Lesser Goldfinch

MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
edited June 28, 2008 in Wildlife
Well I have just gotten back from my family trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley here in Texas but unfortunately while on the trip I had my external disk drive crash on me. When I got home I salvaged most of my photos but lost all of my MP3s almost 250GB. Most of them were imported from CDs so that is okay, but a large $ amount was from iTunes. Grrrrr! I also lost all of my videos. Live and learn. Anyhow, here is the first from my visit to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. This is from the Martin Refuge in Edinburg. It is a lesser goldfinch.

LesserGoldfinch1aclose.jpg

It actually did not come to the seed or the water at this blind, but stayed on the perimeter in the shadows.

EXIF
1/320 @ F4.5
Focal length 500mm (Sigma Prime)
ISO 400
Spot metering
Manual exposure and program
Stephen
www.capture-the-pixel.com

Comments

  • Ric GrupeRic Grupe Registered Users Posts: 9,522 Major grins
    edited June 24, 2008
    Been there on the disk failure...:cry...too bad.

    I keep seeing birds I never knew existed...so thanks.

    I hope you don't mind, but I wanted you to see that you can recover some detail in a dark image.

    319396969_W9rsy-O.jpg

    Basically tone curve work and auto exposure.:D
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited June 24, 2008
    Sorry about your loss :cry Great capture, and I must say Ric's re-work looks great. thumb.gif
    Dan
    http://danielplumer.com/
    Facebook Fan Page
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited June 25, 2008
    No problem Ric. If I go back and try to lighten the black I will make sure to make about 10 back-ups. Aw heck, I will just back-up everything one more time. :D
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited June 25, 2008
    dlplumer wrote:
    Sorry about your loss :cry Great capture, and I must say Ric's re-work looks great. thumb.gif

    Thanks Dan. I am in the process of reimporting my music as I work on processing some photos from my trip.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • BigAlBigAl Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2008
    Bad luck about the HDD - glad you could get something back :cry

    Well done with the goldfinch at such a low ss. thumb.gif

    ps: Rics adjustment looks good too.
    Birds
    Bugs
    Spiders
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  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2008
    Thanks Al. I am still reloading info back onto a new drive. It will be a while until I am finished.

    This lesser goldfinch is actually the Texas variant of this small finch. The completely black back is characteristic of this variant.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • redleashredleash Registered Users Posts: 3,840 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2008
    I get those Lessers in my backyard a few times a year and I love their colors. I have a few shots with my 55-200 zoom but not the clarity or detail of yours. Very nice capture!

    Lauren
    "But ask the animals, and they will teach you." (Job 12:7)

    Lauren Blackwell
    www.redleashphoto.com
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2008
    redleash wrote:
    I get those Lessers in my backyard a few times a year and I love their colors. I have a few shots with my 55-200 zoom but not the clarity or detail of yours. Very nice capture!

    Lauren

    Thanks Lauren. In San Antonio I can see why you would see these. That is about as far north as they make it in Texas. I wish they made up into the Dallas area.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • bhowdybhowdy Registered Users Posts: 658 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2008
    I like the lesser very much, never see them here, so this is a treat. Well done Stephen clap.gif
    ________________

    Bob
    Maryville, TN.
    http://bhowdy.smugmug.com/
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2008
    Thanks Bob. Much appreciated.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • PrescottPhotogPrescottPhotog Registered Users Posts: 1,174 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2008
    Maestro wrote:
    Well I have just gotten back from my family trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley here in Texas but unfortunately while on the trip I had my external disk drive crash on me.

    Hi Stephen, Bummer on the HD failure, been there, not fun. Very nice shot though so not all was lost.
    '
    Prescott Photog, Chris - " One Shot, One Still "
    '
    Canon CPS Member
    SmugMug Pro User - www.PrescottOutdoors.net
    NAPP Member..Click for Info
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2008
    PrescottPhotog wrote:
    Hi Stephen, Bummer on the HD failure, been there, not fun. Very nice shot though so not all was lost.

    Thanks Chris. Thankfully none of the current trip's photos were lost because they never made it on the hard disk. :D I did lose a lot of music and videos though. Live and learn. Thanks again for looking.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited June 28, 2008
    Good capture Stephen thumb.gif and Ric's re-work covers most of what I would have critiqued, thanks Ric.

    Digital storage is the weak link we all have to deal with. I've yet to come up with a system that I feel is safe enough.
    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!"
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited June 28, 2008
    Harryb wrote:
    Good capture Stephen thumb.gif and Ric's re-work covers most of what I would have critiqued, thanks Ric.

    Digital storage is the weak link we all have to deal with. I've yet to come up with a system that I feel is safe enough.

    Thanks Harry. I think the consensus is that I brighten the back up so I will hit the RAW file and do it again. Thanks for the critiques guys and gals. :D

    Oh and I have two external drives now one backing up the other. thumb.gif
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited June 28, 2008
    Nice capture, Stephen. That's a beautiful bird I've not seen before. The most I would do to that shot is a small amount of selective lightening of just the head. The rest of the bird is exposed well.

    Cheers,
    -joel
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited June 28, 2008
    kdog wrote:
    Nice capture, Stephen. That's a beautiful bird I've not seen before. The most I would do to that shot is a small amount of selective lightening of just the head. The rest of the bird is exposed well.

    Cheers,
    -joel

    Thanks Joel. If you had gone about 1 hour west from Padre you would have had a chance of seeing them. When I get a chance I am going to redo this one lightening the head a bit. Thanks.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

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