Male Varied Thrush

Gallery: AvianPosted February 24, 2018199 views9 comments

I've had Varied Thrushes coming to my feeding station this week with the snow we've had (about the only time I get them). This morning was pretty specia though as there were two males and one female around. The males looked like they were starting to think about spring as there was quite a bit of chasing through the branches of the firs. It thawed enough last night that my pond had water in it and this male actually came in for a drink and gave me some very nice poses.

On this one it was pretty tight at the top so I just slid it up using content aware crop in Photoshop to add a bit of canvas up there and take the same amount off the bottom. I also did a fair amount of cloning and patching to eliminate some distractions in the background.

7Dii, Sigma 150-600 C @ 388 mm, I was hoping for these so I used a lower blind window today with the camera mounted on a tripod via a Sidekick and ball head. f/8, 1j/400, iso 2500, aperture priority, pattern metering, -2/3 EV. Processed in LR & PS CC. Full frame (see above). Taken at 8:45 this morning.

Your comments and critiques are always appreciated.

Thanks for taking a look,

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on February 24, 2018 at 8:19 PM

Good detail. Nice pose and I like the perch. The thrush shows up well against the green and white background.

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

Comment posted by Paul Rossi on February 24, 2018 at 9:05 PM

Great photo of a beautiful species. Like the composition.

Registered on February 8, 2018, 48 Posts, 19 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on February 24, 2018 at 10:16 PM

I have never seen this bird. Photo shows it very well. Good pose, color and details. Also like the BG. TFS.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on February 25, 2018 at 7:27 AM

Amazing image, Dennis - what a beautiful thrush. Love the snow and hint of mosses. Good work on the PP as well, since I hand't noticed anyhting.. Cheers, Hans

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on February 25, 2018 at 3:32 PM

Nice one Dennis! The snow behind the head really makes this one pop and I think really helps him stand out against what might have otherwise ben a busier BG.

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

Comment posted by David Bogener on February 25, 2018 at 3:50 PM

Great photo species, well captured. Really nice detail in the larger version. Good eye contact. Good photoshop work. Consider cloning out the second catchlight?

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on February 25, 2018 at 5:57 PM

Wonderful capture. The detail, pose, color balance are all excellent especially in the larger image. I think you did a good job with the added canvas.

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

Comment posted by Charles Bell on February 25, 2018 at 6:17 PM

This is a great capture. To get a pose like that of such a gorgeous bird is very special. One would never know of the cloning and patching. Well done. The only thing I might try in addition would be to back off ever so slightly on the saturation, or just push the exposure up a bit, At least on my screen, the orange and green look just a little bit too vivid.

Registered on February 21, 2016, 187 Posts, 192 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 1, 2018 at 3:24 AM

Very nice portrait of this handsome fellow Dennis.

I really like the snowy mossy background.

A Sweet North-west Photograph devil

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