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Male chaffinch

MatthewK wrote in post #18639270
Visited the Potomac River again today; after this past weekend's torrential rain, the river was majorly swollen. I went and checked on my Prothonotary Warbler couple, and happy to see that they made it through ok

This is a camera torture test: 500 II + 2.0x in deep forest shadow... hand held. ISO 12,800. Yikes.

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Absolutely beautiful, Matt!! That is an outstanding shot for sure. At an ISO of 12,800, how are you cleaning up you noise so well? I'm really amazed that you hand held your 500 II lens with a 2.0X and got such a great image. You da man!!

Sardinian Warbler taking a bath

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Lame-Duck wrote in post #18639435
Absolutely beautiful, Matt!! That is an outstanding shot for sure. At an ISO of 12,800, how are you cleaning up you noise so well? I'm really amazed that you hand held your 500 II lens with a 2.0X and got such a great image. You da man!!

Mike, I really appreciate your kind words, thank you!

There's some good techniques that can help hand holding these larger lenses, many of which I took from my Marine Corps rifle training. The biggest things that help are good braced posture (left elbow tucked into hip), breathing (release shutter on "half-breath"), and utilizing the strap for firming up said posture. Standing is the hardest, can't do that for too long before things get wobbly, but if I'm crouched or kneeling, I can hand hold for days.

For noise, the 5D4 sensor plays the biggest part in keeping things clean. There's noise, but it's very uniform and unobtrusive, which makes things easier in post. To reduce further, I use the masking brush in LR on the background parts without detail and slide noise to about +60, and also reduce sharpness a little (-15). Finally, I do some global noise redux, but very light here (+15-20), and bump the contrast/detail sliders to retain some details. Lastly, try to be careful bumping contrast and saturation, as weird artifacts will start to form. This works for me for the most part. Some high ISO photos aren't as malleable though (my 80D needs greater care), so this workflow has to be seasoned to taste.

Red Dexs wrote in post #18639439
Sardinian Warbler taking a bath

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I love seeing bird species from different parts of the world, thank you for sharing! Really clear shot, that red eye-ring is striking!

docg wrote in post #18639112
Indigo Bunting

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Hey Doc, you absolutely nailed this one, the indigo coloring really comes out nicely. I'm still looking to get my 'perfect' Indigo Bunting shot, can't seem to make that happen.

Samdiver74 wrote in post #18639292
Osprey Hernando Beach area Florida

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Is this at MFD, because you are up in this Osprey's business

MatthewK wrote in post #18639480
Hey Doc, you absolutely nailed this one, the indigo coloring really comes out nicely. I'm still looking to get my 'perfect' Indigo Bunting shot, can't seem to make that happen.

Thank you for the nice comment Matthew!

Two from this morning

Prothonotary Warbler and an Indigo Bunting

docg wrote in post #18639639
Two from this morning

Prothonotary Warbler and an Indigo Bunting

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Doc, seems we're both rich in Protho/IndiBunts these days. It's funny because when I snapped my Protho shot yesterday, there was an Indigo Bunting sitting 1 branch away. I was hoping to get them both in a shot, will try again soon

docg wrote in post #18639639
Two from this morning

Prothonotary Warbler and an Indigo Bunting

A month removed from the Texas coast migration. Beautiful shots Doc.

MatthewK wrote in post #18639650
Doc, seems we're both rich in Protho/IndiBunts these days. It's funny because when I snapped my Protho shot yesterday, there was an Indigo Bunting sitting 1 branch away. I was hoping to get them both in a shot, will try again soon

Matthew, yep, Protho’s and Indigo’s are plentiful down here for sure. I did see two Kentucky Warblers and two Yellow-billed Cuckoos this morning but did’t get A shot of any of them.