Post your Bird Portraits (2)

wxjef wrote in post #19490602
Less of a good hiding spot this time...

This is from the same noob outing as my previous image, same hawk, just different spot. Not sure I dig the crop / composition and even edit here but it's a bird that can be identified at least

Might need to find a different editing process as the Linux workflow kind of sours things (darktable to convert the raw to .tiff then gimp to do basic processing, very clunky but somewhat doable).

Have been watching some info on bird photography as well as wildlife.

Hosted photo: posted by wxjef in
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forum: Birds

Looks sharp! Good shot! Would be interesting to see it brighter.

Not the best lighting to work with, but I managed a decent shot of this guy yesterday:

K9Kirk wrote in post #19490837
What appears to be two female teals and grebe in the second shot.

Hosted photo: posted by K9Kirk in
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forum: Birds

Hosted photo: posted by K9Kirk in
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forum: Birds

Great reflection on got grebe. I believe the first shot shows a pair of Mottled Ducks. Male is on the right.

K9Kirk wrote in post #19490746
Nice shot, Paul. I've thinking about getting down to the Everglades to capture some in the wild at sunset. They're such pretty birds.

Many thanks Kirk.
They truly are magnificent and fascinating creatures. Happy trails.

sogs wrote in post #19490748
Good one!

Nice capture!

Nice shot!

Fine image!

Excellent capture!

That's beautiful!

There's a unique pose! Great shot!

Fantastic captures!

Thanks Sogs.That pose sure was a surprise.

Archibald wrote in post #19490838
Looks sharp! Good shot! Would be interesting to see it brighter.

Agree!

I think that's also part of my issues is I'm using the wrong tools for the job unfortunately which causes some motivational issues. Compound that with not really using gear for a while (somewhat new at that) and bad lighting conditions (was pretty overcast.

I notice a lot of wonderful images throughout potn have pop to them and most I've ran through this box I call a computer are rather flat and dull no matter what I do to them.

Incidentally I pulled up the dump of images from the outing and some did have some obvious motion blur in them. Still other images just seem off to me.

Anyway guess if I want to continue with photography, perhaps I should look at some different tool in the digital darkroom.

wxjef wrote in post #19490926
Agree!

I think that's also part of my issues is I'm using the wrong tools for the job unfortunately which causes some motivational issues. Compound that with not really using gear for a while (somewhat new at that) and bad lighting conditions (was pretty overcast.

I notice a lot of wonderful images throughout potn have pop to them and most I've ran through this box I call a computer are rather flat and dull no matter what I do to them.

Incidentally I pulled up the dump of images from the outing and some did have some obvious motion blur in them. Still other images just seem off to me.

Anyway guess if I want to continue with photography, perhaps I should look at some different tool in the digital darkroom.

Lots of people get great results with Canon's own Digital Photo Pro 4 and it's free.

Juvenile Pied Heron (Egretta picata).

Pippan wrote in post #19490945
Juvenile Pied Heron (Egretta picata).

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forum: Birds

Great shot, Pippan!

wxjef wrote in post #19490926
Agree!

I think that's also part of my issues is I'm using the wrong tools for the job unfortunately which causes some motivational issues. Compound that with not really using gear for a while (somewhat new at that) and bad lighting conditions (was pretty overcast.

I notice a lot of wonderful images throughout potn have pop to them and most I've ran through this box I call a computer are rather flat and dull no matter what I do to them.

Incidentally I pulled up the dump of images from the outing and some did have some obvious motion blur in them. Still other images just seem off to me.

Anyway guess if I want to continue with photography, perhaps I should look at some different tool in the digital darkroom.

Bird photography is, technically, probably the most challenging of all genres. You need fast shutter speeds, as most birds move around a lot, and low ISOs, as birds have lots of high-frequency feather detail that is damaged by heavy-handed noise reduction. These settings are always a compromise. You also need to learn about the habits of birds, and of course the many different species of birds vary widely in those habits, as well as lighting, backgrounds, camera settings and post-processing. Many of us have spent many years developing and refining our fieldcraft, camerawork and post-processing techniques to produce those photos that pop. There is no magic bullet and no single solution; the techniques each photographer uses vary widely.

Assuming your camera and lens are working correctly, there is nothing wrong with the 80D and 300 f/4 for bird photography; many of us have used that camera and/or lens to produce fine images. It just takes practice, like any skill, and the more you practise the better you get.

Ray.Petri wrote in post #19490951
Great shot, Pippan!

Thanks Ray, young bird didn't have too much fear of humans.

sogs wrote in post #19490748
Good one!

Nice capture!

Nice shot!

Fine image!

Excellent capture!

That's beautiful!

There's a unique pose! Great shot!

Fantastic captures!

Thank you Sogs!

pev11 wrote in post #19490844
Not the best lighting to work with, but I managed a decent shot of this guy yesterday:

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forum: Birds

And you got a good image despite the light/

Pippan wrote in post #19490945
Juvenile Pied Heron (Egretta picata).

Hosted photo: posted by Pippan in
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forum: Birds

Nice closeup