B-G Gnatcatcher & redo

Gallery: AvianPosted November 4, 20171,837 views11 comments

Sweetwater Wetlands Park, Gainesville, Florida

11/4/17, 9:04:19 AM
Canon EOS 7D Mark II EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +1.4x III @560mm
f/8, 1/1600, ISO 800
Aperture priority, Evaluative metering
Imported into LR, processed in Adobe Camera Raw and CC PS 2018, 70% of full frame.

These are tiny little constantly moving birds. All About Birds says, "A tiny, long-tailed bird of broadleaf forests and scrublands, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher makes itself known by its soft but insistent calls and its constant motion. It hops and sidles in dense outer foliage, foraging for insects and spiders. As it moves, this steely blue-gray bird conspicuously flicks its white-edged tail from side to side, scaring up insects and chasing after them." You can see that its tail was in motion in this image, and one of its feet also.

I hope to get more images of them, but of the ones I got today the background in this image, while still close, is a bit further away than in the others. The only processing I did to this was cropping for composition, smart sharpening of the bird and a little desaturation of the background. I wish its beak was more separated from the background, but I was still happy to get this.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Please view the larger version if possible. Thank you!

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on November 5, 2017 at 1:32 AM

This looks pretty good to my eye aas posted. gnatcatchers are definitely a challenge to photograph due to their constant activity and small size.

I"m not sure where you cropped, but if possible I'd add back a little on ther bottom and the right, then maybe trim slightly on top and left.

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

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on November 5, 2017 at 2:14 PM

Hi Barb,

You captured one that has eluded me. I like the comp--Richard's suggestion for the crop may improve the comp. The gnatcatcher is nice and sharp and it shows up well from the BG. Well done....................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on November 5, 2017 at 4:30 PM

Nice look at this Gnatcatcher. I'm okay with the crop. I think you probably could've gotten away with F7 .1 or 6.3 which would have improved your depth of field a little. You could throw in a tilt shift blur and very carefully see if that would reduce some of the background clutter.
We don't always think of those things somewhere shooting though these birds are pretty quick. We don't have Gnatcatcher's where I am but we do have Bush Tits which are quite similar.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on November 5, 2017 at 8:14 PM

I've never been able to even acquire focus before these little guys move! Good work, Barbara.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on November 6, 2017 at 12:01 AM

A nice detailed look at a bird I suspect doesn't stay still for long. I suspect were all envious.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on November 6, 2017 at 4:04 AM

Congratulations on capturing a sharp image of this little bird of constant motion. I like the way the background portrays the feel of the birds habitat without being too distractive. I agree with Richard's crop suggestions.

Sweet One Barbara!

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

Comment posted by Shirley Freeman on November 6, 2017 at 10:25 AM

Very nice image of this little guy, Barbara. I am not familiar with the breed, but if they catch knats, I am all for them! Great detail in the feathers.

Registered on May 27, 2017, 77 Posts, 844 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on November 6, 2017 at 4:47 PM

Great look at this little bird Barbara. This crop works for me and the Gnatcatcher is separated well from the bg too. Congrats on catching this very skittish little bird long enough to click the shutter.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on November 6, 2017 at 4:52 PM

Nice job catching this little one, Barbara. I remember trying to track one in a tree in Texas years ago without getting much more than an ID shot out of it. I like the pose and the detail is excellent.

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on November 7, 2017 at 9:59 PM

Gnats move all over the place, so nice job even getting tis little one in your frame Barbara. I agree with Richard's suggestions on the crop improvement.

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

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on November 7, 2017 at 11:15 PM

Thank you, everyone. I did not have any more canvas at the bottom. I decided to try using Content Aware Fill just to see what happened. I added some canvas on the bottom and a little less than that on the right, and I took some off the top and left.

PLEASE NOTE that I didn't clean this up (the Content Aware Fill part) at all. I could pretty easily, but it would still take time, and I'd like to see what you all think about it before I spend that time.

If you could, could you tell me what you think about this version if the leaves at the bottom were cleaned up? Do you think this would make a better image then?

Thank you!

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments