Mountain Bluebird

Gallery: AvianPosted June 12, 2010267 views26 comments

We found this female and her mate busily feeding fledglings on the ground in the back country of the San Rafael Swell of central Utah on 6/3/10. Here she was changing her position on the precarious perch, thus the pose. I tried to get the busy background as OOF as possible but it was pretty close to the bird.

Between the substantial crop and busy background I'm not sure of the overall strength of the image but I liked the pose well enough to run it by all of you to see what you think.

Larger version provided.

7D, 1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, tripod, adjusted exposure slightly in ACR, cropped to 45% of original image, NR to background in CS4 (first time I've ever tried it), sharpening to most of the bird, no additional adjustments/processing, natural light

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

26 comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on June 12, 2010 at 5:50 PM

Great pose and excellent habitat shot Ron. The background NR worked well-no evidence of any noise on my monitor.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on June 12, 2010 at 6:01 PM

The image quality looks great to me, Ron. Lovely pose. Great detail on the bird. Beautiful color. The background is a little busy but it's light enough to not be distracting.

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

Comment posted by denise ippolito on June 12, 2010 at 6:50 PM

Awesome pose and details. I love it the BG and the way it shows the habitat w/o being distracting. Nicely done.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on June 12, 2010 at 7:43 PM

A successful image as posted. I like the unusual pose,a nd I like the unusual background.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on June 12, 2010 at 7:49 PM

Very nice and sharp photo. Good treatment of the background. An unusual pose, works well. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on June 12, 2010 at 8:45 PM

I think it is terrific, Ron. Great capture, perfect techs and nice detail.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on June 12, 2010 at 8:45 PM

Ron,
Love the pose. Great feather detail and sharpness and you even got some catch light in the eye. I don't mind the twigs in the background at all. Very natural setting. The noise reduction worked well as I see no sign of background noise. Nice first attempt Ron. Way to go.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on June 12, 2010 at 9:58 PM

Ron, I love the pose--interesting how the tail is cocked over behind the right wing. sharpness is excellent, and I like this bg.

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

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on June 12, 2010 at 10:31 PM

Excellent as posted. The inclusion of the background habitat is natural and not overpowering. I can feel the wind and see the branch bending under the weight of the bluebird. As said... Excellent.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on June 12, 2010 at 11:01 PM

Ron, excellent habitat image. Great pose and detail, nice colors and good DOF to define the bird.
Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on June 12, 2010 at 11:28 PM

Hi Ron,
Like the pose this one struck for you. The little patch of blue near the tail is a nice addition to the image. I do find the background a bit too much. I think if those sticks were more out of focus it would not be so objectional. In the large image I can still see some noise. I honestly think you could have been more aggressive with the noise removal of the background only. Besides removing the little noise remaining, it might also cause more blurring of those sticks. I would also try to darken those sticks to make them blend in better with the background.
Thanks for posting,
Ronnie G.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on June 13, 2010 at 12:56 AM

Honestly, I like the background and I'm as much a fan of those creamy, dreamy smooth backgrounds as anyone, so not too busy at all. Really exciting pose, I can just imagine her tipping back and forth on the thin perch. Great photo Ron.

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

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on June 13, 2010 at 3:05 AM

Nice one Ron - background is busy but the strength of the bird overcomes that I think. Like the small patch of blue in an otherwise grey/brown image

cheers
Rob

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

Comment posted by John Kerr on June 13, 2010 at 7:37 AM

IMO you've captured the pose quite well. Nice detail and sharpness in the feathers and head and I like the blueish feathers on the rump. The BG is OOF enough not to steal any attention away from the bird yet shows enough detail to give a habitat feel to the overall image.

Registered on October 28, 2009, 111 Posts, 1070 Comments

Comment posted by Roy Bailey on June 13, 2010 at 9:41 AM

Very nice Ron lovely seperation between bird and background and I especially like the detail and texture in the underwing area.

Registered on November 16, 2008, 24 Posts, 486 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on June 13, 2010 at 12:05 PM

Ron,
I like this beautiful image as posted. Really nice!

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on June 13, 2010 at 12:53 PM

No nits here..I think this is wonderful!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by David Chauvin on June 13, 2010 at 1:15 PM

Great capture of the pose with sharp detail throughout the bird. The bg is busy, but I'd be happy to have this one in the files.

Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on June 13, 2010 at 4:36 PM

Looks a strong image to me Ron, I like these habitat shots. It may be a 45% crop but there are still lots of pixels in the image using this camera and the NR has been very effective. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on June 13, 2010 at 5:22 PM

Ron this is great. I love the wing movement

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on June 13, 2010 at 5:26 PM

Ron,

You already know that I think this is a fine image so I will repeat myself and say yet again "this is fine image".

Love the pose, the background, light, sharpness and detail.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on June 13, 2010 at 8:04 PM

That's a neat pose Ron, nice job with the nr, the bg doesn't bother me at all here

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on June 13, 2010 at 8:26 PM

Interesting pose, very sharp and I like the habitat in background.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on June 14, 2010 at 7:31 AM

Ron:
I like the pose, the patch of blue (dating myself here, but remember the movie with Sidney Poitier and Shelley Winters with this title?), and DOF. I think you heard this from Mia, but it's a fine image. I agree with the suggestion to be a tad more aggressive with the BG noise reduction. The sharpness gradient seen as you move from the head to the tip of the upraised wing is very nice.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Derrick Lipinski on June 15, 2010 at 1:08 AM

Wonderful capture, Ron. In my view, the position and detail of the bird far outweigh any distraction of the BG; in fact, I like the BG as is since it gives a good impression of habitat.

This photo has a certain "Audubon" feel to it; very nice.

Registered on October 5, 2007, 58 Posts, 2039 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on June 15, 2010 at 4:17 PM

I like the unusual pose and the background does not bother me, it is their habitat, you work with what you are given, nice job.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments