Haven't seen one of these posted in the time I've been watching. Got this one in May at the local pond. This was just before the floods wiped out many of the nests and, presumably, chicks. Perch and background are as found, and nothing done to the bird except contrast and sharpening -- it's about a 30% crop. These guys are brilliant in the spring, fading to a dull orange later in the summer. C&C welcome and appreciated.
Nikon D7000, Tokina 80-400 @400mm
f/6.3, 1/640, ISO 900
One on my list of birds to get a good photo of.
They are way more skittish than redwings and more attractive
so I congratulate you on your image.
Nice perch and exposure on the black feathers.
A bit of head turn would have been ideal, but nice as is.
Thanks for the look, Dan and Mital. I sold that lens a couple weeks after I shot this, and got the Nikon 200-400 -- gives me a LOT more keepers. Mital, I think you're right about the crop, and I have the space. It would introduce a spurious extra branch under the tail (I was being lazy), which I could clone out easily. May give it a try tomorrow night after work. Dan, you're right about them being skittish, though I have more trouble with red-wings here. I'm fortunate that the Yellow-heads have a favorite perch where I can get close with the car. I settle in with the bean bag early, and eventually I'll get one right where I expect him. Females are tougher...
Ron,
This bird is on my bucket list so I am very jealous! I love, love the perch. would add more room all around, more on bottom and in front of bird. Great detail in blacks. Lovely shot
Gail
Real nice shot. I really like the pose and the perch. Exposed very well.
I find this bird difficult to expose properly. I had the chance the other day to photograph this bird and it was a nightmare.
I get lots of shots at them, so occasionally I manage to get the exposure right -- especially when I get soft light as in this case. The bigger problem is that the males spend all their time in the very tall, thick marsh grasses, seldom allowing a clean shot. I'm fortunate here to have a small Russian Olive isolated from the grasses, but near the bank where they nest. Some doofus came along shortly after this session and broke off the two tall spikes on the olive, so later shots had the bird down in the leaves and partially obscured. They're really better shots, but with a problematic perch. If there's nothing clean next spring, I'll have to resort to wiring in a clean perch when I want to shoot.
Hi Ron -- Add me to the list of people who dream of getting this species some day and congrats on the wonderful handling of the dynamic contrast here. A little noise sneaking in on the feathers from the ISO 900 but absolutely lovely. Thanks!
Spectacular work keeping the exposure just right on both the blacks and the yellows. Handsome bird and beautiful image. There have reportedly been a few strays hanging around New Jersey this past week, but I've yet to see them, much less photograph them. Well done.
Thank you all for the interest and comments. Per suggestions I've re-cropped. While I was at it, I thought I'd give Topaz Denoise 5 a try, as suggested in one of these forums. This ends up being a complete re-process, so please let me know what you think. I've cleaned up the bill a bit, and removed a distracting stem from LRC. I think this image is a little less noisy and perhaps slightly better detail, with the bird a little higher in the frame.
Well, now that I posted it, if I blink back and forth between the two, I find the OP a little livelier and with better detail, so I'll probably go back to that with the more generous crop. Seemed worth a try...
Last edited by Ron Sprunger; 10-05-2011 at 10:18 PM.
Yellow-headed Blackbird (male)
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