Cindy Smith  

"Five's a Crowd!" by Cindy Smith

September 2023 - "Five's a Crowd!"

September 2023 - Cindy Smith

Original

About the Image(s)



Sony a7iii 200-800 lens at 315mm, f/9, 1/2000, iso 8000

Shot July 11 at 6:30pm. While Ohio is a great state for Eastern Bluebirds, I had not seen any this year until I caught this flash of commotion on my deck suet. The 4 chicks were very aggressively feeding and one boisterous bird decided there was not room for a 5th. I captured many photos, but I liked the wings of the approaching bird in this shot as well as the head bird obviously objecting to the addition while the others looked on. It was near dark so my iso was very high shooting this fast.

Camera Raw: shadows up, highlights down, dehaze, increase vibrance, denoise AI (new feature in raw).
PhotoShop: crop, catchlight added, healing brush on some light spots in background

This round’s discussion is now closed!
6 comments posted

Mervyn Hurwitz   Mervyn Hurwitz
An unusual picture with the feeder being so prominent, but your composition tells a good nature story. I like the fact that the 5 birds are all in slightly different positions, giving us a good feel of what these birds are like.   Posted: 09/07/2023 14:15:26
Cindy Smith   Cindy Smith
Mervyn - Thanks! Yes, lots of feeder, but I think that was the draw for these birds so I could get this shot.

*Can't wait to see more photos from your trip!   Posted: 09/08/2023 10:36:48
Dean Ginther   Dean Ginther
Cindy,
My eye movers around and around this image with each bird telling a bit different story. It looks like the ones on top are waiting their turn to get to the remaining suet. Catching one with wings extended makes this a much more interesting image.   Posted: 09/07/2023 20:09:44
Cindy Smith   Cindy Smith
Dean - Thanks!   Posted: 09/08/2023 10:37:28
Pierre Williot   Pierre Williot
Wow... these are very "social" birds! Nice capture. This image tells a story. A square crop works very well here.
Nice submission.   Posted: 09/08/2023 15:11:00
Jacob Wat   Jacob Wat
This is a lovely photo. I really like the one with the stretched wings. The colors are vivid and the image is beautiful. I think that you handled the crop really well.   Posted: 09/14/2023 22:00:17