Here is my contribution from Tuesday of last week. (I decided to try to post one each day from the same day last week. Will have to cheat on that for Thursday, though.) A perch near the feeders.
But I’m confused – it’s week 1036, I think, and the challenge description said one taken last week, but the tag says this week…
Specific Feedback Requested
All comments welcome! I would have liked a less static pose and a more complex BG than the distant tree.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon R5, 600 EF f/4 + 2X, f/8, ISO 800, 1/320, sturdy tripod. Very little done in LR (slight highlight reduction and a touch of Clarity). Into PS for denoise and some beak cleanup.
What a gorgeous little creature. Nice perch and pose. You are so good at judging the light as well - buttery smooth. I think if you put all your bird portraits together they would have a static sameness so maybe shaking up the background is a way to address this since they just won’t take direction. But on its own it’s a fine portrait of a very alert looking little critter. I just love the feet!
Thanks, @Kris_Smith – and you’re absolutely right – the BGs are boring, as are the static poses when they are waiting at a feeder. From the position where I can shoot this feeder setup (with the sun behind me in the morning while it’s partly filtered behind some trees on a close hilltop), the BG trees are 200 ft away and almost featureless, even in winter with no leaves. That direction is also down a pretty steep hill, so it has proved hard to set up a nearby branch to add a little variety. Should have planted a mid-distance tree there years ago. I tried setting up a feeder closer to another tree but it was so big that the birds never perched on a good branch. And that buttery light is so scarce here. But I’ll keep trying! Beats housecleaning.
I possibly could do a set up here, but I’m too lazy. The only feeder is set up to not wreck the lawn so it’s got the other garage right behind it. The bushes and trees are just a mad tangle. Raspberries are in there, too. If it ever gets warm enough to sit out there I think I could find a spot and just wait. I’ve done it before. We’ve got some really active little warblers right now. Yellow rumped I think.
A fine poretrait of the golden crowned sparrow. The feather patterns of the upper breast near the shoulder do not look natural. Perhaps, the noise reduction made that part of the bird look very artificial. I would go back to the raw file and re-assess the feathers. Looking at it closely, this is classic moire pattern. If you used profile corrections in LR, this has been linked to moire and banding patterns for the R5. If so, reprocess the image without profile corrections and that may take care of the problem. There is actually nothing wrong with your camera and your photography technique is excellent. Lightroom does not want to play nice with your photographs. I hope that the profile corrections will help solve this…Jim
Thanks everybody! @Jim_Zablotny, I’ll definitely look into the moire thing. You mentioned it on another image and it is something I’ve been totally unaware of and therefore not seeing. I’m on my way outside to declare war on some re-sprouting blackberries and spray about an acre of sprouting poison oak while the morning air is still, then I’m on it. May be bugging you with questions…
@Jim_Zablotny, I wonder if what you’re seeing is a factor of resizing for posting. If I look at the image above at the large size, I do see a pattern where feathers are overlaid at an angle and the barbs crisscross. But I don’t see what I think of as moiré in the 100% image. Here is a screenshot at 100% of the image in DPP (Canon’s raw processor) at default settings, the raw file in LR at default settings, and the final PS file. I don’t see any difference except in tonalities. Topaz NR did some (default) sharpening in the PS file, which makes the issue more prominent. I normally don’t do lens correction unless needed for architectural or landscape accuracy (flat horizons etc.). If I toggle it for the raw file, it makes no visible difference. If I brush on a filter in LR (which I rarely do and hadn’t on this image or the previous one you commented on), there is a Moiré slider and moving it doesn’t make any visible change. Am I still missing something?
Got it–The large view generated interference lines in the feathers which produced some very un-natural patterns in the feathers. When I clicked on the image to go to the largest size, everything looked fantastic. So, there is a glitch in the NPN viewer where the detail dropped out in areas of low microcontrast and the viewer filled in details incorrectly in areas of higher contrast. The largest view preserved everything perfectly. Your camera is fine, technique is fine, and I’m happy that the photo looks perfect as presented when viewed in the largest available view…Jim
