Rockin Redbird

Gallery: AvianPosted March 19, 201494 views8 comments

Actually, this fella had a severe case of the "itchies"! He twitched and ruffled every couple of seconds for a nice long photo shoot. Finally, he got so frustrated, that I think he decided to fluff up all his feathers and see if that would help. Unfortunately, it didn't.

I felt sorry for him but, it was so much fun watching this little guy fidget for such a long time. He was a great subject.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on March 19, 2014 at 12:30 PM

Nice color, a bit different image of a male cardinal than usual. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on March 19, 2014 at 1:34 PM

An interesting fluffed up pose but it does look to be OOF. It could be subject/camera movement. Hard to tell without camera settings.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 19, 2014 at 2:49 PM

Nice pose on the Cardinal. This looks like it may have been processed through a couple of artistic style filters. Can you give us any more on the specs on the capture and any post processing?

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on March 19, 2014 at 5:47 PM

Canon EOS 60D
Canon 70-300 zoom
f/5.6
1/160
250mm
ISO 200

I forgot, that the last setting was for flowers. I should have used a much higher ISO and shutter speed. The blurring is from him actively fluffing his feathers. He was shaking quite vigorously!
I used Topaz DeNoise to smooth out the background and used Nik to darken the background (all the branches were a distraction, so I made them "sort of" blend together). I also used Nik to bring out the detail in the bird after the DeNoise took away a bit of the crispness of the face and feet.
Even though it is not perfect, I love the photo. I hope some of you do, too. I think the blurring of the feathers may even enhance the photo....adding action to the scene. And, I think the gray feathers popping up through the red ones is unique.

Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments

Comment posted by Alan LaFaver on March 19, 2014 at 7:10 PM

I think this is a VERY pretty image. I like the colors and how you darkened the background.

Here are my critiques, some of which you already noted.
1-needed faster shutter speed. I do like the blurred feathers showing movement, but would like to see the head,eye, beak sharper.
2-i would lighten the shadows on the bird, brighten him up a bit, in contrast to the darker background.

Thats pretty much it. I like the crop. I might have even left more space on the right side. My natural tendency is to leave room on the side the bird is facing, but I think opposite would look good here. I think you did well with the blurred background also.

Al

Registered on February 28, 2014, 18 Posts, 147 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on March 19, 2014 at 9:13 PM

Thanks Alan,
I thought about making him brighter, but I was concerned, that he would look like he was pasted into the dark image. It was a dark and rainy day. As for the added area to the right side. I agree with you. I had cropped this, before I decided to really blend the branches together in shadow...and there is a bright branch just to the right of him.

Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on March 19, 2014 at 9:16 PM

By the way, Alan..welcome to NPN.

Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 19, 2014 at 11:21 PM

Nice colours and great pose, but- alas - pretty soft.

Sandy

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