Yellow Headed Blackbird

Gallery: AvianPosted April 24, 2013109 views16 comments

My thanks to Craig Strand for letting me know these had returned to Ridgefield NWR and where to look for them. I got lucky this morning and this one posed at nearly point blank range. Sorry for the long absence from this forum, but I seem to have been in a bird slump. However, the Goldfinches are back, so watch out.

7D, 500mm f4 ISL + 1.4TC on beanbag from car window. f8, 1/800, iso 400, Av mode with no compensation. Raised the exposure 1/3 stop in ACR, otherwise processed in CS6. I used Topaz Detail for sharpening-I'm finding I like the flexibility it gives. Cropped from a horizontal original to 8.2 MP.

Your comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for looking,

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on April 24, 2013 at 11:48 PM

Very nicely done Dennis. Good to see you back. (I took a long vacation from the forum also). Not an easy bird to properly expose and you did a real nice job on this. Colors, detail, BG all great and love the cottontail perch.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on April 25, 2013 at 12:12 AM

Love the pose Dennis

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

Comment posted by Iain McGill on April 25, 2013 at 12:12 AM

Dennis, This is gorgeous! Thanks!
Iain

Registered on April 8, 2013, 11 Posts, 24 Comments

Comment posted by John Sherman on April 25, 2013 at 1:56 AM

Nicely lit - I like the dark rim atop the head. Beautiful in it's simplicity.

Registered on March 10, 2013, 31 Posts, 142 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 25, 2013 at 3:49 AM

A simply sweet portrait

Excellent details and the perfect head turn.

A Beauty Dennis!!!

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 25, 2013 at 7:28 AM

A super shot Dennis. Love the head position and the BG. Nice exposure.

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

Comment posted by Craig Strand on April 25, 2013 at 7:36 AM

This is a beautiful capture Dennis, I really like his pose and the downward tilt of the head. Great job on the exposure. I'm glad you were able to shoot one up close, as mentioned, at Ridgefield NWR they are very territorial with the red-winged blackbirds and the reds usually hold the close in cattails.

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

Comment posted by Mark Jenkins on April 25, 2013 at 9:58 AM

Really nice shot, Dennis. Like the lighting, pose, BG and sharpness of the face.

Registered on April 20, 2008, 307 Posts, 604 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on April 25, 2013 at 10:59 AM

Perfect Pose. The reeds in the background are fantastic (at least that's what I think they are!).

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on April 25, 2013 at 12:46 PM

Wonderful detail in the larger version. I like the pose, perch and background, way to go Dennis.

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 25, 2013 at 12:48 PM

Lovely pose from this fellow! The head and eye is sharp, but you needed a bit more DOF to get the tail also sharp - only a minor nit. Really nice BG.
Sandy

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

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on April 25, 2013 at 7:31 PM

Wonderful light and background, Dennis. Really brings out the colors of this species.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by keith mitchell on April 26, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Dennis you have got some super detail in this shot as already mentioned the perch and the bg look great.
Keith.

Registered on July 12, 2008, 127 Posts, 1735 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 26, 2013 at 6:52 AM

Everything came together for you here, very nice Dennis.
I can't add anything that's not been said..
Sweet image & have a great weekend!

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

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on April 26, 2013 at 2:34 PM

Dennis, great work on a really tough subject. The blacks are very well handled.

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments

Comment posted by Kirk Greene on April 27, 2013 at 7:19 PM

Fantastic image! A little more DOF would have been ideal but that is a very minor nit on this great photo.

Registered on May 12, 2004, 191 Posts, 1578 Comments