Audubon's Oriole

Gallery: AvianPosted March 17, 2011301 views23 comments

Just back from the NANPA Summit in McAllen, Texas - excellent workshops and Photoshop classes, lots of birds, great people - and good food too.
South Texas is extremely hot and dry much of the year, and a very harsh environment for the birds and animals. Most places have food and water out for the critters. This oriole was coming in for water and/or orange bits.

Please see the re-post below, as I'd be interested in thoughts on the upper left flowers. - pros and cons.

D300s
500mm
1/125 sec, f/10
Mode: Av
Metering: Multi-segment
ISO: 320
AF mode: AF-C
White balance: AUTO
Flash: Off

Comments

23 comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on March 17, 2011 at 2:58 PM

Nice shot- Great exposure job (difficult with black and yellow feathers), with nice details and perch- I'd clone out the little flowers on left side- Well done, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on March 17, 2011 at 4:56 PM

Beautiful capture Sandy. The perch matches the bird very nicely. I rather like the flower on the left upper side.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on March 17, 2011 at 7:11 PM

Love Orioles. The flowered branch is a perfect setting for this. Nice work, Sandy.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on March 17, 2011 at 7:16 PM

Beautiful bird, and the flowers are a wonderful compliment. I like your composition and the pose you caught.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on March 17, 2011 at 7:21 PM

Sandy, I like the simplicity of the image with the clean background and similar colors in bird and perch. Nice head turn and I think f/10 served you well. One small area on the left shoulder looks a bit bright but this was a very challenging exposure.

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

Comment posted by Larry Reitz on March 17, 2011 at 8:23 PM

Sandy, I like everything about this image except the small flowers in the upper left corner. Even in the thumbnail they drew my eye right to them, trying to figure out what was there.

Registered on September 7, 2007, 32 Posts, 335 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on March 17, 2011 at 9:36 PM

Lovely shot. The color match between the bird and the flowers works so well and the pose is great.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on March 17, 2011 at 9:38 PM

Sandy,
Sounds like you had a great time in Texas. I really like this bird. Have not seen one before. The perch is such a perfect compliment to the bird. The background looks like a muted pastel painting and very complimentary to the image. Great job on the exposure. Very difficult looking subject to get right. Did you have to compensate at all?

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

Comment posted by KC Choo on March 17, 2011 at 9:44 PM

Very nicely done, and the yellow flowered perch adds to this. I'd remove the small bits ULC. It's an Oriole I have not seen.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on March 17, 2011 at 10:29 PM

A wonderful image of a beautiful bird, very well done Sandy :^)

In my part of the world we have a different species of the same family, a Black-Naped Oriole, which has very similar colouring and just as magnificent looking with it's rich yellow feathers. Although I've had numerous opportunities to photograph them here in Thailand, it was only on a recent trip to Malaysia that I managed to get my first fairly decent images of them, at least one of which I'm aiming to post up soon ;^)

Kind regards,

Ashley

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 17, 2011 at 11:05 PM

David, the highlights were fine in the histogram, so I did not compensate at all. I agree with Ron D that the left shoulder is a bit bright, though. I'll re-post with a correction in a few minutes.
Sandy

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 17, 2011 at 11:19 PM

Ok, left shoulder dampened a bit and the left upper flowers removed - I think I still like them in, though - a little different.
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Sonja Otto on March 17, 2011 at 11:47 PM

I loved how the flower color compliments the color of the bird. My first impression on the flower at the upper left corner was that it "framed," along with the flowers on the branch, the bird in a different kind of way. I really like that. It also gave some color to the background in that corner. Very beautiful shot.
Sonja

Registered on February 15, 2011, 0 Posts, 21 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Holguin on March 18, 2011 at 2:42 AM

Hello Sandy. Beautiful image you have created here. Well exposed, love the perch. Lovely background and great eye contact. Well done.

Registered on January 25, 2011, 44 Posts, 294 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on March 18, 2011 at 4:44 AM

Nice one Sandy - love the combination of yellow flowers and plumage

cheers
Rob

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

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 18, 2011 at 4:45 AM

Can't decide which version I like better, either way it's Super Sweet! Excellent Photo Sandy

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on March 18, 2011 at 2:40 PM

Super capture, Sandy. Awesome perch on a branch whose colors echoes those of the bird ! Great pose too.
Mauro

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

Comment posted by Dottie Short on March 18, 2011 at 2:55 PM

Lovely image and creamy background. I like the second image, but there is not a thing wrong with the first one either. My birds seemed to land on cactus. How did you get your to be so color coordinated?

Registered on April 12, 2010, 61 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 18, 2011 at 4:30 PM

Nice bird and good image. I prefer the processing in the repost, but I think the flowers in the ULC help to balance the composition and prefer them in the frame.

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

Comment posted by Jay Levin on March 18, 2011 at 9:04 PM

Wonderful pose and beautiful perch in this lovely capture, Sandy. As for the flowers on the left, I immediately saw them as a classic edge problem, which serves as a distraction. If by eliminating them you think there is now too much space above and to the left of the oriole, you could crop a bit. In any event, a beautiful shot.

Registered on April 24, 2009, 21 Posts, 184 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on March 19, 2011 at 7:59 AM

Very pretty Sandy. Repost looks better IMO and I'm glad you removed the "lone flower"

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

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 19, 2011 at 8:15 PM

Very nice Sandy. I too would remove the flowers in the ULHC. I like how the bird's and the flower's colors match.

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

Comment posted by Angela McCain on March 19, 2011 at 9:13 PM

Lovely image of this rare bird. The perch is a perfect compliment. Nice head turn and I like the comp you have chosen. I might run some noise reduction over the blacks. There is just a touch of noise there only.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments