American Redstart

Gallery: AvianPosted December 10, 2009128 views12 comments

D300, 500mm f/4
ISO 640, 1/1000 sec, f/8, handheld
Photo taken Oct. 17, 2009 at Dauphin Island, AL
Cropped to about 50% of full frame. Exposure and sharpening adjustments using LR2 and CD3.
I have lots of "partial Redstarts", so I was pleased to finally get one mostly in the open.
Comments and suggestions most welcome.

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on December 10, 2009 at 8:59 PM

Dave

Knowing how fast these little beauties can move and hang around under tree tops I would be very pleased with this shot too.

Lovely colors, head tilt, sharpness and look at the eye, which being black on black plumage can be difficult.

Nicely done.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on December 10, 2009 at 9:20 PM

OK, so I'm not the only one who has that problem with this species! I'm so enamored with the color on this species but they are hard to nail down in a clean setting. Very sharp where it matters, well done with the big lens hand held.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on December 10, 2009 at 9:25 PM

I like the colors in this image, David. Also, the details, and the fact that you managed to show pretty well the whole bird despite all the branches around are real attributes of this image. The light might be a bit bright on him. However, it looks to me like you handled the processing very well and accommodated it.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on December 10, 2009 at 10:14 PM

Congrats on getting your Redstart. I bet you wish that big oof branch wasn't in the way, but you got some great eye-contact

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Twaddell on December 10, 2009 at 10:27 PM

Congrats, David! I was unaware of this species. Thanks for posting! Excellent detail and eye contact in the larger image.

Registered on August 16, 2007, 199 Posts, 2132 Comments

Comment posted by Diane Vatcher on December 10, 2009 at 10:30 PM

I like the colors and the composition of the branches, background color really compliments the birds color. diane

Registered on November 30, 2009, 8 Posts, 27 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 10, 2009 at 11:00 PM

Very nice, David. Beautiful detail in the bird and I like the way the light falls on him. The head turn is great.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Ravee Wattanatanak on December 10, 2009 at 11:55 PM

Very nice color bird.

Registered on December 12, 2008, 105 Posts, 786 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on December 11, 2009 at 7:10 AM

Great exposure here David. You did very well on the dark face and eye of this species. I love the habitat. I wish I had an image near this good of a redstart.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on December 11, 2009 at 5:21 PM

nice job controlling the blacks and whites in some bright light. getting the eye to stand out is also nice. good work with a tough bird.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on December 11, 2009 at 9:13 PM

I know what you mean about partial birds David. Lovely detail in this.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on December 11, 2009 at 9:30 PM

Dave, A species I've never personally seen but Mia has told me how incredibly challenging they are to shoot - kind of like the kinglets. I think it's an endearing image - esp with that looking-up pose. Exposure on three tricky colors couldn't be better and nice catch light too. Ideally the OOF foreground twig wouldn't be there but it is, though it's a very minor issue for me, esp given the species, habitat and challenges. Neat shot!

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments