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Archive 2022 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island

  
 
EverLearning
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


I had a heck of a time identifying these because their summer plumage is so different from their winter plumage. I had to look at a lot of photos online and I am still not 100% certain (but pretty close).

As usual, critiques please.

Don







Aug 13, 2022 at 06:15 PM
eeneryma
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


EverLearning wrote:
I had a heck of a time identifying these because their summer plumage is so different from their winter plumage. I had to look at a lot of photos online and I am still not 100% certain (but pretty close).

As usual, critiques please.

Don


Nice composition Don, and I like the authenticity that the hanging moss adds to the scene. The bright green background against which the birds are displayed contrasts nicely to set them off.

A technical question. I notice that your camera setting was ISO 10000 and your Fstop was F10. For the purpose of producing the cleanest image possible OOC, wouldn't you be better off setting your ISO lower and shooting at a wider F stop since you don't need a lot of depth of field? I assume the Canon R5 is full frame as compared to my micro four thirds Olympus camera. I never shoot higher than ISO 1600 as my results degrade considerably, but maybe it's just different with a full frame Canon.

Steve



Aug 13, 2022 at 08:05 PM
EverLearning
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


eeneryma wrote:
A technical question. I notice that your camera setting was ISO 10000 and your Fstop was F10. For the purpose of producing the cleanest image possible OOC, wouldn't you be better off setting your ISO lower and shooting at a wider F stop since you don't need a lot of depth of field? I assume the Canon R5 is full frame as compared to my micro four thirds Olympus camera. I never shoot higher than ISO 1600 as my results degrade considerably, but maybe it's just different with a full frame Canon.

Steve


Normally I would stop down, but there are several things at play here; only one of which was fully in my control.

Because I was shooting with the Canon 100-400 II (f/5.6 at the long end) and the 1.4x TC, I could shoot no lower than f/8. However, because I had lots of separation from the birds to the b/g, I stopped down because a) I personally am not a fan of backgrounds that are so blurred they look like a near monochrome studio backdrop and b) because I was shooting two subjects that were not on the same focal plane I wanted more DOF to ensure both were sharp.

I have my Auto ISO capped off at 12800 because that is the highest I am comfortable with the R5 combined with Topaz DeNoise AI, so while 10,000 is not ideal it does clean up quite well. I did try a few shots with even slower SSs and while they are sharp I wasn't as happy with the poses as I was with this one.

Don




Aug 13, 2022 at 08:36 PM
grandmas
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


I agree that they are European Starlings. For some reason for a colorful photo the colors seemed flat to me. I reworked the colors and I believe helps with the birds. I did a separate rework on the background and merged the two layers. I personally didn’t think the background colors was doing anything for the photo. Nice composition.

Edited on Dec 06, 2022 at 01:42 AM · View previous versions



Aug 13, 2022 at 08:49 PM
Shasoc
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


Nice shot, Don, with the perch adding to the image. I guess in your area they change feathers later in the year. I still see the white tips on the new feathers. Here in Florida those tips have already worn away, and the rest of the feathers are dark and show some beautiful iridescence.

The front bird looks a bit OOF on my monitor, noticeable in the eye. Looks like the focus is on the eye of the bird in the back. May be it would have worked better with the front bird in focus and the back slightly OOF. The bird in back has a better pose though, so I guess you can't have everything.
I would also try to squeeze more color out of the birds. But that is me.

Nice job.
Socrate



Aug 14, 2022 at 09:30 AM
EverLearning
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


Thanks for the feedback Socrate. I neglected to mention that this photo was taken during our trip to Vancouver Island in April/May so that probably explains the timing of feather changes.

I wasn't happy with the eye in the front bird so I cloned it but perhaps didn't do a good job of that so I can revisit and redo.

I masked the birds to increase exposure on them and decrease exposure on the b/g so bumping the colour a bit on the birds only will be easy enough to do. Strangely enough, this is the first time I have had a (somewhat) close encounter with European Starlings, so I am not familiar with what "normal" summer plumage colours are. Is there any particular colour(s) that need to be boosted or more of an overall bump for the birds?

Don



Aug 14, 2022 at 10:13 AM
Shasoc
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


EverLearning wrote:
Thanks for the feedback Socrate. I neglected to mention that this photo was taken during our trip to Vancouver Island in April/May so that probably explains the timing of feather changes.

