see a lot of around here in Maryland. The background is great, and the perch and UL vegetative pod add interest.

    But the bird seems a bit "stiff", and I wish it had been more upright while still looking at you. I also wish that your bird had shown more convincingly that it is indeed a "tufted" titmouse.

    Finally, your camera/lens combination is IMO brilliant!
    Last edited by Norm Dulak; 06-20-2011 at 10:35 AM.

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    Brendan Dozier
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    Amazing IQ and great looking bird, Bill! Excellent light, exposure, detail, color, and like the soft rich green BG on this. Think the inclusion of the bud in the ULC adds interest and helps the overall composition. Well done!

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norm Dulak View Post
    Hi Bill.

    This is a sharp, beautifully exposed and composed image of a bird we see a lot of around here in Maryland. The background is great, and the perch and UL vegetative pod add interest.

    But the bird seems a bit "stiff", and I wish it had been more upright while still looking at you. I also wish that your bird had shown more convincingly that it is indeed a "tufted" titmouse.

    Finally, your camera/lens combination is IMO brilliant!
    Thanks Norm. I, too, wish he had raised his crest for this shot - I thought about entitling it "Tuftless Titmouse - but actually this is a very typical pose for this individual. I've watched him a lot, and more often than not he is tuftless when he visits my feeders. I'm not sure what makes them raise their crests (nervousness? mating? defense?). I guess he's gotten very comfortable around here.

    I figured you would like the lens/camera combo; I noticed you used the same for your lovely Ruby-throat. 370mm seems to give the sharpest result.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dix View Post
    Thanks Norm. I, too, wish he had raised his crest for this shot - I thought about entitling it "Tuftless Titmouse - but actually this is a very typical pose for this individual. I've watched him a lot, and more often than not he is tuftless when he visits my feeders. I'm not sure what makes them raise their crests (nervousness? mating? defense?). I guess he's gotten very comfortable around here.

    I figured you would like the lens/camera combo; I noticed you used the same for your lovely Ruby-throat. 370mm seems to give the sharpest result.
    Right on Bill. I always look forward to your excellent posts.

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    I like the perch, that it is parallel to the sensor, the back ground and the techs. I see what Norm says about the bird being stiff, but it is still a very good image.

    Lorant

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    Nice and sharp with a great background! I also wish for a tufted look from this guy. Still a very pleasing image.

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    Sharp with good details Bill.

    Great eye contact as well.

    tfs

    Austin

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    BPN Member Bob Pelkey's Avatar
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    Would like to see the original for comparison.

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Pelkey View Post
    Would like to see the original for comparison.
    Bob, here's the version prior to my flipping the bird (as it were)

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    Bill, this is good stuff; your flip of the bird was nifty, as was your turn of phrase, and I'd like to hear more details about how you got that piece of Photoshoppery done. (I have an idea but I want to see whether I'm right.) I love tufted titmice; they're one of the nice little things about the USA that I miss. I respect what the others were saying about the "tuftless" titmouse. It would be nice to get him in an eponymous pose.

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Craig Brelsford View Post
    Bill, this is good stuff; your flip of the bird was nifty, as was your turn of phrase, and I'd like to hear more details about how you got that piece of Photoshoppery done. (I have an idea but I want to see whether I'm right.) I love tufted titmice; they're one of the nice little things about the USA that I miss. I respect what the others were saying about the "tuftless" titmouse. It would be nice to get him in an eponymous pose.
    Thanks Craig. PS workflow as follows: carefully selected the bird; created a 'layer via cut'; used clone stamp on the bg to fill in the void left by the cut; created a duplicate file, in which I mirrored the cut bird layer; dragged that back to the original file; nudged and rotated until the position of the feet on the branch matched the original; did a little fine brush and clone work to make the shadows around the talons look realistic. The only problem then was that since the branch beneath his feet angled slightly, flipping him made him face downward in the revised version, so I rotated the entire image CW just a bit. I do have some images of him in his eponymous pose, but unfortunately not with the dogwood perch (and when I tried for more images a few days later, the dogwood flowers had wilted).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dix View Post
    Thanks Craig. PS workflow as follows: carefully selected the bird; created a 'layer via cut'; used clone stamp on the bg to fill in the void left by the cut; created a duplicate file, in which I mirrored the cut bird layer; dragged that back to the original file; nudged and rotated until the position of the feet on the branch matched the original; did a little fine brush and clone work to make the shadows around the talons look realistic. The only problem then was that since the branch beneath his feet angled slightly, flipping him made him face downward in the revised version, so I rotated the entire image CW just a bit. I do have some images of him in his eponymous pose, but unfortunately not with the dogwood perch (and when I tried for more images a few days later, the dogwood flowers had wilted).
    Skillfully done. What's most impressive is that you "saw" the final image in the unprocessed shot and worked to get what you were after.

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