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Say's Phoebe + RP
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Say's Phoebe + RP

by Ed Williams

Gallery: AvianPosted November 26, 2017124 views4 comments
I believe this is a Say's Phoebe based on coloration. It was at Bolsa Chica Wetlands along the Pacific Coast in Southern California this morning. Canon 60D, iso 500, f5.6, 1/5000 sec, 100-400 IS L II at 400 mm. Thanks for your recommendations for improvements.

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by Gary Minish on November 26, 2017 at 3:00 AM
It looks pretty good, Ed.  It's a clean shot with plenty of detail and the exposure is good.  It's a bit drab looking though, partially because of the earthy colors but it's also needing a little added brightness and contrast plus maybe just a tweak of saturation.  A light application of micro-contrast would help bring out the fine details and make it a little more 3D.  A little stronger sharpening on the final upload sized file would help also.  I did a screen grab and did everything I suggested so that you could see the difference.  I hope you don't mind. It would look better if it was done on the original size file and then shrunk to upload size and sharpened but it should at least give you an idea of what could be done.  Click on it to see the larger size.
Registered on February 4, 2006, 625 Posts, 3583 Comments
Comment posted by Ed Williams on November 26, 2017 at 10:04 AM
Thank you Gary. I will see what I can do with a bit more processing. 
Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on November 26, 2017 at 12:55 PM
Excellent pose, Ed.  I kind of agree with Gary's suggestions, though I think his version went a bit further than needed.  These birds don't have really high contrast in their plumage and it's rather fine textured, so taking it too far makes for an unnatural appearance. 
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Ed Williams on December 1, 2017 at 3:10 PM
Thank you for your comments on this one, I have made a few adjustments for brightness and sharpening somewhere in the middle of the first one and the one you did for me Gary. I hope this helped.
Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments