Pinyon Jay Pose #2
by Brian Gatlin
Canon 7D, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x TC, monopod
1/1250, f/8, ISO 500
Crop to 50% (9 of 18MP)
The same recently fledged Pinyon Jay as my previous post. A few people didn't like the extraneous branches at lower right, and this one lent itself to a vertical comp, removing space at right that was needed in the previous horizontal comp. Same routine, including NR on the bg.
As I mentioned, I had a hard time getting the color balance right. The posting here is processed exactly the same as my last version. Posted below in a comment is another version (how I originally processed this one).
The critical ACR techs are for this one (and the previous one) White Balance/Color Temp 5950, green/magenta slider +10, +.30 stops.
For the one below, they are 6050, +25 (this is what it defaulted to), and +.15 stops.
Comments on which looks more natural are much appreciated, as are other comments and critiques. Please view larger version if possible.
Comments
11 commentsI also vote for the darker version - the second one here.
Sandy r
Beautiful photo!
Peter
I've never seen the bird, so can't help with the "natural" color issue. But I like the pose, BG, eye contact, and nice detail in your image very much.
I prefer the second version, though I am not exactly sure why. Love the pose and the attitude the jay seems to have, your comp and the light.
I'll admit something. I often have difficulty judging fine nuances of color and since I prefer my birds to look as natural as possible, in the light they were photographed in, I almost never tweak settings for white balance, saturation, etc and rely on my camera to get it close to right. If I don't think it does get it right for some reason I generally don't post it. Just me, probably not for everyone.