ChestnutBacked Chickadee

Gallery: AvianPosted April 26, 2011147 views14 comments

Someone expressed the idea that it would have been nice if the bird in my previous post had moved a bit to one side to catch the light. Oddly, about ten seconds after that bird flew off this one replace it, but was in the light. This is a rather large crop and the plumage is looking a little coarse-I'm not sure if it's due to the crop, a slight mis-focus, or the natural coarseness of this bird's plumage or a combination thereof. To me it lends a painterly look to the image that I like. I'd be interested in your opinions.

1D MkIV, 500mm f4 + 1.4TC, Black Widow on Gitzo legs, f9, 1/160, Av mode, -1/3 compensation, iso 500, cropped from 17 to 4.2MP, processed in CS4. Taken at 7:04 pm on April 21st.

I always appreciate your comments and criticisms. Thanks for looking.

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 26, 2011 at 3:53 AM

I really liked the previous shot and I like this one just as much if not more Dennis :^)

Aside from the wonderful lighting, I actually like the course textures of the feathers, perhaps it has something to do with the surrounding habitat I'm not sure, but the image seems to work very well to my eye :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 26, 2011 at 7:09 AM

I like this image better than the last due to the better light on the bird Dennis. I like the FG and BG too. This looks really nice for being such a large crop. By the way, the 1DM4 has 16MP not 17, so your crop is not quite as large as you thought. A good thing.

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

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on April 26, 2011 at 8:42 AM

This has a wonderful feel to it. Nice light on the bird. The coarse look to the feathers doesn't bother me at all.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 26, 2011 at 8:42 AM

I love the light on the little cutie. The bg makes for a nice image as well combined with the great piny perch .

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on April 26, 2011 at 8:50 AM

YES! I really like this Dennis. A slight lack of the natural light was all that I (IMHO,) thought was missing in the original posting. I too like this bird as taken/processed and your tighter crop. It is beautiful with the backlit OOF BG and the well lit bird and pine perch. Very well done!

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Avi Hirschfield on April 26, 2011 at 9:18 AM

I think this image is great and the lighting is tops.Great job on this

Registered on November 1, 2003, 518 Posts, 2114 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on April 26, 2011 at 8:42 PM

Love the light and agree with you painterly comment. Nice background texture to the image.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on April 26, 2011 at 8:46 PM

Beautiful light and your details look ok to me. Love this little fellow! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on April 26, 2011 at 8:48 PM

I really like the light on this chickadee, Dennis. This composition looks great with the nice curving tree limbs spilling into the image. My only small nit would be that the highlights in the background are really drawing my attention away from the chickadee. The colors are great but I think I would be tempted to tone them down slightly.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 26, 2011 at 9:29 PM

Nice job on the details and exposure Dennis, my success rate exposing these little suckers is...well it sucks

Usually only works with overcast light and even then they're problematic.
Like the comp, head turn, and patterns I see in the BG, well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on April 27, 2011 at 12:04 AM

I like this a lot, Dennis. great light, really nice fg and bg, nice pose. comp is just right for me. I think the detail looks good, not quite perfect, but very good especially given the crop.

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

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on April 27, 2011 at 3:59 AM

Nice light and good eye contact.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Luca Mussato on April 27, 2011 at 4:49 PM

I like it. my only doubt is:"what if the BG was a little bit desaturated to make the bird result?"

Luca

Registered on November 14, 2006, 118 Posts, 855 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on April 27, 2011 at 5:10 PM

Dennis, this is a fine study in light. The bird is sharp, full of good color, and I really like the habitat.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments