Fledglings: A few more Goldcrests for Charlotte

Bob Latham · Oct 17, 2008

The five fledglings were being fed by their mother who would fly by and hover with her offering whilst they waited in safety.
Bob

Don Cohen · Oct 17, 2008

Cute shots! Loved the ones in the other thread as well! I think the 2nd in this series does the most for me.

(Sorry for my delay in getting involved here; my primary desktop crashed 2 weeks ago, and its replacement came 2 days ago, and I've been busy getting it set up!)

Charlotte Thompson · Oct 17, 2008

OMG!

you are such a sweet sweet heart
but it shows in your shots!
I had to come back and see your work again and then to see you gave me a beautiful present!!
the most precious pictures of little baby precious things ever!!
Look at their sweet little soft heads and eyes-down feathers-
OH thank you! so much
that first picture with the baby and his head turned to you is so priceless-
what a gift of sight you have
thank you again!

Charlotte-

doug anderson · Oct 22, 2008

Great shooting. Very sharp, sensitive shots.

What lens?

Edward Bussa · Oct 23, 2008

Very nice Bob!

I really like the sharpening job you did in the first two - impressive.

As the bird feathers become apparently larger in the second two, I didn't like the effect as much. The two pictures with the birds slightly smaller work better for me.

Just some thoughts!

Take care, Ed.

Asher Kelman · Oct 23, 2008

Edward Bussa said:
Very nice Bob!

I really like the sharpening job you did in the first two - impressive.

As the bird feathers become apparently larger in the second two, I didn't like the effect as much. The two pictures with the birds slightly smaller work better for me.

Just some thoughts!

Take care, Ed.

Bob,

I do not agree with Ed about likening the sharpening at all, on this! but I'm not at all sure. If the feathers were not dry, then I might feel differently but I do not know for sure. So how did this image look without sharpening. I'm concerned that the feathers are over-sharpened or perhaps more than the luminous channel was sharpened. I'm sticking my neck out since I don't really know the way these particular feathers reflect light. Maybe there's some refraction too. In any case, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Asher

Don Cohen · Oct 23, 2008

I tend to agree with Asher on the sharpening, and should have included that in my initial comments. I do a lot of work with birds, and have found that it is very easy to oversharpen feathers, which gives them a hard-edged, harsh appearance. This is seen to some degree on the wing feathers on the 2nd bird from the right.

In general, I have learned to back off on my sharpening in general, but especially when there's a lot of fine details, such as feathers, hair, fur, etc.

Edward Bussa · Oct 23, 2008

Right, I don't know if I would make the same decision in my own image with my own sharpening, but my initial reaction was that it worked for the first two, but not the second two ... for here, the web.

Bob Latham · Oct 24, 2008

I really appreciate the ctitique here folks. These shots were posted on a UK photography forum and a bird forum and were received favourably on both. There's a real danger that the "cuteness" factor blinds people to the technical aspects and they don't look any further (in most cases, anyway). My own take, having been jolted into re-assessing these, is that the tighter crops should have had less sharpening applied...maybe I could have avoided some of the sharpening after the images were re-sized to 800px.
I'll revisit the processing here and also try some 10x8 prints to see how they stand up in that respect. One of the reasons I joined OPF was that the technical aspects are as important (or more important) than the subject matter and this kind of feedback will help me achieve superior results....hopefully!

Bob

Cem_Usakligil · Oct 24, 2008

Bob Latham said:
... One of the reasons I joined OPF was that the technical aspects are as important (or more important) than the subject matter and this kind of feedback will help me achieve superior results....

Hi Bob,

Why don't we leave it at "as important" rather than "more important"? Because I have the personal illusion that we talk about three aspects of pictures: content, photography and technique. See my longish post here. Of all three, technique comes last in my book in the sense that if the first two are bad, technique alone cannot save the picture. As a corrollary, if the technique is bad it can break the first two even if they are very good. So equally important, it is then!

Cheers,

Cem_Usakligil · Oct 24, 2008

Hi Bob,

When I was scrutinizing these otherwise lovely pictures for sharpening issues, I have realized that you may have a back focussing issue on the second and the third ones. Where did you focus on in these frames? Did you pre focus and recompose?

Cheers,

Bob Latham · Oct 25, 2008

Cem_Usakligil said:
Hi Bob,

When I was scrutinizing these otherwise lovely pictures for sharpening issues, I have realized that you may have a back focussing issue on the second and the third ones. Where did you focus on in these frames? Did you pre focus and recompose?

Cheers,

Cem,

Interesting one....and on that I checked out myself with this lens. On a test chart it was fine but I always had concerns that it wasn't spot on and never gave the results that the 400/5.6 did. I sold the lens (to a Dutchman!) after he'd borrowed it for a week to assess it. My intention was to get a 300/2.8 to replace it but the deal fell through and I bought another copy of the 300/4 as I figured that I'd miss the close focus ability. An f/2.8 is still pending when a suitable copy comes onto the market.
I've told people on several occasions that the 300/4 + 1.4x T/C gets the most use but it's the 400/5.6 that has the sun tan.....UK light frequently means that the IS is a big benefit but the 400/5.6 gives the best results when the light's good.

Back to your question....focus on the 2nd shot was on the nearest bird's head and on the head of the lefthand bird on the 3rd shot. The subjects were far enough away that focus-recompose wasn't required as the frame would be done in PP.

Bob

Asher Kelman · Apr 17, 2015

I rediscovered this work by Bob and felt we could see how many different sets of fledglings we might be able to gather.

So there's the challenge!

Asher

Doug Herr · Apr 17, 2015

Black Phoebe

Northern Hawk Owl

Great Horned Owl

Bob Latham · Apr 18, 2015

I love the owl set, Doug. I find that larger birds seem to connect with the camera (ie, they look down the lens) as in your shots whereas smaller birds don't often share that interaction and just go about their business oblivious to the photographer's attention.

Bob

Doug Kerr · Apr 20, 2015

From 2007-2012 we lived in Weatherford, Texas, about 30 miles west of Fort Worth. There was a large barn swallow community in the area, and they built a fabulous mud nest on the back wall of our home just up under the patio roof. Each year, when they returned from their winter visit to South America, they came back and refurbished and improved the nest. We really enjoyed following the lives of these families.

Here one of the first brood we followed (2009) announces that it is lunchtime where he is:

Douglas A. Kerr: Well, it's lunchtime here

Three of the gang a bit later:

Douglas A. Kerr: Three stooges

Here are the eggs from the second brood of 2009:

Douglas A. Kerr: Three in the oven

Best regards,

Doug

Doug Kerr · Apr 20, 2015

Here are the little guys from the first 2010 brood having a comfy nap:

Douglas A. Kerr: Nap time

Douglas A. Kerr: These Americans all look the same

Here one of them has made his first flight, to a blade of the patio ceiling fan

Douglas A. Kerr: Well, I got this far - what now?

Douglas A. Kerr: Mom says run up the engine first

Here he's a little bigger

Douglas A. Kerr: Have a snack before you head out on a real trip

Best regards,

Doug

Doug Kerr · Apr 20, 2015

From the second brood of 2010:

Douglas A. Kerr: Just hatched

But they already know how to call for lunch.

That was shot with a Canon Powershot SX110 IS, tethered.

Douglas A. Kerr: The gang

Douglas A. Kerr: This is picture!

Douglas A. Kerr: You guys ready to head out?

Douglas A. Kerr: What a configuration!

Best regards,

Doug

Bob Latham · May 4, 2015

Barn swallows are always a sure sign that the weather is on the up, Doug. Our pair arrived to repossess their nest last week and seem to be going through the "clean and prep" phase at the moment.

A nice record you have there.

Bob

Asher Kelman · May 5, 2015

Bob Latham said:
Barn swallows are always a sure sign that the weather is on the up, Doug. Our pair arrived to repossess their nest last week and seem to be going through the "clean and prep" phase at the moment.

A nice record you have there.

I hope that you will be able to document their return.

Asher

Fledglings: A few more Goldcrests for Charlotte

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