Abert's Towhee

Gallery: AvianPosted February 1, 2013137 views9 comments

Abert’s Towhee (Pipilo aberti)

Place: Phoenix, AZ
Date: January 31, 2013, 5:33 pm
Equipment: Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E III (2x), G1325, RRS BH-55, Sidekick
Exposure: Aperture priority matrix metered, 1/160th @ f5.6, ISO 1600, natural light no fill
Raw, PS CS3 on Mac, 91% of frame, no noise reduction

Taken in our back yard about 20 minutes before sunset yesterday, through the glass patio door. This is one of the birds that my wife feeds mealworms, although we weren’t feeding when this was taken. I didn’t expect much from this with the lens wide open, high ISO , and intervening glass, but I’m quite happy with the result. I wish I hadn’t clipped the tip of the tail.

Honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. If possible please view the larger image before commenting.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on February 1, 2013 at 4:49 PM

Hello Richard, nice species - well exposed. Since the colors are rather 'dull' by itself, you brought the vibrancy out very well in my opinion, great job done ! As far as the clipped tail, to be terribly honest - this would be a no-shower for me, unless the species is extremely rare - that I cannot judge from here (I am on a business trip, so Bird Guides are at home). That said, I think the rest of the image is really great in terms of color tones, BG and pose & perch

, Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 1, 2013 at 6:50 PM

Beautiful, Richard. Sweet head turn and I like the soft tones of the image.

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

Comment posted by Edward Scott on February 1, 2013 at 7:52 PM

Yeah, f8 probably would have been better and too bad about clipping the tail. That said, I really really love this kind of shot Richard! My kinda stuff. I would consider stretching the canvas a little, filling in the tail and framing it.

Registered on February 8, 2012, 22 Posts, 70 Comments

Comment posted by Holly Morris on February 1, 2013 at 9:35 PM

The clipped tail doesn't bother me too much...might be nice to see it all, but we can't have it all. Working with nature can be a bit tricky...the pics not very busy, which is a plus and makes the towhee really stand out.
HollyMorris

Registered on October 9, 2012, 66 Posts, 112 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on February 1, 2013 at 9:41 PM

Too bad about the clipped tail, but a great image otherwise. Nice pose, your usual fine detail, and as much colour as you could tweak out of these guys.
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on February 1, 2013 at 10:27 PM

love the head turn, angle of light, and nice light in the eye. turned out quite well for shooting through the glass. the clipped tail is a deal breaker for me, but if you have it in another shot it probably wouldn't be too hard to add in, and IMO no different than a landscape photographer merging several images into a panorama.

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

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on February 2, 2013 at 9:39 AM

Clipped tail aside, it's a lovely shot of this bird - The details and light are excellent Rich.
Nice harmony of color, great pose/head-turn as well.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 2, 2013 at 10:58 AM

Very good results given the conditions you had to work with here. Maybe a 1.4x rather than the 2.0.

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

Comment posted by May Haga on February 4, 2013 at 1:42 PM

Excellent capture Richard. Despite shooting through the glass you have achieved very nice feather detail.

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