| Photograph Information |
Photographer's Comments |
Challenge: Portrait Of A Wild Bird (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: Birds
Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 100-300mm F/4.0 EX IF HSM for Nikon
Location: Springfield, VA
Date: Dec 27, 2009
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/800
Galleries: Nature, Birds
Date Uploaded: Dec 23, 2009
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I figure anyone who's been here awhile is likely to think this is  vawendy's image, so I couldn't *not* mention that in my title ;-) Same state, but I'm a fair distance north and west of her.
And I have never seen a Bluebird in my yard before today!!! Mind you, I've lived in the same house for 20 years, but I don't live in a Bluebird-friendly bit of land, nor do I put anything in my feeders they'd be attracted to. They have no reason to want to visit here.
This one shows up while I am shooting birds (for about the 6th time this week) and just casually hangs out while I take his picture. I am stunned!!! I must have been really good this year to get a new camera and have a Bluebird show up in the same week as a Wild Bird challenge :-))) Just getting the shot made me happy! Framed by that curvy branch and looking straight at me, no less. Talk about luck of the Irish ;-)
PP - cropped, tonemapped in qtpfsgui (pregamma 0.697, mantiuk method, contrast mapping 0.1, saturation factor 1.49, detail factor 1), copied as layer onto original and merged at 50% transparency (just wanted a little more feather detail), white balance, increased contrast, cloned out a couple of small branches and shadows and cloned in some texture on the bird's chest in places, slight vignette, resized, sharpened, blurred background more, added border. |
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01/04/2010 04:12:37 PM |
| Mary...I gave this photo a 7...I just love the remarkable colors and beautiful detail! Well done! |
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01/04/2010 10:53:33 AM |
| btw, wonderful shot!! he's a beauty! |
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01/04/2010 10:52:53 AM |
haha!!! I just noticed this -- I was traveling home to Minnesota these past two weeks.
Quick!! put some suet out! The love the suet with blueberries in it. The like mealworms, too, but it takes a long time for them to find the mealworms, and everything else eats them instead. But they really like suet. |
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01/04/2010 09:19:56 AM |
| This deserved top 5. It is incredible. |
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01/04/2010 04:50:02 AM |
| Well done, great finish and now a new 3rd PB in your profile. Congrats. |
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Comments Made During the Challenge  |
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01/03/2010 11:35:49 PM |
| Very pretty. I love seeing all the colors on the bird. |
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01/03/2010 10:26:37 PM |
| A redbird...how pretty...you did a fab job |
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01/01/2010 08:16:42 AM |
| AWESOME!! Fingers crossed top five!!! |
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12/31/2009 12:52:58 PM |
| this is very nice but i think possibly a bit less exposure and a slightly different crop would be better 8 |
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12/30/2009 06:40:23 PM |
| Well this has to be an omen for your new year. Much happiness to you, whoever you are. This image makes me happy. |
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12/30/2009 02:04:49 PM |
| Nice comp and lighting, 8. |
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12/30/2009 07:32:49 AM |
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12/30/2009 12:26:55 AM |
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12/29/2009 08:38:22 PM |
| She sent you a beauty! Nicely done. |
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12/29/2009 08:47:41 AM |
| Wonderful. The catchlight, the texture and color of his feathers!! Terrific use of negative space. 8 |
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12/28/2009 11:14:13 PM |
| Nice DoF on this...blurred enough to set off the bird nicely but blurred so much as to not provide information about its environment. Nice color to this as well! |
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12/28/2009 10:29:44 PM |
| Very well done... DOF could have been just a wee bit better. Exposure is very well balanced, thanks for that, so many people have just absolutely blown out the highlights of their birds in this challenge. |
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12/28/2009 07:29:07 PM |
| Great definition on the feathers. Nice work. |
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12/28/2009 06:42:57 PM |
| gorgeous lighting here. nice detail too. |
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12/28/2009 01:31:49 PM |
| At least she is sharing these beautiful birds. WOW lovely light and shadows. |
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12/28/2009 10:50:14 AM |
Great shot, although i think that maybe you could improve it (just my opinion):
-The subject is too much off-centered
-The background is a little distracting, maybe another aperture or adding a TC could help to isolate the bird, but i understand that maybe it was not possible on the field.
-Rotate a little the image. The bird seems tilted.
Congrats on this wonderful picture.8 |
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12/28/2009 08:41:46 AM |
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12/28/2009 05:27:30 AM |
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12/28/2009 03:13:11 AM |
| Beautiful lighting and DOF. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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