Another Painted Bunting

[susanschermer]

The most-loved images on this site seem to be birds in virtual movie sets. I rarely come across this situation and since I live in the city I don't have much opportunity in my own yard to do setups.
The buntings in Okeeheelee Park suffer from cluttered brownish backgrounds. I did clone out some extraneous junk in the palms. I'd like your comments. 500mm lens with 1.4, flash at -1 2/3.

[Doug Brown]

Good sharpness and DOF on the bird. Eye looks a little flashed. There appears to be some cloning artifact at the bottom left of the tail and the far left of the branch that the bird is perched on. The BG is a little busy, but I know what you're talking about with the posts on this forum. This is Artie's site, and that is a style of bird photography that he made famous. You might consider a Gaussian blur on the BG, some BG burning, or BG desaturation to preserve the environment while de-emphasizing it. I'd love to see one of these birds in person someday.

[Dave Phillips]

nice image Susan, ditto the cloning leftovers.
I/we shoot what we can and learn all we can.
As an amateur, if it's a pleasing memory and I enjoyed the experience....then I'm happy.
The longer we do this, the more scrutiny we give our own work

[John Robuck]

I really like the pose in this image; doesn't this count as a "good head angle"? Was this taken at the Nature Center feeder, or elsewhere on the grounds? I try the buntings at Okeeheelee at least once a month, if this was taken in the feeder area you've handled it very well, IMO. The best image of the bird I've been able to get so far was on the ground at the feeder -- really awful "seeds on gray sand" background and foreground.

[Sid Overbey]

I really like the pose and the BG doesn't bother me. The flash in the eye is somewhat distracting and could be toned done. Agree about clone shadow near tail. Still a beautiful bird.

[Arthur Morris]

Good sharpness and DOF on the bird. Eye looks a little flashed. There appears to be some cloning artifact at the bottom left of the tail and the far left of the branch that the bird is perched on. The BG is a little busy, but I know what you're talking about with the posts on this forum. This is Artie's site, and that is a style of bird photography that he made famous. You might consider a Gaussian blur on the BG, some BG burning, or BG desaturation to preserve the environment while de-emphasizing it. I'd love to see one of these birds in person someday.

Hi Doug and Susan and Sid, Fixing the eye as described in Digital Basics and elsewhere in Avian (by me) is a snap. The area below the tail and to the left is, as Doug points out, somewhat of a mess and is just due to carelessness.... All of the self-inflicted damage there could be repaired in 30 seconds with the Patch Tool. As for "This is Artie's site" that is somewhat of an exaggeration as James and Blake Shadle, Alfred and Fabs Forns, and Roberts O'Toole and Amoruso are all fellow owners and all--each in their own way--valuable contributors to BPN. While I love tight and clean with pure backgrounds I do make some more environmental images especially when the surroundings are pleasing. And to Sid, for an over the shoulder image this is the perfect head angle.

I like the image (but for the eye and the cloning mis-haps) especially the excellent use of d-o-f.

[susanschermer]

I agree, errors due to carelessness. Easy to fix all. Thanks .

[Doug Brown]

I did not mean any disrespect to the other owners Artie. Sorry if I offended.

[Arthur Morris]

I did not mean any disrespect to the other owners Artie. Sorry if I offended.

Hey Doug, No offense taken at all. Just wanted to set the record straight. All of here at BPN value your participation, your excellent critiques, and your insightful comments.

[Linda Robbins]

Susan, you captured the perfect pose and head angle. Colors are beautiful and the bird is razor-sharp. Framing is perfect also. My personal preference is that I usually most admire images where the bg is clean so that nothing distracts my eye from the details and beauty of the bird. But that is not to say that I dislike images of birds in their habitat. Beautiful, well-captured images with lots of habitat or clean bg images can all be wonderful. I like your image a lot!