Red-breasted Nuthatch (+ Repost)

Gallery: AvianPosted February 26, 2012111 views9 comments

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) photographed at a local park yesterday. I should mention, for the sake of disclosure, that there are feeders at that location.

I am experimenting with the camera settings based on the feedback I have received (thank you) and wanted a good chance at shots under varying conditions.

For PP, I am trying to incorporate adjustements layers and masks (CS5) in my LR3 workflow because I think it gives me better/additional control. In this case: curves, vibrance and hue/saturation. The lighter parts in the BG were toned down in LR3, plus the usual NR and sharpening. How does it look? Too much? Too little?

Canon 7D, Sigma 150-500 at 370 mm, ISO 500, Av, metering mode: pattern, EV bias -2/3, 1/250 sec at f/11, HH, no flash, large RAW cropped to 60 %.

C & Cs are welcome as always. Your feedback is helping me a lot. Thank you. Roger.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on February 26, 2012 at 10:15 AM

Love this Roger, your DOF is great and nice detail.

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on February 26, 2012 at 12:13 PM

Lovely contact with the bird. Nice colors. Since you mentioned settings, why the -2/3 ev. Looks like mostly shade here. Wouldn't think you would need it. Did you then need to lighten in PP?

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

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 26, 2012 at 1:58 PM

A solid image as posted. Always a fun species to have about. The color on the belly seems a bit unnatural - more saturated than I recall, and I suspect this is a result of the increase in vibrance (I avoid it in ACR in PS SC3).

I'm also surprised thast you mention "the usual NR" since at ISO 500 there shouldn't be a noise issue (at least not with the Nikons I use).

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

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on February 26, 2012 at 2:12 PM

Richard and Angela have pretty much addressed my nits, except I have never seen the species. I am not over fond of the sharp division from dark to white bisecting the bird. The perch is great and the pose and detail of the bird are outstanding.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Murphy on February 26, 2012 at 7:28 PM

Nice Nuthatch image. I like that he's on a thin perch.

Registered on December 3, 2003, 192 Posts, 739 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on February 27, 2012 at 11:18 PM

A very nice, tight shot. I agree with Richard that the belly color is off. Put the original along side your posted image and I think you'll see some change. Very nice depth of field. I agree with Phil that the sharp line above the middle back is distracting, but there may not have been anything you could do about it. All minor nits on a very nice image of a hyper, difficult little bird.

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

Comment posted by May Haga on March 1, 2012 at 10:47 AM

Lovely image Roger. I always love these little guys.
May

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

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on March 8, 2012 at 11:06 AM

Great details/colors & I like the interesting light here Roger.
I also like the diagonal aspect, and the close comp works well for this one

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on May 3, 2012 at 1:01 PM

Thank you all for your comments and feedback. I have reduced the vibrance in the repost. My monitor is not calibrated and I have since seen some of my images on another monitor. To make matters short, I really need to get the equipment to calibrate the monitor. The photo had indeed taken in a stand of trees that was mostly in shade. There were openings where the sunlight reflected on snow entered through the branches. Test exposures (sans birds) blew the highlights. So, I set the exposure at -2/3 EV with the intent on increasing//lowering the exposure selectively during PP. Not the best option, but the only one I could think of at the time. I usually use some NR, but will try without at low ISO. The unfortunate dark/bright edge bisecting the bird is a tree. This is one of my best Red-breasted Nuthatch photos, and I sure wish it were not there. Thanks. Roger

Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments