Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: Western Kingbird

  1. #1
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Lehi, Utah
    Posts
    433
    Threads
    34
    Thank You Posts

    Default Western Kingbird

    Sunday morning down by Utah Lake. I hate the perch, but like the pose. He wasn't about to let me interfere with his hunting, hopping down every 30 seconds or so for another course.
    Nikon D7000, 200-400mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, Aperture priority +1 EV. Not much PP on the bird, but darkened the upper right corner a bit.
    f/8, 1/500, ISO 640, distance 10 m
    C&C welcome

    Name:  _R007827-as-Smart-Object-1.jpg
Views: 85
Size:  83.7 KB

  2. #2
    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Posts
    12,731
    Threads
    910
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Lovely bird on an icky perch!!Head appears a bit soft,
    Gail

  3. #3
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Kalamazoo, MI
    Posts
    500
    Threads
    50
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Ron, quick take a nice stick (perch) to the same location, wire it to the top of that "ICKY" perch and wait for him to come back.. lovely bird fur sure.

  4. #4
    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Posts
    12,731
    Threads
    910
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gail bisson View Post
    Lovely bird on an icky perch!!Head appears a bit soft,
    Gail
    Oops, that sounded harsher than I meant Ron. Didn't realize it until Chad's comment. You have already identified the less than ideal perch and I was just commiserating in what was meant to be a joking manner,but realize now it can out in a mean way.
    3 lashes for me...
    Gail

  5. #5
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dryden, Ontario
    Posts
    450
    Threads
    81
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Ron - I'll also agree with that big meanie Gail on the inckiness of the perch! I would look at a tighter, vertical crop composition. Is this a large crop? The feather detail on the bird looks "muddled" and not critically sharp - IQ loss from cropping or possibly heavy handed application of noise reduction?

  6. #6
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Lehi, Utah
    Posts
    433
    Threads
    34
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Gail, not the slightest offense taken. I value your comments. All remarks are right on the money, and thanks all. I love the suggestion of stuffing a branch in the pipe to try to get him looking better, and will try it this weekend.

    As for the softness, you're right on that. Pixel peeping I find it just generally soft (can't find anything in perfect focus), though I thought I'd get away with it at 96dpi. Guess I'll learn to be a little more critical. The crop was moderate, with no resampling until conversion to 1024x800 jpeg. As much as anything, it was an exercise for Viveza, which I just got. Here's one from ten seconds earlier, not so soft, but I don't like the HA. I'm thinking my sharpening for web is not quite right, because this looks much better in PS (at 360 dpi)

    Name:  _R007824-Western-Kingbird-nat-size-crop.jpg
Views: 50
Size:  105.8 KB
    Last edited by Ron Sprunger; 08-11-2011 at 09:28 AM.

  7. #7
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Kalamazoo, MI
    Posts
    500
    Threads
    50
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I'll say it and I "mean" it Ron... That's a ICKY perch Like Jeff said..Yeah the big meanie Gail meant it too
    Last edited by Chad Caswell; 08-11-2011 at 09:29 AM.

  8. #8
    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Posts
    12,731
    Threads
    910
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Ron,
    The repost is tack sharp and HA is fine. Looks great.I would rather have a tack sharp bird than a perfect HA!
    Gail

  9. #9
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Lehi, Utah
    Posts
    433
    Threads
    34
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Gail, thank you so much for the extra look. I'm not accustomed to preparing images for web, being pretty exclusively a print guy up to now. I think you've helped me understand the standard for successful presentation. Now if I can just get him again on a decent perch, per Chad's suggestion...

  10. #10
    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Centurion, South Africa
    Posts
    21,360
    Threads
    1,435
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Ron, in your OP, I like the pose, but would take at least 3/4 off the RHS, as he too centred. I do like the BG, and the perch already mentioned. A bit of selective sharpening wont harm the kingbird.

  11. #11
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Lehi, Utah
    Posts
    433
    Threads
    34
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Stuart, I'll pay more attention to the crop in the future. I was being lazy. There's clutter to the left, but all I'd have to do is stretch the good BG to fill on that side. Seeing your attention to detail with the Bee-eaters (especially the re-post) makes me want to get it right. Selective sharpening on the OP wouldn't have done any good -- it was hopelessly soft in the context of this forum's expectations.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics