Show your Bird Portraits

[Cog]

 

[AlanF]

Fine shots cog! What are the birds?

 

[AlanF]

V Nice Alan. On click to enlarge there is some moire. I've not noticed this on nuthatch shots but my waxwings have often shown quite a bit. So, how do you think it would look with no filter? Do you think the DO has any effect?

Jack

I have got Moire on waxwings both with the 5DIV and 5DSR. An ultrasharp lens like the DO is more prone to Moire tahn a soft lens. I have had more examples of Moire, although only very few still, on the 5DSR than on the 5DIV.

 

[AlanF]

Nice shots Alan. I'm kind of detail/sharpness maniac and really enjoyed your shots. I'm curious from what distance did you shoot?
Concerning the sharpness my humble opinion is that they are about equally sharp, but in the first two shots the focus plane (focus tracking?) is on the wings. In third one it is +/- on the eyes. Concerning the moire: my camera is without AA filter and at low magnifications/small, lower resolution screen I see moire frequently, especially when the pictures are with a lot of (repeating) detail. Recently I made larger print (20x30in) of a bird with such a detail and the moire visible at least on my laptop screen was not on the print.
Cheers!

The shots were from just over 5m away. They are all 100% crops, with one pixel = 1 pixel of the original and no downsizing. Here is another one. The size of the bird is about 1900x630 px. There is really no sharpening necessary for an image this size, even at iso 2000 as the lens is so sharp and the sensor so good.

 

[Cog]

Fine shots cog! What are the birds?

Thank you, Alan. The first one is a white-eared bulbul, a very common bird in the Middle East. The second one is an Isabelline shrike, also quite common in Asia & Africa.

 

[Click]

Very nice series, Cog.

 

[jprusa]

Canada Goose in Fall colours

Great shot Click!

 

[Click]

Thanks, jprusa.

 

[Cog]

Very nice series, Cog.

Thank you, Click. I liked the colors and the pose of your goose photo.

 

[Jack Douglas]

I ventured out to Elk Island Park here in Alberta today and there was virtually nothing alive there except for a very few ducks. Not sure which is the better pose. Fairly heavy crop of an 800 shot.

Jack

 

[Cog]

I ventured out to Elk Island Park here in Alberta today and there was virtually nothing alive there except for a very few ducks. Not sure which is the better pose. Fairly heavy crop of an 800 shot.

Jack

Given the angle from which the duck is shot, #3 looks better to me.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Thanks Cog. It's not a particularly good shot but it's a first for this species for me and that's always fun.

Jack

 

[Click]

I ventured out to Elk Island Park here in Alberta today and there was virtually nothing alive there except for a very few ducks. Not sure which is the better pose. Fairly heavy crop of an 800 shot.

Jack

Given the angle from which the duck is shot, #3 looks better to me.

Same here.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Thanks click - I tend to agree. #2 is awkward. I guess it has to do at least partly with the clean separation of wings from the neck. Perhaps #1 would work if it wasn't such a side angle shot.

I'm not natural at this but I'm trying to look critically at all my shots. Nothing wrong with being enthused but it's all too easy to get excited about capturing a photo and overlook obvious negatives.

Jack

 

[Cog]

Thanks click - I tend to agree. #2 is awkward. I guess it has to do at least partly with the clean separation of wings from the neck. Perhaps #1 would work if it wasn't such a side angle shot.

I'm not natural at this but I'm trying to look critically at all my shots. Nothing wrong with being enthused but it's all too easy to get excited about capturing a photo and overlook obvious negatives.

Jack

№1 is a good pose but to me it will look better from behind or en face.

 

[Click]

Thank you, Click. I liked the colors and the pose of your goose photo.

Thank you, Cog.

 

[Mikehit]

I ventured out to Elk Island Park here in Alberta today and there was virtually nothing alive there except for a very few ducks. Not sure which is the better pose. Fairly heavy crop of an 800 shot.

Jack

Because of the angle you only really have an 'aesthetic appeal' of the form to make the image interesting
#1 is a nice dynamic pose but would be better from the front. You get the feel of the wingbeat but it cuts the body
#2 has no aesthetic feel for it because the angle of the wing cuts across the body and has little dynamism
#3 flows nicely from the head, neck and along with wingline. You get the feel of action from the stretch position

Personally I would bin them all but (and I think this is your intention) even analysing the best parts of inferior images can help future composition. Like you, I have had many, many images like this and kept them for a while merely because I managed to get them in focus, but I do try and work out why individual ones work and other don't.

 

[Jack Douglas]

I ventured out to Elk Island Park here in Alberta today and there was virtually nothing alive there except for a very few ducks. Not sure which is the better pose. Fairly heavy crop of an 800 shot.

Jack

Because of the angle you only really have an 'aesthetic appeal' of the form to make the image interesting
#1 is a nice dynamic pose but would be better from the front. You get the feel of the wingbeat but it cuts the body
#2 has no aesthetic feel for it because the angle of the wing cuts across the body and has little dynamism
#3 flows nicely from the head, neck and along with wingline. You get the feel of action from the stretch position

Personally I would bin them all but (and I think this is your intention) even analysing the best parts of inferior images can help future composition. Like you, I have had many, many images like this and kept them for a while merely because I managed to get them in focus, but I do try and work out why individual ones work and other don't.

Mike, that's it exactly. You go with what you've got until better is achieved. Learning what is better is the challenge. I really appreciate the feedback and wish there was more of this banter on CR. Also it's no fun coming home with nothing so I fire away, regardless.

Thanks Cog!

Jack

 

[Mikehit]

Also it's no fun coming home with nothing so I fire away, regardless.

Thanks Cog!

Jack

Yep. Ever been out with a group of avid bird photographers - after 3 hours the light is falling, no owls have turned up and all of a sudden a humble sparrow flits into view and gets a 300 shutter count.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Also it's no fun coming home with nothing so I fire away, regardless.

Thanks Cog!

Jack

Yep. Ever been out with a group of avid bird photographers - after 3 hours the light is falling, no owls have turned up and all of a sudden a humble sparrow flits into view and gets a 300 shutter count.

Guess how I feel now that all our summer birds have fled. Have to be optimistic - a few stray winter travelers may show up.

Jack