Show your Bird Portraits

Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
8,246
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Canada
Don - my friend wants to meet your friend.

This is a brand new baby who was following his parents from tree to tree through the forest we were camping in. They were incredibly noisy.. :oops:

7D2 / 100-400L II @ 400mm / F5.6 / 1/100 / ISO 400

View attachment 188901
nice shot!

I haven’t managed to get decent shots of the young, but yes, the red crest on the top of the head is certainly not as vibrant as the adults. When you catch them in the sunlight it has to be about the most vibrant red I have seen in nature..... even the cardinals look dull by comparison!
 
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Bert63

What’s in da box?
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Dec 3, 2017
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Bert63

What’s in da box?
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Dec 3, 2017
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Okay, so. In honor of the upcoming feathr change (already starting in fact) I went Horned Grebe stalking down at my local marina yesterday.

I live on an Island and the local marina is about a mile down the hill and is one of my favorite places on the planet. You never know what's going to show up down there.

There was a construction truck parked out on the grass behind the subjects and at first I hated it - then I saw how their orange sign reflected and matched the grebe's eyes so WINNER.

It was very early on an overcast morning so good but weird light.

Also included a DxO screenshot for a review of PP. Critique welcome.

EOS-R / 100-400L II @ 560mm / F8 / 1/640 / ISO 125

EOSR4539 - DxO.jpg

EOSR4539 3 - DxO.jpg

EOSR4539 1 - DxO.jpg


Desktop.jpg
 
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Bert63

What’s in da box?
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Dec 3, 2017
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So, Buffleheads. (not you, the subject in the photos)

If you don't have these little ducks where you live you're missing out.

They're perpetually happy (look at the bill and tell me you don't see them smiling).

They're excellent swimmers.

They're also really hard (for me) to get a good picture of - the males anyway. Either I don't capture the colors in the head feathers adequately, or in the process of trying to capture the colors in the head feathers I blow out the highlights of that screaming white body.. Add to that the fact that the eyes are totally dark - almost black - and it always presents a challenge in any kind of decent light.

Three pictures - the first because of the colors in the head really stand out, the second because the reflection was really nice, and the third is of the hen in honor of the upcoming "season..."

Critique welcome.

Top Two - EOS-R / 100-400L II w/1.4X III @ 560mm / F8 / 1/800 / ISO 250

Bottom - 5D4 / 100-400L II w/1.4X III @ 560mm / F9 / 1/320 / ISO 800

EOSR4869 - DxO-studio.jpg


EOSR4872 - DxO-studio.jpg


BNV20951 - Full Size Edit-studio.jpg
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
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So, Buffleheads. (not you, the subject in the photos)

If you don't have these little ducks where you live you're missing out.

They're perpetually happy (look at the bill and tell me you don't see them smiling).

They're excellent swimmers.

They're also really hard (for me) to get a good picture of - the males anyway. Either I don't capture the colors in the head feathers adequately, or in the process of trying to capture the colors in the head feathers I blow out the highlights of that screaming white body.. Add to that the fact that the eyes are totally dark - almost black - and it always presents a challenge in any kind of decent light.

Three pictures - the first because of the colors in the head really stand out, the second because the reflection was really nice, and the third is of the hen in honor of the upcoming "season..."

Critique welcome.

Top Two - EOS-R / 100-400L II w/1.4X III @ 560mm / F8 / 1/800 / ISO 250

Bottom - 5D4 / 100-400L II w/1.4X III @ 560mm / F9 / 1/320 / ISO 800

View attachment 188959


View attachment 188960


View attachment 188961
Expose on the whites in RAW and bring up the shadows. It depends on the sensor how well this works.
 
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Jack Douglas

CR for the Humour
Apr 10, 2013
6,980
2,602
Alberta, Canada
So, Buffleheads. (not you, the subject in the photos)

If you don't have these little ducks where you live you're missing out.

They're perpetually happy (look at the bill and tell me you don't see them smiling).

They're excellent swimmers.

They're also really hard (for me) to get a good picture of - the males anyway. Either I don't capture the colors in the head feathers adequately, or in the process of trying to capture the colors in the head feathers I blow out the highlights of that screaming white body.. Add to that the fact that the eyes are totally dark - almost black - and it always presents a challenge in any kind of decent light.

Three pictures - the first because of the colors in the head really stand out, the second because the reflection was really nice, and the third is of the hen in honor of the upcoming "season..."

Critique welcome.

Top Two - EOS-R / 100-400L II w/1.4X III @ 560mm / F8 / 1/800 / ISO 250

Bottom - 5D4 / 100-400L II w/1.4X III @ 560mm / F9 / 1/320 / ISO 800

View attachment 188959


View attachment 188960


View attachment 188961

I, like you, am instantly drawn to the smile of these little ducks. In going over my 2013 shots, I have one family I can post here since the topic has come up. They typically have large families and so it's sometimes hard to get them all in the photo. Mama is always so proud.

Bufflehead family_s_4974.JPG

Jack
 
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Bert63

What’s in da box?
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Dec 3, 2017
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I, like you, am instantly drawn to the smile of these little ducks. In going over my 2013 shots, I have one family I can post here since the topic has come up. They typically have large families and so it's sometimes hard to get them all in the photo. Mama is always so proud.

View attachment 188963

Jack
Amazing shot. I'd love to see something like this. Too much awesome for one photo...
 
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Bert63

What’s in da box?
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Dec 3, 2017
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Expose on the whites in RAW and bring up the shadows. It depends on the sensor how well this works.


Speak slower. I am not understanding the words coming out of your mouth. :)

Are you saying underexpose based on the white highlights and then correct the exposure in post?
 
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Jul 29, 2012
17,656
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Canada
Lovely shot, Jack.
d055.gif
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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Speak slower. I am not understanding the words coming out of your mouth. :)

Are you saying underexpose based on the white highlights and then correct the exposure in post?
Yes. Underexpose and then raise the shadows. It will be better with your 5DIV or EOS-R than the 7DII as they have improved sensors. Avoid clipping the highlights in the original exposure.
 
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Valvebounce

CR Pro
Apr 3, 2013
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Isle of Wight
Hi Bert.
My understanding is to get the whites to the point just below blowing out or clipping on the raw, which is quite a lot “brighter“ (expose to the right) than the jpeg and then raise (lighten) the shadows in post processing.
There is much more latitude to a raw, you can recover more detail from the highlights and the shadows than you can from a jpeg.
Try for yourself, find a white item, stick it in front of a darker background and keep lightening the shot until the white is blown then play with the raw!

Cheers, Graham.

Speak slower. I am not understanding the words coming out of your mouth. :)

Are you saying underexpose based on the white highlights and then correct the exposure in post?
 
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