Abert's Towhee

Abert's Towhee (Pipilo aberti)

Place: Gilbert Water Ranch, AZ, USA
Date: February 6, 2010
Equipment: Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (2x), G1325, RRS BH-55, Sidekick
Exposure: Aperture priority matrix metered, 1/500th @ f5.6, ISO 400, natural light no fill
Raw, PS CS3 on Mac, crop to left edge only for balance

Its been a year since I posted an Abert's Towhee; a local specialty tied to the Lower Colorado River drainage. I normally don't shoot tight images, and would reject any shot with a clipped tail. But I liked the light and colors in this, and liked the overall image once I'd finished processing it.

Processing is minimal, with exposure reduced and slight warming in ACR, followed by a slight saturation boost in photoshop. The image size was reduced using simple Bicubic (not Bicubic sharper to avoid oversharpening), and the towhee was selectively sharpened with Smart Sharpen. I mention that because of comments I've made in recent posts here at NPN that led me to use this image for a tutorial on selective sharpening on my web site in the Digital Tips section.

Honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. If possible please view the larger image before commenting.