Another Killdeer, best one yet, imo

[benlonghair]

300mm | f/5.6 | 1/320sec | ISO 200

So this is the second killdeer that I've edited since last weekend. I really like this one. It's a tight crop, which kinda sucks, but until I can buy big glass, what can you do?

Fixed WB, exposure, saturation and curves. A couple of USM passes and lots of fixing of the fugly bokeh this lens produces in busy green backgrounds. The big piece of grass behind the tail is unfortunate, but I suppose I could fix that with some blurring.

Strong criticism welcomed.

 

[tirediron]

I don't really see as their's much to criticize here. You've got a good bird capture, and as with any wildlife, you generally have to take what you can get when you can get it. On my (Colour-corrected) monitor, it does have a slight yellow cast however.

 

[marmots]

On my (Colour-corrected) monitor, it does have a slight yellow cast however.

i see it too

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

First of all... I like it. I might have preferred a little more blur/bokeh in the background.... But thats me.

My 2 cents.

What if you re-cropped it?

I kinda edited the color a hair to see if I could avoid the yellowish cast...

Kinda like...

 

[LaFoto]

Yes, the colours are a bit on the warm side in the original photo.
Re-crop looks good, though cropped this much, all you can ever get out of it (should you ever wish for a print) would be a card-size pic, I guess.

And yes, here's me hoping (in vain) for new, better glass. It's not going to happen ... So we must make do with what we have. And crop if necessary. So no bird POSTERS in our houses, hm?

 

[benlonghair]

I think the yellow cast is a straight up miss by my monitor. I don't have a calibrated monitor, and I'm not seeing the yellow. It's warm, I see it as pretty accurate. WB can be fixed.

 

[Ron Evers]

"The big piece of grass behind the tail is unfortunate, but I suppose I could fix that with some blurring."

I have a problem with taking nature out of nature shots.

 

[Phranquey]

I have a problem with taking nature out of nature shots.

I do, too, but I'm still guilty of it. When you have that small branch or leaf in the BG that is pulling the eye away from what is otherwise a pretty good shot......

 

[burstintoflame81]

Nice shot. I agree that the color cast needs to be fixed but do not like the re-crop posted. I think its much too tight. The pic is a little soft ( expected at full focal length on a 300mm ). I would advise picking up a Kenko 1.4k pro300 Teleconverter. It will really help you get more reach. Don't go bigger than the 1.4x though and make sure its the Pro300 ( around $200 ) You may have to turn your VC off when walking around though because it will constantly try to run the VC and drain the batts.

Also, maybe try getting low to the ground on your stomach next time you see him ( if there isn't a bunch of crap in the way )

 

[benlonghair]

Also, maybe try getting low to the ground on your stomach next time you see him ( if there isn't a bunch of crap in the way )

Funny you should say that. This was at a feedlot in a hunting preserve. Notice the black thing near the bird's foot? Ya, pig poop.

I wasn't gonna lay down to get this sh*t. (Was that an 'o' or an 'i'? I can't remember )

BTW, here's a link to the original shot. This is pixel-for-pixel.

 

[benlonghair]

"The big piece of grass behind the tail is unfortunate, but I suppose I could fix that with some blurring."

I have a problem with taking nature out of nature shots.

Why? At what point does it lose 'nature.' If I had been shooting a 400 f/4 I could have done that with the lens. However, I'm limited by my tools, so the PP tools have to take up the slack. If I'd blurred the piece of grass, you probably would have never known it. Here's what I mean. This is the image unmodified except for RAW modifications. No sharpening, no fixing of the bokeh.

Compared to the finished product.

The bokeh is distracting and the bird isn't that sharp. PP is part of the process. (I think the WB should be better in the un-PPed one.)

 

[dak1b]

i liked the cropped image. looks better.

 

[Ron Evers]

Ben, I am not talking about developing the pic but rather modifying it to take elements of it out of the retained image. I will crop to get rid of something distracting but if this does not work I give serious consideration to "misrepresenting" the image.

 

[Don Kondra]

Cheers, Don

 

[benlonghair]

Actually, I wouldn't have cloned it out. I would have simply pushed it into the background by blurring it. Really I don't have a problem with it. The image would have been stronger without it there.