Black-billed Magpie

Gallery: AvianPosted August 6, 2010153 views10 comments

Mia's recent series of "bird small in the frame" posts has inspired me to try my hand at it. Photographing magpies is almost always frustrating for a variety of reasons that many of you are aware of and this day was especially frustrating for me because I thought this was the best perch I'd ever seen a magpie on but I was just too far away for a "typical" presentation of any quality. So, I decided to adjust my mindset for this post and see how it goes.

Larger image provided

40D, 1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc,(not ideal settings for the situation - don't know what I was thinking), shot from pickup window on 6/12/09, cropped to 56% of original image, minor exposure adjustment in ACR, sharpened bird and perch, no further processing or adjustments, natural early morning light

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on August 6, 2010 at 5:50 PM

Ron, overall I think this a very attractive comp. All the colors work together and then there is the bird that jumps out nicely even though it is relatively small in the frame. Nice DOF eventhough you mention the settings you chose were not optimal. Hey, at least at 1/1600 you knew the bird would be sharp. Love the BG and the pigweed perch. Nice exposure of the blacks and a nice rich color presentation. Overall well done.

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

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on August 6, 2010 at 9:18 PM

These are such cool birds, Ron, I really need to spend some time experiencing the frustrations of photographing them. I miss them very much from my pre-photography days in Colorado.

As this loaded (on my slow dialup), I was thinking that all the vertical lines called for a vertical comp, but once I saw the horizontal part of the plant, I agree with your choice. I would be interested to see this also as a 2:3 with a little more room on the right. The perch, setting and light are all very nice.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on August 6, 2010 at 10:42 PM

Hi Ron,
First I'll say I don't really find this bird is all that small in the frame. I like the perch and the way he is looking out over his territory, I don't think the grass to the right adds alot to the composition but I also don't find it overly distracting. I think this image would have benefited in low light but sadly we don't have much control over that.
Thanks for posting,
Ronnie G.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 6, 2010 at 11:20 PM

Beautiful job, Ron. Nice job exposing the Magpie and the Rumex makes a great perch.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on August 7, 2010 at 7:46 AM

Ron,

I applaud your effort to expand the diversity of your portfolio and admire the courage it can take to post something outside of the norm.

I like this very much as posted. I love the colors of the curly dock and how the colors are echoed in the background, I love how the birds weight on the seedhead forms an L. I like the headturn and how nicely the iridescence shows on the tail of the bird. Exposure looks spot on.

I like seeing the bird smaller in the frame with this photo because for me it is about the setting as much as it is the bird. I'd be happy with this in my files.

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

Comment posted by David Hemmings on August 7, 2010 at 12:25 PM

Beautiful composition here Ron, lovely

Registered on May 26, 2006, 178 Posts, 1680 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on August 7, 2010 at 4:01 PM

Comp and bird size look great to me, Ron. However, I agree with Ronnie's comment that you really could use better lighting here. I miss seeing detail in the blacks and maybe more iridescence in the tail. However, I agree: we can't always (or maybe even often) have what we need!

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on August 7, 2010 at 8:21 PM

As I said on Mia's - I love these sorts of shots. That's a huge dock, it dwarfs the magpie - great perch. The larger image shows your usual level of detail that's not as readily evident in the smaller version.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on August 8, 2010 at 12:21 PM

This works well for me Ron. I like the color palette and how the long tail of the magpie is mirrored by the plants shape.

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

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on August 16, 2010 at 2:41 AM

Ron-I missed this...somehow

I think that you did exceptionally well here. I like the perch and the BG- the grasses to the right in the foreground reveal habitat, and the gorgeous tail and pose present this fellow in a most regal way .

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