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Still Life with Bird
Still Life with Bird
vawendy


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Blue VI (Standard Editing*)
Collection: Portfolio
Date: Jun 27, 2018
Date Uploaded: Jun 27, 2018

[Jul. 8th, 2018 04:08:18 PM]

I actually had bluebirds this year! But didn't do much about photographing them. I was surprised, but extremely pleased to see that they had a second clutch this summer. (They can have up to three). But about 4 days before the blue challenge was announced something got the eggs.

I wasn't sure that they would come back for mealworms. And actually, I got everything but bluebirds for awhile. I had carolina wrens that had babies nearby. They would grab a full mouthful and fly off somewhere. There weren't many mealworms left when the bluebirds did stop by! They only came twice over the four days that I played with the setup. I started out simple:



And then had to slowly get things set and get the birds used to it. The deck table got moved in front of the railing. The bottle was too tall, so my sewing machine cover was put on the railing as a backdrop holder.

Carolina wrens ate the mealworms. Squirrels ate the blueberries. It was starting to look like I was going to have to have a "blue interrupted" shot since the bluebirds weren't appearing.

Voila!! They came! Only stayed about 10 minutes, but long enough to at least get a shot.

In the meantime, I had been playing with flash to get the lighting right.

And then the flash stopped communicating with the camera! So had to dial up the ISO and cross my fingers.

I'm still waiting for the perfect still life to appear so I can do this better. I just suck at arranging things. I need a still life expert from DPC to come and set up a still life and I'll provide the bird and the patience (this was about 10+ hours of waiting).

Thanks for the comments and even a fav!

Statistics
Place: 5 out of 157
Avg (all users): 6.4610
Avg (commenters): 7.2500
Avg (participants): 6.3913
Avg (non-participants): 6.7692
Views since voting: 1200
Views during voting: 243
Votes: 141
Comments: 28
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 07/11/2018 09:03:16 PM
Beautiful love your other one in your comments too!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/10/2018 09:35:08 AM
Nice job Wendy. Beautiful shot. Congrats on 5th! It's like you're the bluebird whistler!!! :)

Message edited by author 2018-07-10 09:36:08.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 11:14:06 PM
Wow, Wendy!

WOW!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 10:42:16 PM
Congrats Wendy, well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 09:59:35 PM
Glad is in top 5. Congrats on the HM.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 07:49:47 PM
Incredible! Congrats, Wendy.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 04:31:16 PM
I wondered how you got the bird in the shot. Love this!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 03:07:47 PM
Now that is dedication. You must have a fabulous viewing time in your garden.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 02:35:46 PM
Thanks for the explanation of the process, your diligence was rewarded.
This was a 7 for me and would have been higher but for that lable on the wine bottle. It is the source of the brightest whites and the greatest contrasts in the image (and letters always pull the eye), but it doesn't contribute to the overalll image at all. Had you turned the bottle so the lable's impact was diminished (or better yet soaked it off) the bird and the flower would have had their rightful place as the magnets to the eye. With the subtle reflections on the bottle and the blueberries in harmony.
PS..spraying the bottle with artist's fixative, or hairspray will diffuse reflections giving blurry highlights and lines instead of crisp reflections of whatever is behind the photographer.

Message edited by author 2018-07-09 14:39:41.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 01:19:59 PM
Big congratulations. I love this shot and Blue Birds are some of my favorite birds.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 09:54:57 AM
Congrats on the HM Wendy; I knew this had to be you! I really like the outtake you posted too, simple, clean.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 09:22:35 AM
Delighted this got a front page place - your patience and perseverance paid off :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 02:15:07 AM
The old Wendy is back, great image!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 01:28:20 AM
I thought it was a stuffed bird, and only gave it a 7, but seeing as you kicked our arse's with this shot, it could only be from you and not stuffed. Well done indeed!!! xox
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 01:07:50 AM
Oh man, the bluebirds are back....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/09/2018 12:07:37 AM
congrats wendy on 5th place ..
its a fantastic image .. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
07/08/2018 11:11:58 PM
Is that bird a living creature. Hard to believe with standard editing. Still, nicely executed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/08/2018 03:46:05 PM
Pleasing still life... love all the different blues. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/08/2018 02:31:47 PM
Amazing shot. I would love to know how you captured that bluebird on the glass.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/08/2018 12:10:54 AM
The bird is a wonderful inclusion.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/05/2018 10:31:34 AM
nice still like and the bird is a great addition, is it real? If so that took some effort and patience to get a shot like this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/04/2018 12:34:29 PM
How did you get that bird to pose like that?! BTW, I really like that wine :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/04/2018 10:13:47 AM
what a collage!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/03/2018 05:41:36 PM
If that's a real bird this is awesome! It it's NOT a real bird, it's still awesome! Way cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/03/2018 11:38:41 AM
Kudos on getting the bird in the photo. Can't even guess how you pulled that off. Well composed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/03/2018 11:34:44 AM
Well presented & arrangement.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/02/2018 12:29:53 PM
Very well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/02/2018 03:16:51 AM
uuhhh there is a lot going on in this still life - too much for my personal taste... I'd prefer a more plain bg
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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