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Red Winged Blackbird - Ridgefield NWR

Discussion

5 replies
Posted by Rick Lamb on March 29, 2008 at 12:33 AM
Canon 1D Mark III
Tamron 200-500mm F/5.0-6.3
1/500 sec @ F/7.0 & ISO 400
Handheld from the Driver's Seat

This was taken our last morning in Ridgefield. We sat next to some cattails and waited for these guys to land close enough to be photo-worthy. We got lucky on a few!!

One thing I would do differently for Red Winged Blackbirds in the future would be to expose maybe 1/2 - 3/4 over to brighten up the darker areas a bit more. Some of this is mighty BLACK!! But overall I still like the end result.

As always lemme know what yall think!
Posted by Darren White on March 29, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Rick, what are those white specs just above his back....
Posted by Rick Lamb on March 29, 2008 at 11:56 AM
That's actually steam from his breath on a very cold morning!!
Posted by John Williams on March 29, 2008 at 1:54 PM
The steam is cool! Nice job with handling the tonal range here, something not easy to do with RWBBs in morning light, and showing the colors of the coverts well. I do wish the bird wasn't turned away (I hope you didn't give him a big tip :biggrin: ), and I'd be tempted to crop it square.
Posted by Ned Fenimore on March 30, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Excellent shot.. I didn't realize that the red transitions into yellow on these guys...
Posted by dan elster on March 31, 2008 at 2:00 AM
very cool. I like the fact that while you have a good look at the eye, the bird is looking off into the distance. I don't know if there is a way to bring out the steam a bit more w/ a little PS, it really adds a lot.

Exposing black birds of any species is very challenging, more so than white if you ask me.