Dan McKenna
September 2023 - Yellow Headed Blackbird
About the Image(s)
Sony A1, Sony 200-600mm lens at 400mm, f6/3, 1200/sec. ISO100. This guy was found near a small lake in Yellowstone NP. We only have Redwing and Common Blackbirds in my local, so I enjoyed this variation. Struggled a little with exposure on the tail as I exposed for the head and lost some detail in the deep shade.
9 comments posted
This is an example of how a fully focused background is an asset. It forms a frame around the bird. Having the tail and the eye more visible would enhance this photo. Posted: 09/05/2023 12:41:06
Matthew Johnston
There seems to be a bit of distortion around the head of the bird. This is no doubt a difficult image for post production. Do you know the resolution of the image? It could be too low and cause some of the outlines to get fuzzy, or if the image was cropped too tight. I do love how the grasses seem to braid and set the yellow apart from the rest of the image. Posted: 09/07/2023 19:12:54
Limitations of Gigapixel Posted: 09/07/2023 19:48:19
Limitations of Gigapixel Posted: 09/08/2023 13:02:16
Nice shot. I haven't seen one of these yet, and I'd love to. Did you use bird eye focus on this shot? Posted: 09/12/2023 11:15:58
Thank you Tracy. As I recall bird eye focus did not work properly because of the distance and dark color. Posted: 09/12/2023 12:07:11
Sometimes it works great on my Canon, and sometimes not. Love it when it does. Posted: 09/12/2023 12:13:19
Thank you Tracy. As I recall bird eye focus did not work properly because of the distance and dark color. Posted: 09/13/2023 08:26:09
Hi Dan. This is a nice shot with appropriate camera settings. I can fully understand your struggle with exposure on the tail and lost of bird beak details in the deep shade. That's always my issues when editing my wildlife images. We need partial adjustment in the post process. In this case, my key tool is luminosity mask. This is to ensure smooth transition of areas to be adjusted. Posted: 09/19/2023 21:39:09