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One from the garden, a common bird here in the UK - Blue Tit.

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Hi Noah, even common garden birds can be interesting when captured in a nice pose / composition :) !
Lots of detail while background is nicely blurred, light in the eye of the bird, nice weathered rough wood on which the bird is perched, but ... am I alone in thinking there is a significant magenta / purple cast over the bird? To me it seems white balance is off by quite a bit...
W.
 
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AlanF

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Hi Noah, even common garden birds can be interesting when captured in a nice pose / composition :) !
Lots of detail while background is nicely blurred, light in the eye of the bird, nice weathered rough wood on which the bird is perched, but ... am I alone in thinking there is a significant magenta / purple cast over the bird? To me it seems white balance is off by quite a bit...
W.
It's a really nice sharp shot. I played around with the white balance and the colours are indeed more natural if the temperature of the white balance is increased.
 
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ISv

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It's a really nice sharp shot. I played around with the white balance and the colours are indeed more natural if the temperature of the white balance is increased.
Hi Alan, how do you play with the temperature of the JPEG in DxO PL?!
I couldn't. On other hand increasing the highlights or the exposure in the JPEG will reduce the magenta to minimum. Slight play with the mid-tones will reduce it (but I didn't play with this with this particular JPEG) even more. In generally when taking photos early morning or around sunset I'm getting more red in the pictures (absolutely normal, that's the real light at that time), mix it with the blue of the sky and = magenta (especially if you are making -EV correction to preserve the highlights).
When using (and I always do it) RAW files, and if I need the real colors (and what is the real color - it's not the same over the day, depend on the sky, depend on the shade - especially under trees) than I can adjust the color with the temperature - like in the case of this Sanderling - let say to +/- white, but it's not what my eyes see and most probably not what Noah has seen in that time of the day.
 
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AlanF

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Hi Alan, how do you play with the temperature of the JPEG in DxO PL?!
I couldn't. On other hand increasing the highlights or the exposure in the JPEG will reduce the magenta to minimum. Slight play with the mid-tones will reduce it (but I didn't play with this with this particular JPEG) even more. In generally when taking photos early morning or around sunset I'm getting more red in the pictures (absolutely normal, that's the real light at that time), mix it with the blue of the sky and = magenta (especially if you are making -EV correction to preserve the highlights).
When using (and I always do it) RAW files, and if I need the real colors (and what is the real color - it's not the same over the day, depend on the sky, depend on the shade - especially under trees) than I can adjust the color with the temperature - like in the case of this Sanderling - let say to +/- white, but it's not what my eyes see and most probably not what Noah has seen in that time of the day.
I download images and then open in Preview on the Mac to read the EXIFs. There is a temperature slider in Preview’s adjust colour.
 
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Hi Noah, even common garden birds can be interesting when captured in a nice pose / composition :) !
Lots of detail while background is nicely blurred, light in the eye of the bird, nice weathered rough wood on which the bird is perched, but ... am I alone in thinking there is a significant magenta / purple cast over the bird? To me it seems white balance is off by quite a bit...
W.

Thanks for your comments & critical eye, Nat. You're right, it does look off. It was a quick edit and upload of a shot I'd just taken. I'll take more care next time. :)
 
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It's a really nice sharp shot. I played around with the white balance and the colours are indeed more natural if the temperature of the white balance is increased.

Thanks Alan, I've done the same now and it looks more natural. I imported the RAW file into Photos, cropped and exported as JPEG to upload. (Must do better next time!)

p.s. How is the 90D for birds in flight and spot focusing? The EOS R is still hopeless at BIF even with the new firmware so I'm looking at replacing my 7DII with one until Canon make a decent camera ;). It's cheaper than the other (unspoken) options as I have genuine batteries, lenses, extenders etc. that would cost a small fortune to replace.
 