I wasn't happy with the eye in the front bird so I cloned it but perhaps didn't do a good job of that so I can revisit and redo.

I masked the birds to increase exposure on them and decrease exposure on the b/g so bumping the colour a bit on the birds only will be easy enough to do. Strangely enough, this is the first time I have had
...Show more

Don I am posting a photo of a Floridian Starling that I will take down after you'll look at it. I did boosted a bit the colors to enhance the glossiness. They are dazzling birds, aggressive, parasite, but dazzling.
Socrate

Edited on Aug 14, 2022 at 01:49 PM · View previous versions



Aug 14, 2022 at 11:42 AM
grandmas
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


You can check the bird colors at Cornell lab by typing in European Starling. They show some very good examples of breeding , non-breeding and juveniles.


Aug 14, 2022 at 11:57 AM
EverLearning
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


Thanks for the photo Socrate. Very helpful . No need to take it down unless you really want to.

Thanks for the follow up Grandmas. I do like the Audubon app but I do wish it had more photos (different plumage, variants/morphs, angles, etc). I get avian educational emails from Cornell but I must admit I haven't used them as a source for photos/ID.

Don



Aug 14, 2022 at 01:06 PM
grandmas
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


EverLearning wrote:
Thanks for the photo Socrate. Very helpful . No need to take it down unless you really want to.

Thanks for the follow up Grandmas. I do like the Audubon app but I do wish it had more photos (different plumage, variants/morphs, angles, etc). I get avian educational emails from Cornell but I must admit I haven't used them as a source for photos/ID.

Don


I just checked and Cornell Lab has 10 different photos. IMO very good examples.




Aug 14, 2022 at 01:55 PM
EverLearning
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


I was away camping for several days but I got back to this photo today. I boosted the colour on the birds (a bit of saturation and a small amount of luminance) using the dragging thingy (sorry for being so technical!) in HSL/Color (what is the proper name for that tool/feature?). I sharpened the eye on the left starling (thanks for catching that Socrate) and removed the the stick coming out of the left starling's throat.

Don







Aug 20, 2022 at 01:19 PM
grandmas
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


You can check these colors by looking at many images on line. You will find a very few are purple, but most are a reddish or greenish black. I have many of these birds in my yard in the spring and summer and have not seen a purple one.

Our cameras have a tendency to shoot blue outside. Our brains do not see the blue that the cameras see. I almost never trust the colors when I see purple in landscape or wildlife photos, unless it is a photo of flowers.

Edited on Dec 06, 2022 at 01:44 AM · View previous versions



Aug 20, 2022 at 03:03 PM
Shasoc
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


EverLearning wrote:
I was away camping for several days but I got back to this photo today. I boosted the colour on the birds (a bit of saturation and a small amount of luminance) using the dragging thingy (sorry for being so technical!) in HSL/Color (what is the proper name for that tool/feature?). I sharpened the eye on the left starling (thanks for catching that Socrate) and removed the the stick coming out of the left starling's throat.

Don


I like it, Don. Colors look fine on my monitor and so are detail. As reported by Cornell Lab: In summer they are purplish-green iridescent with yellow beaks; in winter plumage they are brown, covered in brilliant white spots. and these are closer to summer than winter. They are also very close to how I see and shoot them.

If you would like to push it a bit further you can open the shadows (and the colors) in the breast of the bird behind and tone down the wing of the bird in front. Here is what I mean

Socrate







Aug 20, 2022 at 09:22 PM
EverLearning
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


Thanks for the suggestion Socrate. I like it and will give it a go.

Don



Aug 21, 2022 at 09:35 AM
sbeme
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


Beautiful! Love the clean background, detail, colors.
Not much to add but I will underline the subtle relative lack of sharpness with the foreground bird.
Socrate's rework sings the loudest!
Scott



Aug 22, 2022 at 03:53 PM
EverLearning
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · European Starlings - Vancouver Island


Thanks for the kind words Scott. I come up empty handed on a lot of outings (nothing exciting) but when I hit pay dirt, it reenergizes the passion, for sure!


Aug 22, 2022 at 04:09 PM





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