Bird photography

[stillcrazyman]

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

A pair of Common Grackles

 

[_timo_redux_]

osprey and roost
Hart Island, NY

 

[oblomow]

Young oyster catcher

 

[_timo_redux_]

Argentinean parrots

 

[stillcrazyman]

Tufted Titmouse

 

[Clix Pix]

 

[Strider64]

 

[tizeye]

Great Blue Heron

 

[tizeye]

Red Shouldered Hawk

 

[tizeye]

Anhinga

 

[Clix Pix]

 

[stillcrazyman]

Red Winged Blackbird

Papa Cardinal watching over Baby Cardinal

 

[Strider64]

Great-crested Flycatcher:

Green Heron:

Green Heron having a bad hair day:

and another picture of a Green Heron:

 

[Strider64]

Green Heron coming in for a landing:

I'm starting not to worry about noise in the images as it can help the image or I can denoise the image in post.

 

[Clix Pix]

I agree -- I am more relaxed about the possibility of noise in images, but I still find myself to be concerned about exposure, about sharpness (too easy to overdo the latter in post-processing) and about color (hard to remember after the fact exactly the extent/intensity or lack thereof of the coloring of the bird or its surroundings! Was the bird actually this color that I'm seeing now on my computer screen or do I need to adjust things in one way or another? A lot of times I find myself either increasing or dialing back a bit on the color as of course I also am tinkering with the overall exposure level......

A lot of people don't realize that bird photography is really more complex than it might seem at first glance, especially when one gets the images up in the computer. Now that scene, that bird, is simply a memory which we try to retain in our mind's eye, even as we are staring at our RAW image results and well.....that's a challenge!

I actually am n the midst of working on some images I shot today of our resident GBH, affectionally known as "Alfred." The lighting, the environment in which he was standing, requires more care and thought on my part as to how the final images will come out. Not quite ready for "Prime Time" yet.....

 

[Regulus67]

.. A lot of times I find myself either increasing or dialing back a bit on the color as of course I also am tinkering with the overall exposure level......

I do that as well. Often because the light conditions cause the photo to get the exposure a bit off. But RAW files helps a lot in my experience.
I have not experimented with any lens filters. Although I guess they could help.

 

[Clix Pix]

I do that as well. Often because the light conditions cause the photo to get the exposure a bit off. But RAW files helps a lot in my experience.
I have not experimented with any lens filters. Although I guess they could help.

I don't use filters on my lenses either, but I agree that they probably could help in some situations, especially when the lighting is "iffy" and mixed or whatever. The problem is that with the lenses many of us use for wildlife/bird photography, purchasing and using one or more filters to fit on the lens(es) can turn into a really expensive proposition! The dimensions/physical size of some of those filters would need to be quite large......

Also another factor in this whole process is the software one uses to edit images, too. I have noticed an increasing amount of AI used in some popular editing programs, including a couple of those which I use. While this can be convenient, it also can be a bit disconcerting at times. Whoa, this isn't the result I wanted! So back to tinkering with things myself.....

Also, equally or even more importantly, also there can be a noticeable shift in how the final image results look when having been processed in two different editing software applications, even when the user pretty much applies the same level of corrections and adjustments. I've experimented with this a few times and always been surprised at what happens.

In the end, though, I am just an enthusiastic amateur, and I enjoy just getting out there and shooting photos (I like the shooting more than the post-processing), and since I'm retired, this is an interesting and often challenging way to spend my time. If other people like the results that I choose to share, that's fine, but for me the most important factor is whether or not I am happy with the images.

 

[richardallan]

If other people like the results that I choose to share, that's fine, but for me the most important factor is whether or not I am happy with the images.

Yep. That’s definitely the main thing.

 

[Strider64]

Carolina Duck (AKA The Wood Duck) taken at Hines Park in Wayne County. Her ducklings were to the right of her in some shrubbery where I couldn't get a picture of.