Band-tailed Pigeon

Earlier in the spring and summer we have a flock of between 50-100 of these large birds that descends on our feeding stations and gives a faint taste of what it must have felt like to a farmer when the passenger Pigeons descended. These birds are heavy and regularly break branches on trees and perches I’ve set up. However, they are natives so we put up with them and just wave them off when they get to be too much of a nuisance. Now, most of them have dispersed and we have 10 at most show up. This was one of three or four that were cleaning up under the feeder near the pools in front of my blind.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

I worked quite a bit on that nearest rock on the right to try to tone it down because it was pretty bright in the row file. Does it look reasonable now?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 221 mm, tripod with ball head and Sidekick mount, f/8, 1/800, iso 2000, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Noise reduction with Neat Image and a very slight amount of feather enhancement with Topaz Detail 3. As mentioned above, there was quite a bit done to that nearest rock in the lower right. In addition I cloned out some brighter spots of one sort or another throughout the foreground and background.

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Superb color, DOF, and story. If they chase the Starlings away, it is worth it to put up with them.

Good details and color, Dennis. Water nearby is a plus. I really like the serenity the scene implies.

Best,
Terry

Dennis: I like how the bird stands out very distinctly against the oof background of rock and water. The detail and color rendition in the plumage is excellent. The rock that you worked on looks fine. My only suggestion would be to have more canvas on the bottom. Richard

And I thought we had it bad with 15 of them hanging around. Good detail and I like the setting and overall composition. The rock looks fine and natural.

Nice bird in a very nice setting. The position of the bird in the frame is very well thought-through, since it leaves enough space for the surroundings. Well done ! Cheers, Hans