I'm not really into BIF that much but this morning a young cardinal was caught in my screened in porch so before swooshing it outside I clicked off a few pictures. All critiques welcome. Robert
BIF are tough!
You have some nice outlines of the bird and its feathers, a nice capture with the open beak. the lighting gives it a bit of translucent, X-Ray like look.
Improvements?
Of course, the screen. It does show.
Some further shadow detail. Can you extract any? Or as is, has a more artsy feel.
More room on the left for the bird to fly into. Bottom space as presented is more "optional"
Dust spots or marks in screen, upper left
Not sure what the blotchy brownish areas are top and bottom on the left
hey thanks sbeme. i was shooting at +1 1/2 ev as it was. the bird was somewhat panic stricken and was going from panel to panel. I didn't spend much time trying to get it out. Yep I'm guilty of not checking that sensor dust. Dang it. And the brownish could be just the yellow pollen on the screen.
I meant to say I didn't spend much time shooting before trying to get it out. It's sibling was flying around the screen outside making the matters worse.
You might need further EV compensation, blowing out the sky. Or fill flash for optimal exposure, detail.
I do like the "outlined" version and the translucent feathers are really neat.
The translucent feathers are kinda cool. Fill flash for some detail would have been nice.
I've tried to chase one of these frantic fellows inside a screened porch before as well. It is easier said than done ... particularly when you are going around in a circle and your lighting changes from front lit to side lit to back lit in a matter of seconds. It is hard to retain your attention on the changing subject/lighting orientation while trying to focus on a frantically moving target. Dodging the sibling only ups the ante on the difficulty factor. I can relate & respect.
Took a stab at it.
Could use more work and definitely an S&P to taste at where you want to take it, but you get the gist.
RustyBug wrote:
The translucent feathers are kinda cool. Fill flash for some detail would have been nice.
I've tried to chase one of these frantic fellows inside a screened porch before as well. It is easier said than done ... particularly when you are going around in a circle and your lighting changes from front lit to side lit to back lit in a matter of seconds. It is hard to retain your attention on the changing subject/lighting orientation while trying to focus on a frantically moving target. Dodging the sibling only ups the ante on the difficulty factor. I can relate & respect....Show more →
You said it.
BIF is so tough, and changing exposure "on the fly" only adds to the complexity. Got to anticipate the shot, exposure prior to the bird flying by.
Thanks and yes it does look better with a little tweak in the exposure. I was afraid of picking up too much noise so I added a very little, maybe +.33ev
The darn thing was actually punching holes in my screen with it's claws too! I was having fun but glad to see it go.
