February 20, 2009

The World Is about to End!

Save the women and children.  The world is about to end.  I am posting my second bird photograph in the same week.  I have crossed over to the dark side.  I am a bird photographer.  Is there a cure?  Help!

I guess a little explanation is in order.  As many of you know, I have often said that I am not a good photographer of birds.  It seems the only shot of a bird that I get is one of their “south end when they are heading north.”  This pose does not make for a lot of great bird shots.  I really admire people who have the patience and skill to get really good bird photographs.  I am not one of those people.

This image landed in my lap.  I was setting in our back yard playing with my 300mm f/4 lens with a 1.7 teleconverter attached (trying to see the amount of depth of field that I would get at various f-stops) when this young lady landed on a branch about 10 feet from me.  Realizing that I was not a very good birder, she was very patient with me.  She sat there while I took about twenty shots.  She finally got tired of me and off she went.

It wasn’t until after she left that I realized that I had not gotten a model release from her.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, 300mm f/4 with a 1.7 teleconverter attached, shot at ISO 800, f/8 and 1/250 of a second.

Post Processing: 

Lightroom— set white and black points, adjusted white balance and added clarity and vibrance.

Photoshop—used onOne PhotoFrame to add edge treatment.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful shot Patrick!

    I love the somewhat muted colors in this shot and the great sharpness of the subject! I see Open Gold in the future for this one!

    Well done!
    Barry

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  2. I agree with Barry, and excellent bird shot. I really like the way the major bird color is repeated in background. If it were a studio shot I don't see how you could have picked a better background.

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  3. Outstanding. Nothing more needs to be said.
    Tim

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  4. I agree with Larry and Barry, the muted colors and the softness of the background make this a very good photograph. Although her colors are muted, her sharpness compared to the background makes her jump off the page. Good job. I think this is all you should photograph from here on.
    Ted

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  5. You still got the southbound end of her, but managed to get her to wink at you with her eye for a change.

    Nice shot Larry.

    DHaass

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