Boat Tailed Grackles...Female and Juvenile

[jprzybyla]

My wife and I went out yesterday morning after two days of rain. We came across these two different sets of birds interacting. C&C always welcomed. Thank you for viewing.

#1



#2

[Bobobird]

Fine shots of interaction.

A tad underexposed imho. Looks like a 1/250 or slower day @f8 to me. 1/400 as in the 2nd shot is fine to stop some action but you are short-changing yourself by not going higher on the ISO. Even on a great day I would go ISO200 or ISO400 to give myself more latitude with the aperture and shutter speeds. Your D7000 is more then capable of that compared to the puny T2i that I use.

[FrankMi]

Compositionally, I really like the interaction in the first one! Nice capture, Joe.

[jprzybyla]

Fine shots of interaction.

A tad underexposed imho. Looks like a 1/250 or slower day @f8 to me. 1/400 as in the 2nd shot is fine to stop some action but you are short-changing yourself by not going higher on the ISO. Even on a great day I would go ISO200 or ISO400 to give myself more latitude with the aperture and shutter speeds. Your D7000 is more then capable of that compared to the puny T2i that I use.

Thanks Bobo, one of the great aspects of this forum is to have a second set of eyes look at images. Maybe a bit underexposed but it is always a battle between controling the highlights while opening the shadows. The second image I think appeared underexposed because in post processing I desaturated the green leaves to make the flower and birds stand out more against the background. Looking at it a second time I think it was a mistake. I worked it again and the revised image is posted below. Thank you for your comment and critique, I found them very helpful.

[jprzybyla]

Compositionally, I really like the interaction in the first one! Nice capture, Joe.

Thanks Frank, I appreciate you taking the time to look at my photographs and comment.

[Bobobird]

I am just learning myself and rather then walking the long route hope others do not have to.

#2 is a tough one to get right. The green in the original is much better but the birds in the redo are much better. That is a tough one to fix.

[FrankMi]

#2 is a tough one to get right. The green in the original is much better but the birds in the redo are much better. That is a tough one to fix.

I agree Bobo. If possible with your post processing skills Joe, you may want to blend JUST the birds and flower (blossom and stem) of the second image with the more subduded background of the original image. Hope this helps!

[jprzybyla]

Thanks guys, I think this one combines the best of both. I appreciate your comments.

[Bobobird]

Excellent work. Well done and the pic just pops.

[gilliebg]

Some great pictures of one of my favorites of the Florida waterways, and it is difficult to get the exposure right on those lily leaves, which blow out in a heartbeat. Your final version is a fine picture, although I think maybe the colour of the birds is a little too golden, but a great shot just the same.

[jprzybyla]

Some great pictures of one of my favorites of the Florida waterways, and it is difficult to get the exposure right on those lily leaves, which blow out in a heartbeat. Your final version is a fine picture, although I think maybe the colour of the birds is a little too golden, but a great shot just the same.

Thanks Gillie, I think the golden on the breast of the bird on top is a reflection from the highly saturated yellow flower. I appreciate you taking the time to view and comment.

[FrankMi]

Thanks guys, I think this one combines the best of both. I appreciate your comments.

Yep! Looks better to me! I hope you like it as well.