The Martins Are Back (and in the sun)

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-20210405-_7R47326-Yardbirds-Edit
-20210405-_7R47326-Yardbirds-Edit1600×1024 205 KB

Three male and one female Purple Martins showed up at our place today. Birds were late coming in until this last weekend when we suddenly started getting a lot of species showing up. This was taken in pretty bright, late morning sun and I used settings that barely kept from blowing out the white plastic gourds which really brought out the colors that you so rarely see in this species.

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Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Sony A7Riv, FE200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 840 mm, tripod with ballhead and Sidekick mount, f/9, 1/2500, iso 1000, manual exposure, processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 7690x4922 and straightened for appearance. Cleaned up some bird droppings on the gourd and used a levels adjustment layer on the bird to actually bring the darks down a trifle because they were a bit brighter than I liked.

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Nice job, Dennis. You’re right that these guys are difficult to photograph and get any details. Especially difficult with all that bright white behind him.

I miss my Martins. Had a nice colony at my previous home, but I guess there are just too many trees for them here. They will come and investigate the house, but don’t stay.

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I’m impressed that you were able to get a good exposure on the Martin plumage with so much detail considering the white gourds.

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@David_Schoen Hi David. I exposed for the bird, fully expecting the gourds to be blown beyond repair and was pleasantly surprised when they weren’t.