Texas Roadrunner

Gallery: AvianPosted January 29, 2015129 views11 comments

My first Roadrunner image. I found this guy and his mate hunting for insects. They were pretty accommodating and allowed me quite a few images before drifting away. Processed using Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC 2014. Comments and critiques welcome.

Canon 7D Mark II
Canon 200-400 f4 L IS
f8.0
1/640s
ISO 250
Focal Length 560mm (Teleconverter Engaged)

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on January 30, 2015 at 9:08 AM

Neat catch, Jerry. The bird looks good as well as very intense and inquisitive.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on January 30, 2015 at 9:08 AM

Beep, Beep!

Guess someone had to say it in response to you achieving your first Roadrunner.

The soft brown tones of the environment work oh so well with the subject and the darker parts of the plumage and side elevation (profile) just helps give the image standout. Getting even lower with an actual 'mush' FG I think would be even better, you were so close, but in going lower you may have had issues in the BKG? Just my take.

My only 'nit' (sorry I'm not a fan of the word and I am making an assumption here) is for me, both the hint of FG & top half of the BKG looks manipulated with shadowing elements around the subject, at f/8 I would have expected a more 'defined' outline looking at the larger version and the BKG naturally defused with the lens (great lens), I guess it 'ghosts' for a better phrase? But I could well be wrong here Jerry.

TFS
Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on January 30, 2015 at 9:22 AM

Looks fine to me Jerry. One of my favourite birds- though only seen them in cartoons and zoos. They seem just built for running.
Good stuff
John

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on January 30, 2015 at 9:23 AM

Congrats on the "first" Jerry. You captured a nice image, it almost looks like he's standing on carpet. Great details in the Roadrunner and perfect comp IMO.

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on January 30, 2015 at 12:55 PM

One of my favorites, on my wish list still.. Love the colors in the images, and the pose... Well, basically I like everything about it

, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on January 30, 2015 at 1:02 PM

One of my favorite birds, and beautifully captured, composition, light, resolution, I like it all. Years ago (film era) I had great luck with a few of them in Big Bend, they kept poking in and out of the trail I was hiking for quite some time. That was Kodachrome, so the scans are terrible....thanks for this great photo!

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on January 30, 2015 at 6:21 PM

Everyone, thanks for all the comments.

Steve, I didn't manipulate the background in any way. I think what you might be seeing is the fact that the background changed to a greener area about forty yards behind the Roadrunner. It was also a little higher ground. Thanks for your comments and observations.

Jerry

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on January 30, 2015 at 9:39 PM

Congratulations on your first Roadrunner Jerry. Absolutely love these guys.I like the image as posted, but I might be tempted to add just a touch more contrast and maybe even warm up the image a very little bit (maybe +3 in LR is all I am talking about)...but that all mostly personal preference.Nice work Jerry!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on January 31, 2015 at 3:34 AM

That's fine Jerry, one has to ask, just curiosity. The package of PP software is perhaps the best IMHO, nice work as I said.