Sora (+ repost)

Gallery: AvianPosted January 24, 2013154 views18 comments

Sora (Porzana carolina)

Place: Water Ranch, Gilbert, AZ
Date: January 5, 2013, 8:35 am
Equipment: Nikon D300, AF-S 300/2.8, TC20E III (2x) G1325, RRS BH-55, Sidekick
Exposure: ISO 1600, 1/160th at f/5.6
Raw, PS CS3 on Mac, full frame

I went back to the Water Ranch where I had discovered a Rufous-backed Robin two days earlier, hoping for better photos. The robin didn’t show, but a pair of Soras were feeding in a wet area under lots of scrubby brush. The lack of light forced me to ISO 1600 with the lens wide open, so not the best quality Sora I’ve gotin my collection.

As always: honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. Please view the larger image before commenting if possible.

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Verdon on January 24, 2013 at 4:44 PM

awesome, large version is very sweet

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Marella on January 24, 2013 at 4:45 PM

Don't see any noise from the high ISO. There is a little fall off in DOF at the birds breast, but I wouldn't have known if you hadn't mentioned it. I would have probably burned down the lower portion of the frame and maybe a little on the breast. Then again, I may not have been able to get this with the conditions.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Tate on January 24, 2013 at 4:48 PM

Great frame filling image with excellent colors and detail. Very nice Richard

Registered on December 11, 2004, 150 Posts, 1667 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on January 24, 2013 at 4:48 PM

Nice closeup, high ISO does not detract at all.

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

Comment posted by Craig Strand on January 24, 2013 at 6:46 PM

Love the nice crisp detail captured Richard and beautiful coloration. Nicely done!

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

Comment posted by David E Lester on January 24, 2013 at 8:05 PM

Super detail and closeup..

Registered on March 24, 2010, 155 Posts, 793 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on January 24, 2013 at 8:16 PM

Nice detail and the high iso worked out well. I'd be happy with this one.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Schiebelbein on January 24, 2013 at 8:52 PM

Really nice close-up look with nice colour and detail. A little more room on the right would have been nice but it is full frame so looks like he was pretty close.

Registered on November 8, 2008, 55 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 24, 2013 at 9:40 PM

I would have probably burned down the lower portion of the frame and maybe a little on the breast.

- Jerry Marella

Great suggestion, Jerry. I had been bothered by the lack of depth in the image and the near merger of the Sora's belly with the ground. I fixed the brightness of the wet ground with a new exposure adjustment layer (with no change in the sliders) set to Multiply, with a gradient added to the mask completely blocking the top 2/3rds of the image, then set to about 50% opacity. That took care of the ground brightness. For better separation of the Sora from the background I added another empty layer, set to soft light and filled with 50% gray, then painted on this layer with a soft-edged brush black brush set to 10% opacity to add a contour shadow on the bottom edge of the belly.

The secret to these types of modifications is to keep things subtle and mimic natural lighting conditions as best you can.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 24, 2013 at 9:49 PM

I really like the intimate in close view of the sora in this photo. A bit of noise is starting to become apparent, but as the background is quite bright it doesn't detract much at all, over all excellent image quality. You put a lot of work into the repost and looks like it was time well spent.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 24, 2013 at 11:09 PM

wow--nice work on the repost, Rich, and thanks for sharing how you did it. nice to see one of these up close and in the open. I do wish there was a little more room in front of the bird.

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

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on January 25, 2013 at 8:21 AM

Your subtle changes really made this bird stand out. Nicely done! Sharon

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

Comment posted by Ken Archer on January 25, 2013 at 9:32 AM

Great sora pose and a nice clean view Richard, I am so envious. I always just see bits and pieces of these guys when they travel through the marsh. I do like the second version better.

Sweet Photo!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by James Allen on January 25, 2013 at 10:55 AM

Spot on fine feather detail! (no pun meant there)

Thank you for sharing your postprocessing workflow for the repost. The bird, stone and water look even better in the repost but the bokeh seems a little off.

Registered on December 10, 2012, 14 Posts, 232 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 25, 2013 at 11:30 PM

I wouldn't have guessed that high an iso, Richard. The noise isn't readily apparent and detail looks fine to my eye. Maybe a bit tight in the frame for my taste.

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

Comment posted by Tim Butler on January 28, 2013 at 8:22 AM

I really, really like the re-posted image. The only thing that detracted from this image IMO was how the breast and BG were so close. But the re-posted version dealt with that perfectly. Great image IMO.

Registered on October 12, 2012, 17 Posts, 155 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on January 30, 2013 at 5:37 PM

Very interesting species, love its colors & markings Rich.
Nice job of getting this in the low light - Great catch

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

Comment posted by Angela McCain on March 23, 2013 at 1:51 PM

Nice to get a Sora this out in the open. Mine have always been weedy. Well done.

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