Dark-eyed Junco

RohirrimRohirrim Registered Users Posts: 1,889 Major grins
edited January 20, 2006 in Wildlife
We had a good storm come through last night and most of today :wxwax. I had a nice new visitor to my back yard feeders though a Dark-eyed Junco.

I used a Better Beamer as the sun was behind the clouds, but I was kinda disappointed in the shots though. Even with a Better Beamer they still didn't come out as nice as with Natural lighting :cry. I don't know whether I just need more practice with the flash, or if I was expecting too much from the flash.

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Thank you for looking.

Critique, suggestions always welcome. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes.
Steve
My Photo gallery- rohirrim.smugmug.com
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Comments

  • dallasdallas Registered Users Posts: 1,638 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    Number 3 for me. I can see his eyes. I'll admit to my lack of knowledge......What's a beamer?
    William
    http://woofwoof.smugmug.com
  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    Oh, Steve, a nice cold birdie. I love it!

    You know, your frames seem so nice with those little birds. I love the font. My CS2 is missing some of the fonts I used to have in the CS, I have nothing like the one you are using.

    Nice bird, nice snow!

    ginger
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • BigAlBigAl Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    The shots look good to me Steve. I think the biggest problem you have is the snow background upsetting the brightness and contrast. (Says he who sees snow once every 10 years headscratch.gif) A bit of saturation enhancement may help a bit, but under the conditions I think you've done well.
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  • Osprey WhispererOsprey Whisperer Registered Users Posts: 3,803 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    thumb.gif Nice shots, Steve. I think you might have messed up the color comp...though. The background green grass is really blown. rolleyes1.gif Danggggggg..it looks cold there. Hope you are keeping that sweet 500mm warm.
    Mike McCarthy

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  • RohirrimRohirrim Registered Users Posts: 1,889 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    dallas wrote:
    Number 3 for me. I can see his eyes. I'll admit to my lack of knowledge......What's a beamer?

    The Better Beamer is a flash extender. Used to get lighting to distant subjects, also usefull to get a "catch light" in critters when you're unable to get one naturally.

    Heres a link with more info http://www.birdsasart.com/accs.html#BEAMER
    Steve
    My Photo gallery- rohirrim.smugmug.com
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  • RohirrimRohirrim Registered Users Posts: 1,889 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    BigAl wrote:
    The shots look good to me Steve. I think the biggest problem you have is the snow background upsetting the brightness and contrast. (Says he who sees snow once every 10 years headscratch.gif) A bit of saturation enhancement may help a bit, but under the conditions I think you've done well.

    Thanks for your comments Al, I tried boosting the colors in LAB and was able to get some improvement, but if I try and get more contrast I lose all the detail in the birds head. Maybe someone with more photoshop skill would do better.
    Steve
    My Photo gallery- rohirrim.smugmug.com
    Selective Sharpening Tutorial
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  • RohirrimRohirrim Registered Users Posts: 1,889 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    ginger_55 wrote:
    Oh, Steve, a nice cold birdie. I love it!

    You know, your frames seem so nice with those little birds. I love the font. My CS2 is missing some of the fonts I used to have in the CS, I have nothing like the one you are using.

    Nice bird, nice snow!

    ginger
    Hi Ginger, thank you for your comments. I don't remember if that font was standard on my PC or not. It's called AdineKirnberg-Script and can be downloaded for free at
    http://www.fonts101.com/xt_fontdetails_az_FID!1901~AdineKirnbergScript~font.html
    Steve
    My Photo gallery- rohirrim.smugmug.com
    Selective Sharpening Tutorial
    Making a Frame for your image (Tutorial)
  • RohirrimRohirrim Registered Users Posts: 1,889 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    Bird Man Photographer wrote:
    thumb.gif Nice shots, Steve. I think you might have messed up the color comp...though. The background green grass is really blown. rolleyes1.gif Danggggggg..it looks cold there. Hope you are keeping that sweet 500mm warm.


    You know your right. I keep messing up with that dang White Balance button, is this any better

    53049554-L.jpg
    Steve
    My Photo gallery- rohirrim.smugmug.com
    Selective Sharpening Tutorial
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  • Osprey WhispererOsprey Whisperer Registered Users Posts: 3,803 Major grins
    edited January 19, 2006
    lol3.giflol3.giflol3.gif :lol4 :yikes
    Mike McCarthy

    "Osprey Whisperer"

    OspreyWhisperer.com
  • SteveFSteveF Registered Users Posts: 466 Major grins
    edited January 20, 2006
    beamer
    Hello,

    Just a comment on the beamer. These birds don't look to me as though they have much fill flash at all. I think the beamer could do a nicer job.

    Do you have the flash set at 50mm? Any chance it was on crooked and the light missed the birds? Did you play around with FEC?

    (Unsolicited advice which I probably shouldn't offer :) ) To do this one I would set it in manual, meter off the snow, add (about) a stop depending on the ambient light and then try the beamer with an FEC of 0 and start adjusting from there.

    As is, while the birds are nice, the lighting is pretty flat to just barely directional.
    Steve
    www.finesart.com
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited January 20, 2006
    Hey Steve,

    I would play around with the shadow/highlights tool a bit. I gave one shot a very quick run through and got this result
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • RohirrimRohirrim Registered Users Posts: 1,889 Major grins
    edited January 20, 2006
    SteveF wrote:
    Hello,

    Just a comment on the beamer. These birds don't look to me as though they have much fill flash at all. I think the beamer could do a nicer job.

    Do you have the flash set at 50mm? Any chance it was on crooked and the light missed the birds? Did you play around with FEC?

    (Unsolicited advice which I probably shouldn't offer :) ) To do this one I would set it in manual, meter off the snow, add (about) a stop depending on the ambient light and then try the beamer with an FEC of 0 and start adjusting from there.

    As is, while the birds are nice, the lighting is pretty flat to just barely directional.

    I don't mind advice at all. I agree that they don't look like they have the fill flash. I played with the settings quite a bit. I started with 0 Flash compensation and 0 Exposure compensation. By the time I was done I had a +2 Flash compensation and a +1 2/3 Exposure compensation. (Shooting in Av Mode). I did have the flash set at 50mm.

    I can see the flash in the eye of the bird has the flash "catch light" but the rest of the bird still looks drab.

    Is this what you meant? Should I have done something different? Maybe I should post this over in the technique area.

    Thank you very much for your input.
    Steve
    My Photo gallery- rohirrim.smugmug.com
    Selective Sharpening Tutorial
    Making a Frame for your image (Tutorial)
  • RohirrimRohirrim Registered Users Posts: 1,889 Major grins
    edited January 20, 2006
    Harryb wrote:
    Hey Steve,

    I would play around with the shadow/highlights tool a bit. I gave one shot a very quick run through and got this result

    Thank you for your effort Harry. I actually like the bird darker (maybe I need my eyes/head checked ne_nau.gif) While your changes make the bird lighter, to my eye it looses the contrast of the darker head against the lighter body ne_nau.gif

    Thanks again.
    Steve
    My Photo gallery- rohirrim.smugmug.com
    Selective Sharpening Tutorial
    Making a Frame for your image (Tutorial)
  • DaniDani Registered Users Posts: 807 Major grins
    edited January 20, 2006
    some useless junco info...

    yours is the 'Oregon' color version... dark-eyed junco's come in six types...
    standard Slate-colored, Oregon, pink-sided, white-winged, red-backed and gray-headed.

    useless bird info is fun :D

    :uhoh

    great shots!
    Dani

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  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited January 20, 2006
    Rohirrim wrote:
    Thank you for your effort Harry. I actually like the bird darker (maybe I need my eyes/head checked ne_nau.gif) While your changes make the bird lighter, to my eye it looses the contrast of the darker head against the lighter body ne_nau.gif

    Thanks again.

    Hey Steve,

    That was just a fast run thorugh the higlights/shadows tool. If you layered the shot and applied highlight/shadows, masked it, and fooled with the opacity of the layer you probably would get a much improved shot w/o too much loss of contrast.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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