I got one!

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

I got one!
I got one!1600×2000 1.28 MB

I was just sitting on the bottom step of the deck when a pair of nuthatches came through. They seem to do so every evening when it’s not pouring (can you tell I’m sick of rain?). So I just sat and watched and waited with the long lens. It’s backlit, but what can you do. I sort of like it and toned it down some for this presentation. I think it has a basswood seed in its beak.

So I’ve had this image for a couple weeks…it’s a typical nuthatch pose, but I like it and so I wanted to try running it through some plug in noise reduction and/or sharpening software. I’ve since done so, but honestly I think I chose the wrong image. It’s basically the same as it looked in Lightroom. I’ll keep playing with it (Topaz). I also used Sharpen and it didn’t add much so I didn’t save it. Another shot I tried (a big spider) made an improvement, so I guess it depends on the individual photo.

Specific Feedback Requested

Any bird photography advice is welcome.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 @ 318mm (636mm equiv.)
f/5.8 | 1/640 sec | ISO 1000
Handheld with elbows on knees while sitting

Lr processed for general exposure values and to reduce background brightness and increase exposure on the bird. Topaz Denoise - but the watermark looks absent so…hm. It came from a TIF file though. Oy vey. I really have to get this together. It’s a slight crop, but not much.

@the.wire.smith
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Hi Kris. To my eye, the image looks as if it were exposed for the general lighting conditions and you then had to bring the bird up quite a bit in post processing which amplified the noise. For a backlit bird (or presumably about anything else) it works better if you get the exposure you want on the subject then adjust the background down. If the contrast is too bad, then you’ll have to bite the bullet and take a burst with exposure compensation either way (the right word just left my head) to get both the bird and background where you want them and merge the two. With modern burst speeds unless the bird is moving fast you can pull it off. Since I don’t use the Topaz AI products, I can’t address why they work sometimes and not others.

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Yup, you’re right. I didn’t stop to think about exposure, was just happy to get anything in focus. I’ll try to manage this better in future. I will overexpose as I would for a subject that sat still.

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Hi Kristen
This is as they say, the stander photo of a Nuthatch (descending a tree head first). It is a little noisy but, framing and that your photograph has a Nuthatch with a nut.
Peter