Mandarin In Camouflage

Gallery: AvianPosted March 3, 2010155 views6 comments

Captured this image last month at a small lake in San Diego. While the colors and shapes have a WOW factor to those I've shared it with, I am interested in improving my skills.

Handheld, Canon 50D EF 70-300 IS
ISO 200, f/11, shutter 100
Shot in Raw + jpeg

Did some minor levels adjustment but nothing else. I like the contrast between the textured feathers and the smooth water but concerned about the lack of detail around the eye. Seems like feathers make it difficult to determine sharpness in some birds.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on March 3, 2010 at 12:41 PM

Beautiful colors in both the bird and the water. As you point out the image is a tad soft around the eyes and head-and the white underparts seem a tad blown...but I do like the image.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by István Molnár on March 3, 2010 at 1:17 PM

Wonderful colors.Nice work.
István

Registered on January 7, 2010, 114 Posts, 704 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 3, 2010 at 3:54 PM

Byron, I do like the colors in this shot. Overall the bird is soft and that is most likely due to the slow shutter speed and hand hold combination. I can tell you what I would have done here and maybe that will help you out next time around. First I would have shot this at f/7.1 or even f/6.3 depending on the bird's position being perpendicular to you or angled back a bit going away from you. That f should provide enough DOF for the whole bird to be sharp at 300mm. The lower f would have allowed a higher SS, say 1/500 or maybe a bit more. That is better for hand holding 300mm and getting sharp images. Then, I might have bumped up my ISO a bit to say 320 to get even a bit more SS to help with movement of the duck and the hand holding. I would not push the 50D past ISO 400 or noise gets to be a problem (I have a 50D and will not shoot over ISO 400 with it). As far as comp goes, a little more room on the left and right would improve the image IMO. Lastly, almost always best to strive for a bit more eye contact than you have in this image. These are just suggestions. I hope they help. Keep shooting and posting. Cheers.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on March 3, 2010 at 7:06 PM

Byron, I agree with Ron's critique and suggestions from beginning to end. The colors here are spectacular.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 3, 2010 at 8:47 PM

I agree with bumping your iso a bit and opening up the aperture some here to get some more shutter speed which would help reduce the softness. The shape of those wing feathers is what sticks out to me in this image.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on March 4, 2010 at 10:35 AM

Byron,

I agree with every thing Ron B. said.

Love the water colors here.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments