Singing in the rain RP2

Gallery: AvianPosted April 17, 2017516 views15 comments

I am posting this because everyone has heard Sandy, Dennis, members of the California contingent, and myself complain about the rain this year. Sandy says they got three times their normal in Southwest Oregon. Dennis and I are having our third wettest winter on record in the Olympia area with 2 and 1/2 times normal rainfall in February and March. Yesterday it was dry enough to mow the lawn; a welcome break. It does make it difficult to get out and take pictures and do other things... This Song Sparrow echos my sentiment!

Iso 800, 600 mm, F9, 160th, D 500, no flash, tripod, essentially full frame and cropped to square format, Topaz and TK actions

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on April 17, 2017 at 2:21 PM

If you can figure out how, send some of that lovely rain to the desert SouthWest. We'd love to have some here in Albuquerque!!

Nice image. Nice pose, nice background. Something is odd about the eye. Maybe just needs to be darker

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

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on April 17, 2017 at 2:24 PM

Works for me David, just drop the Blue. Could go slower on the SS, all depends on how you want the rain streaks to appear to add atmosphere to the scene.

TFS
Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 17, 2017 at 3:36 PM

Perfect title! Courtship and mating carries in despite the weather.
Great pose and perch, really nice detail, and sweet BG.
That blue eye is called "steel eye" and is easily corrected. Us the magnetic lasso to surround and select the eye (or whatever program you use), and experiment with the sliders. And/Or, go to the saturation -> blue or cyan channels-> and reduce the blues channel with the sliders.
now terrific image - then, very excellent image!
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on April 17, 2017 at 4:19 PM

'Something is odd about the eye.'

Keith, it's all part of the blue coming through.

Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on April 17, 2017 at 4:43 PM

According to the book: "Secrets of Digital Bird Photography" by William Majoros, steel eye is caused by micro contrast issues, most of the time by a flash but it can occur in the sun. Since it was raining when this image was taken & I did not use a flash, there must've been some strong reflection in this song sparrows eye to create the micro contrast issue. I have corrected it with Vivenza. I've also reduced the blue saturation by 40%. Please note, it had already been reduced by 40% but in the rain, the blue saturation tends to be exaggerated even more.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on April 17, 2017 at 5:36 PM

'Something is odd about the eye.'

Keith, it's all part of the blue coming through.

Steve

Yes, I'm fully aware. Just pointing out to the poster the issue. The suggested solutions are far more complex than necessary. No need for any 3rd party software. As a photoshop instructor, I'm more than aware of color issues and solutions.

Keith

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 17, 2017 at 5:48 PM

A beautiful singing pose and perch, David. The techs look spot on and I like the typical cloudy day reflection in the eye. Nothing I would change in this one.

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

Comment posted by Jim Gavin on April 17, 2017 at 8:16 PM

I echo those comments, especially for the Long Beach Peninsula. In March about 18" of rain. Hasn't stopped in April. Even lots of rain here in Yakima where it rarely rains. Now, to the image: Love it. Everything. I suspect you captured it exactly as it appeared.

Registered on August 14, 2008, 293 Posts, 1250 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on April 17, 2017 at 9:23 PM

Excellent detail and a nice perch and pose, David. I like the falling rain drops. As mentioned the blue in the eye gives it a very unnatural look. I think I would be tempted to darken it more than the repost.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on April 18, 2017 at 10:38 AM

David: wonderful capture which is just a pleasure to look at. Everything about it is great. Hang it! Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on April 18, 2017 at 2:33 PM

David, you nailed this one, even with the funky eye. I think simply darkening it will fix it. The repost is an improvement. This is one of those images where everything came together for you. I like the square crop for this too. Excellent!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on April 18, 2017 at 2:48 PM

Dark eye

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on April 18, 2017 at 5:11 PM

Perfect!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on April 18, 2017 at 8:57 PM

Nice work David. I like the SS you chose and the length of the rain streaks look good to me. My first thought was you used a flash (until I didn't see one posted in your comments). Nice job on the re-post with the eye. Like Keith said, we can use some rain in the SW. Colorado's had one of it's driest springs (so far) on record. Good thing we had above average snowfall so we won't have a drought.

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

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on April 21, 2017 at 2:58 PM

This guy looks none too pleased about the rain as well. Feather detail is superb! Very well executed image. The eye looks a bit wonky in the original post, but your repost definitely fixed that.

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments