Just now I noticed this serene mourning dove in the tree by the feeder. I’m SO NOT a bird photographer, but I’d like to get better at it now I have a decent lens for it. Obviously she’s in a tree with a lot of branches and I’ve cropped to make it a bit less chaotic, but I liked how she was framed and the bg is relatively calm. There might have been another dove nearby because she kept looking around and then back forward. I’ve always thought they were so much prettier than people give them credit for.
Specific Feedback Requested
Anything you think could improve this image or my technique. I was going for a soft look to the entire photo so kept the contrast from getting too intense.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
Leica DG 100-400 f/4-6.3 lens @ 400mm (800mm equiv.)
f/6.3 | 1/800 sec | ISO 200
Handheld, dual IS, braced against my front porch post
Used bbf and animal tracking AF mode
Lr processed - warmed white balance, radial filter to highlight bird and dehaze background while dropping exposure slightly, brush on bird for clarity, texture & denoise, overall sharpened, cropped to manage chaos and emphasize compositional element of that big limb.
I like the soft pastels in the image. Creates a nice mood. Bird placement in the frame looks very nice. I do like the branches forming a frame. I was distracted by the OOF branches so I removed most of them.
Did a little sharpening on the bird chest, and did a freehand vignette to the image using the TK panel. Here’s the result.
A very nice image, Kristen. I like the position of the dove in the frame and the focus on the eye. The way the branches frame the dove was my first impression. I like both your and Keith’s edits. I think I’d take all those little branches sticking into the bottom out.
Nice to see a Dove off the ground. The breast feathers are unaccountably soft – maybe just some movement? All else looks sharp.
While I was at it, I’d remove the two clusters of bottom edge branches on the right. Nice environmental shot, with nice repeated colors of the bird in the BG.
Lovely soft colors matching the dove. Really nice. SS at 1/800 looks pretty good and Keith’s repost has some nice feather detail and head looks sharp. You can zoom in on original to see how the breast looks. I like the nice framing. The big downside for me are the shadows. And there is nothing you can do about that. That is certainly much better than the power lines they perch on around here.
I assume the animal tracking mode focusses on eye. If not then for a somewhat stationary subject like this you may want to select a Spot Focus mode and zero in on eye. That is a really good focal length for birds and lots of wildlife.
Thanks, David. Darn that bird just wouldn’t take direction!
Clarification on the animal tracking - I use it in conjunction with Single Area AF mode, in this case I centered on the head. Once the camera has found the animal, it sticks to it as I move to reframe or if the animal moves within the frame (even behind branches it works pretty well staying locked). I have limited experience with it and am still experimenting and testing. My hope is that this combination works best, but I may have to change to the Custom Cluster instead of Single Area, that way it tracks a more flexible area of focus points. More testing will be needed I’m sure.
I think what you got is pretty darn good. For close in subjects like this you will probably want to stick with the Single Area zeroed in on head. Custom Cluster you may end up with a wing patch of other high contrast area and then spend time trying to get back to the head.
I am also just getting used to the tracking feature on my camera. Quite amazing actually to what was standard a couple years ago. Good luck.
Hi Kris, nice soft color pallet with the bird well positioned in the frame. Too bad about the shadows on the bird but as you say nothing you can do about that. Your reposts continue to improve the image.
Repost is improved. Strong shadows are always a problem. And through the viewfinder, one does not always see them. And that makes sense since you are concentrating on the bird. Just be aware of your setting and background. I generally look at those issues first before shooting.
