Red-bellied WP

Gallery: AvianPosted February 5, 2011106 views7 comments

Finally got a decent shot of this species. Usually, I'm looking up at them as they probe the tree bark thirty feet above me.

This is a significant crop, but I liked the colors of the background and felt the bird was still reasonably sharp.

All comments and critiques welcome.

Nikon D80
Mode: Aperature
ISO: 400
Lens: Nikon 300mm f/4 & TC-17E II
Exp: 1/640 sec at f/6.7
Hand Held
50% of FF

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Ryan Marshik on February 5, 2011 at 10:50 PM

Looks quite nice for a heavy crop.

Your right, the blue color in the lower right really makes this image.
Wonder about cropping more of the tree and adding a little on the right, letting more of that blue creep in.
Nice work

Registered on February 1, 2011, 10 Posts, 103 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on February 6, 2011 at 2:38 AM

Good composition Jeff, I agree with your assessment of the photo.

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

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on February 6, 2011 at 3:30 AM

A big crop, but still a very good image ! You are right: very nice colors.
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on February 6, 2011 at 7:29 AM

Jeff,

I agree with your own evaluation of this image. I love the colors, the pose, great look at the eye and how nicely you handled the exposure.

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

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on February 6, 2011 at 8:40 AM

Jeff, this looks good in the smaller version. I too would show less tree and more behind the bird if this were mine. In the larger version, I have a hard time finding a sharp point. Not sure what might have happened. 50% of FF is not that large of a crop and I would expect to see better definition and detail in some part of the image. Did you perhaps sharpen this in a larger version and then decrease the size to 1200px with that original sharpening in place. Doing that can sometimes mess up the detail in an image. Overall, I like the pose and colors, just wish it was a bit sharper.

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

Comment posted by Wayne Rhodus on February 6, 2011 at 11:32 AM

Nice light on your subject and a wonderful bg. I like the suggestion to include more of the right side of the frame in lieu of the tree.

Registered on November 16, 2003, 157 Posts, 3326 Comments

Comment posted by Jeff Loomis on February 7, 2011 at 10:53 AM

Thanks all. I'll definitely revisit this image and try your crop suggestions.

Ron - You said

I would expect to see better definition and detail in some part of the image

- that's exactly what I thought when working with this. It could be from camera shake, or perhaps the camera just mis-focused. Or, it could be in the processing. I typically do some basic processing (in PS Elements) with USM as the last step. Then I duplicate the file and resize it for posting. Then select 'Adjust Sharpness' as a final adjustment. Should I adjust my workflow?

Registered on January 26, 2010, 68 Posts, 719 Comments