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AlanF

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Thanks Alan, I've done the same now and it looks more natural. I imported the RAW file into Photos, cropped and exported as JPEG to upload. (Must do better next time!)

p.s. How is the 90D for birds in flight and spot focusing? The EOS R is still hopeless at BIF even with the new firmware so I'm looking at replacing my 7DII with one until Canon make a decent camera ;). It's cheaper than the other (unspoken) options as I have genuine batteries, lenses, extenders etc. that would cost a small fortune to replace.
I have done an extensive review https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?threads/eos-90d-hands-on-review.37589/ which is summed up in the last posting. In short, the spot focus is excellent: very fast and accurate, and at least as good as in the 5DIV, 5DSR and 7DII. For BIF, In I either use the centre 9 points, which are not quite as fast as the centre point alone but still very good at quickly locking on and then staying stuck when panning or for big slow birds just the centre point. Using all points works against a clear sky, however can be too slow but will track across much of the viewfinder.

It pairs beautifully with the 100-400mm II, and I am at this stage dropping using the 1.4xTCIII. The bare 90D +100-400mm II has better IQ and resolution on the 90D than the lens +1.4xTC on the 5DIV (and the R by analogy). I was very impressed with the sharpness of the bluetit shot, for which you used the 1.4xTC on the 100-400mm II. You do get an increase in resolution with the TC with the 90D, but you lose acutance.
 
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Cog

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I've started using Olympus e-m1 m II with a 300mm lens for bird photography more and more often recently. And when I travel in the summer, I often have only 40-150mm instead of 300mm. Light weight is a huge advantage if your trip is not meant to be about shooting wildlife. I'm not sure if it fits the Canon forum, but it may be interesting to compare the on-site field performance of the two systems.

So a few Oly samples from this summer. 40-150, mostly at 150mm, sometimes with a 1.4 extender.















And brown pelicans in flight:


 
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ISv

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I've started using Olympus e-m1 m II with a 300mm lens for bird photography more and more often recently. And when I travel in the summer, I often have only 40-150mm instead of 300mm. Light weight is a huge advantage if your trip is not meant to be about shooting wildlife. I'm not sure if it fits the Canon forum, but it may be interesting to compare the on-site field performance of the two systems.

So a few Oly samples from this summer. 40-150, mostly at 150mm, sometimes with a 1.4 extender.















And brown pelicans in flight:


Great shots Cog!
 
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ISv

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My trip to find the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (and Long-billed Dowitcher, they were already reported here last week!!!) got abrupt: we had some small storms around and there was a fallen telephone pool ahead, just 7-10miles from the destination (to go back and around the island from the opposite site was too much for me...)
Here are some photos on my way back home.
Chapter one: Juvenile Scaly-breasted Munia in comparing with the adult - there are some false reports of the African Silver-bill from very unusual/very low probability places and always from visitors to the Islands. I think somehow they are mixing the features of these two. If some one is interesting how to ID these birds, plus the Chestnut Munia (despite the age!!! The adults are easy...)) I think I can help. If nobody is planning to visit Hawaii soon it will take too much room (unnecessary!) here to tell and add photos.
First photo is adult Scaly-breasted Munia, next two are juveniles. DSC_3198_DxO.jpgDSC_3217_DxO.jpgDSC_3240_DxO.jpg
 
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ISv

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Chapter two: I'm not in love with Cattle Egrets but after these photos I may get into (there are 3-4 species of Centipedes around, as well as 4 species of Black Widow and it's all I care about here - on the land!). You have to search for the Widows but Centipedes are readily available so, I think I have now a lot of love to the Cattle Egrets:)! After the second photo I was kind of scared for the bird (the insect is still alive - look at the legs!). Finally, when I was already packing my equipment it swallow the centipede!DSC_3287_DxO.jpgDSC_3318_DxO.jpgDSC_3326_DxO.jpg
 
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Valvebounce

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Hi ISv.
Lovely shots, especially the Scaly-breasted Munia, the egrets aren’t too shabby either! ;)
I’m curious, are the centipedes dangerous, venomous?

Cheers, Graham.
Ps, look what you would have missed if not for the downed pole!
Pps, could you not just have gone over / under the pole, or was it too far to walk?
 
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