Mixed

[Bobobird]

Been busy last week or so - getting rid of the old car and getting a feel of the new. May take a few pics too but have never tried automobile photography (except car show stuff) and need to read up a bit of that light magic book first.

Usual mixture of nature shots that I managed last week. For some idiotic reason decided to use the 1.4 extender again and it was a really overcast and dull day. To keep shutter speeds reasonable meant having to shoot almost everything at ISO6400. Noise some and cleaned up ok I think but hate that extra step or 2.

1. Snapper - big guy but nothing like that 7 footer I photographed last summer. Still hoping he will surface for another sitting.


2. Red-winged Blackbird


3. Canada Goose


4. Muddy duckling


5. Great Blue Heron


I mentioned in a past thread that getting a RWBB in flight was going to be one of the objectives for this year. Well these guys are f.a..s.t and countless tries for what? This was the best shot so far...

6. Red-winged Blackbird ?

[nimitzbenedicto]

Hi Bobo,

Terrific shots!

[ how's the new car? ]

[Brownbear]

Lovely images as always. I would say that the heron in flight is my favourite but there is something about the muddy duck that I adore.

[Bobobird]

Thanks Victor. Getting used to it but so far so good. I do like that it takes regular gas unlike the last one which needed premium.

Thanks Christina. I too like the duckling shot. Not because it is spectacular in any way but was a real challenge in patience. First there were about 15 quite close together with mom watching. Then I wanted one isolated and frontal so just kept observing until one did step away from the crowd. Took a while though but was quite fun watching them scurrying all over the place.

About the heron - that extender really killed my backgrounds at f8. Had to let him get further away from the shoreline to get the reeds somewhat blurred. Other shots all had sparp(ish) backgrounds which I did not quite like.

[Otavio]

Hi, Bobo. All are very nice images. I wish you better luck with the RWBB; just keep chasing him!

Cheers!

[Bobobird]

Thanks Otavio.

Not giving up just yet.

[terrib]

Love the muddy duckling. Something about the stance makes it look like a standoff.

The RWB in flight looks like my sharpest hawks in flight.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Very nice set. I like the variety! You have the 5DIII right? In any case, your ISO 6400 looks like my 7D's ISO 100

Snapper - big guy but nothing like that 7 footer I photographed last summer

Uhmmm, what?!

[NorthernFocus]

No.2 the RWBB is a classic but I really like the muddy duckling. Great perspective on that one.

[Bobobird]

Matt - yes the 5DIII but only if the noise is "clean". Dirty noise from underexposure or dark shadow areas is still messy from 3200 upwards.

Snapper - I could not find that thread. Will post up a new one to show the "monster". The pics really do not quite do it justice though.

Hopefully he will give me another sitting this summer.

Thanks Terri, Dan. Appreciate the kind comments.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Matt - yes the 5DIII but only if the noise is "clean". Dirty noise from underexposure or dark shadow areas is still messy from 3200 upwards.

Hmmm, well my 7D images are unusable starting at 1600

Snapper - I could not find that thread. Will post up a new one to show the "monster". The pics really do not quite do it justice though.

I look forward to seeing this beast.

[Bobobird]

Posted....

[bedantabd]

Nice series Bobo, #2/4 are my favorites. In #2, did you lose some details (shadow clipping) in the underparts of the RWBB?

[Mike Buckley]

"Muddy duckling" is wonderful!

[Bobobird]

Thanks Mike.

Thanks Bedanta. I am not sure about shadow clipping. The histogram is sitting nicely in the middle but if I raise the shadows the bird starts to turn grey and colour noise in that area starts to increase correspondingly. Any advice?

[John 2]

Nice set but the heron is right on the nail.

[bedantabd]

I am not sure about shadow clipping. The histogram is sitting nicely in the middle

Just ignore my comment on shadow clipping: may be it's my monitor.

if I raise the shadows the bird starts to turn grey and colour noise in that area starts to increase correspondingly. Any advice?

Lol: Bobo asking Bedanta for advice, ha ha........ Anyway, in this case, I think I would have added some fill light (to raise the shadows) and then slight -ve EC (in ACR). It's a pretty straightforward and layman's solution which works fine for me. I know there will be much better and advanced ways to deal with this situation.........

Regards

[Bobobird]

Thanks John.

Thanks Bedanta. Will look into your method. I tend to use the "shadows" slider in ACR with CS6 or failing that, the Nik Viveza plugin.