Show your Bird Portraits

Jul 29, 2012
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Canada
While we have a small group that seems to stay through the winter, reinforcements have arrived and are starting to build nests. I've watched Yellow Crowned Night Herons for years and documented many behaviors but until last Sunday, I had never actually seen one take an actual bath. Perhaps it was just the annual 'Spring cleaning'.
1DX MK II 600 II w/1.4X 1/2000 : f/8 : ISO 1000


Beautiful shot, ERHP. Well done.
 
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Jul 29, 2012
17,656
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Canada
ISO 1600 1/4000 f 8


Nice shot, jprusa.
d055.gif
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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Just borrowed the new Sigma 60-600mm to test it with EOS-R.
Pileated Woodpecker, @600mm, f/6.3, ISO 1000.
Thanks for sharing as I am interested in how this lens performs. There have been mixed reports about it. Lenstip raves about its sharpness whereas pcmag's measurements show it to be rather soft at 400-600mm. Probably copy variation.
Ah, thanks for letting me know the birds.

I actually remember the german name of thr Blackcap, because it sounded so lovely weird to me (Mönchsgrasmücke = Munk Grass Mosquito). Just didn't have the picture to go with it.
As a matter of interest, was the shot of the male blackcap a 100% crop or was it reduced in size?
 
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Joules

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Jul 16, 2017
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As a matter of interest, was the shot of the male blackcap a 100% crop or was it reduced in size?
It was reduced and compressed fairly heavily, as I'm not sure which file size is required by the new forum. Might have overdone it, as I've noticed some compression artifacts in some of them. Before reduction it was a mild crop (from the 80D 6000 x 4000 down to 4492 x 2995).

I'm curious what sparked your interest in this.
 
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AlanF

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Aug 16, 2012
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It was reduced and compressed fairly heavily, as I'm not sure which file size is required by the new forum. Might have overdone it, as I've noticed some compression artifacts in some of them. Before reduction it was a mild crop (from the 80D 6000 x 4000 down to 4492 x 2995).

I'm curious what sparked your interest in this.
Yours is a nice sharp image, and sharper than I got with a 100% crop of a similar during the last week, and so I am relieved to know that my lens is not soft and you were much closer!

184496184497
 
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ISv

"The equipment that matters, is you"
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I've not participated in this thread for a fairly long while, but I've read and enjoyed basically all of it. So compliments to all of you, who fill this thread with this great variety of birds and all the amazing pictures of them.

Since I last posted some pictures I've upgraded my 55-250mm 3.5-5.6 IS STM to a Sigma 150-600mm 5.0-6.3 Contemporary, as I felt too limited with the range of the previous lens. And since I dabbled in some deep sky astrophotography recently it felt like a lens that will serve me well for multiple purposes. Between beeing busy and bad weather I hadn't really got a chance to try it out properly yet. That changed today, when I took the lens out for a great walk under a nice, mostly blue sky. I'm quite happy with the results, so I thought I'd share my favorites from the day. Unfortunately I'm not really sure what I photographed, so no ID's for these birds from me ... One's a Starling, and then there's a mallard Duck and some Babys of the same kind, and a carrion crow. The smaller ones I don't see in the garden and I don't know the names of the orange headed water bird. These are just the birds I came across walking along the strip of nature next to the Hamburg Airport (Germany), so they can't quite compete with all those colorfull tropical fellows that have filled many of the recent pages :LOL:

View attachment 184484View attachment 184478View attachment 184479View attachment 184480View attachment 184481View attachment 184482View attachment 184483
Nice photos Joules! Do you have some more pictures of the second from above bird (I think it's what Alan ID as a female Blackcap). Even if the photos are not very good I would like to see more of them - it has some features that don't match the Blackcap (like some kind of supercilium, darker eye strip e.t.c.). It is interesting...
 
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Thanks for sharing as I am interested in how this lens performs. There have been mixed reports about it. Lenstip raves about its sharpness whereas pcmag's measurements show it to be rather soft at 400-600mm. Probably copy variation.
I need more tests with Sigma 60-600mm lens, I guess. The copy I had was sharp all through the zoom, but there were a few cases of inconsistency when acquiring focus. I can say the keeper rate was less than Canon 100-400L II by a little margin. It was great when nailing the focus, though.
 
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Joules

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Jul 16, 2017
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Nice photos Joules! Do you have some more pictures of the second from above bird (I think it's what Alan ID as a female Blackcap). Even if the photos are not very good I would like to see more of them - it has some features that don't match the Blackcap (like some kind of supercilium, darker eye strip e.t.c.). It is interesting...
Thanks!

The other shots of that bird are not much different. But I attached them anyways. I might mention that the bird seemed quite tiny to me. Among the smallest I've ever seen, smaller than a blue tit for sure. It sat there above me quite close and looked at me long enough to grab a few frames. Then it flew off.

184527184528

Yours is a nice sharp image, and sharper than I got with a 100% crop of a similar during the last week, and so I am relieved to know that my lens is not soft and you were much closer!
Mine isn't actually that sharp. There's a hint of motion blur on the head and I did enhance it using smart sharpen in photoshop for some deconvolution. I find that to bring the okay-ish level of sharpness from the 150-600mm long end more into the realm of nice IQ. Still working on that though, I think I went slightly too far with this one.

I think I read once that you don't really sharpen your 100% crops? Or am I confusing you with someone else? I attached some 100% crops of just the bird. Notice how much nicer the feathers in the lower left look after some sharpening. The sunshine also helps I think. The Sigma really is a lens for good weather. Still beats the 55-250mm IS STM though.

184525184526
 
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AlanF

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Aug 16, 2012
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Thanks!

The other shots of that bird are not much different. But I attached them anyways. I might mention that the bird seemed quite tiny to me. Among the smallest I've ever seen, smaller than a blue tit for sure. It sat there above me quite close and looked at me long enough to grab a few frames. Then it flew off.

View attachment 184527View attachment 184528


Mine isn't actually that sharp. There's a hint of motion blur on the head and I did enhance it using smart sharpen in photoshop for some deconvolution. I find that to bring the okay-ish level of sharpness from the 150-600mm long end more into the realm of nice IQ. Still working on that though, I think I went slightly too far with this one.

I think I read once that you don't really sharpen your 100% crops? Or am I confusing you with someone else? I attached some 100% crops of just the bird. Notice how much nicer the feathers in the lower left look after some sharpening. The sunshine also helps I think. The Sigma really is a lens for good weather. Still beats the 55-250mm IS STM though.

View attachment 184525View attachment 184526
I generally do sharpen my crops. You used an 80D, I recall, which must require some sharpening as it has an AA-filter. My 5DIV always benefits from sharpening, but the 5DSR with a good sharp lens can easily be oversharpened. I find that the Sigma 150-600mm C at 600mm has very good resolution but its contrast is poorer than the Canon telephotos, which is the easiest to improve by sharpening.
 
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