(Eurasian) Hoopoe
- Thread starter BillN_33
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- John
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Wonderful shots,Bill. You'll just have to accept that..I know you like critique in replies but I can't critique these. The lady who owns the Cornwall cottages we stay in..she lives there too..had one in the grounds two years ago, a fantastic bird for us to see.
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- Name
- Dennis
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Liking that second shot very much, I have just re calibrated my monitor so used your image as a excuse to have a tweak, its just my take on it and what I would have done if it was my shot,but what do I know 
Hoopoe by dennis greenwood, on Flickr
Hoopoe by dennis greenwood, on Flickr
OP
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Thanks Den for your comments, but the birds, (there are three of them), are not quite that dark - they exhibit a light buffy/pink colouring as in the image in post #1 and their colouring is quite soft.
The rufus colour is also quite mild........ and the shooting conditions were overcast.
In the past when I processed images I maybe tended to go OTT in an effort to get more "pop" and visual impact but now I have started to pull things back more and keep comparing the processed image with what I see and even with the original RAW, (I know that this can be flat), ........ I see so many images that have just been over processed so as to give the maximum "effect"
As I said, I have seen them more rufous, indeed the ones in S Africa are far more so, but these birds this year are quite mild in colouring. Maybe they are young birds, it is sometimes difficult to say, unless you see them with their parents, but this year I have not been that fortunate.
The last few weeks have been very hot and the ground is very hard and parched, (see the bg), we have just had two days of rain which has softened the ground and added a little green, so they are out there digging for food ........ maybe today I will get lucky and see one with it's crest erect.
They are shy birds, but once they have seen you they seem OK and if they stay they usually hang around for a minute or so and then just "walk on" rather than fly off....... one will often follow me around when I am mowing on my "ride on"
We see them every year on our land, (gardens are just bigger in rural France), and near by ........... we are fortunate in that way
I have a Retina 5K, but I have only found it necessary to change the settings very slightly from factory ....... but I do have the brightness setting on full, just my preference
(PS - it's a good edit - what calibration system did you use Den? - I also think, a). exporting the tiff as a jpeg, changes things, b). exporting thru LR changes things and c). I am not sure what happens when they get to TP - all the changes are subtle but they are there IMHO - the more you get into "bird photography, the more (self) critical you become, IMHO)
The rufus colour is also quite mild........ and the shooting conditions were overcast.
In the past when I processed images I maybe tended to go OTT in an effort to get more "pop" and visual impact but now I have started to pull things back more and keep comparing the processed image with what I see and even with the original RAW, (I know that this can be flat), ........ I see so many images that have just been over processed so as to give the maximum "effect"
As I said, I have seen them more rufous, indeed the ones in S Africa are far more so, but these birds this year are quite mild in colouring. Maybe they are young birds, it is sometimes difficult to say, unless you see them with their parents, but this year I have not been that fortunate.
The last few weeks have been very hot and the ground is very hard and parched, (see the bg), we have just had two days of rain which has softened the ground and added a little green, so they are out there digging for food ........ maybe today I will get lucky and see one with it's crest erect.
They are shy birds, but once they have seen you they seem OK and if they stay they usually hang around for a minute or so and then just "walk on" rather than fly off....... one will often follow me around when I am mowing on my "ride on"
We see them every year on our land, (gardens are just bigger in rural France), and near by ........... we are fortunate in that way
I have a Retina 5K, but I have only found it necessary to change the settings very slightly from factory ....... but I do have the brightness setting on full, just my preference
(PS - it's a good edit - what calibration system did you use Den? - I also think, a). exporting the tiff as a jpeg, changes things, b). exporting thru LR changes things and c). I am not sure what happens when they get to TP - all the changes are subtle but they are there IMHO - the more you get into "bird photography, the more (self) critical you become, IMHO)
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OP
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Thanks John - if you don't get critique ...... honest .... good or bad ...... but informed ....... you never improve or have anything to work on.
Critique has gone from this section as it has got "soft" since the last "debate" - indeed even the posting of images has "dried up"........ I have only been taking bird shots for just over 2 years ........ I would say that 75% of what I have learned came from this section because of hard and honest critique, from guys who knew what they were talking about and had been through the process ...... if an image is poor it should be said so ..... in plain language ....... simple basic advice can then be given ....... encouragement comes in many ways for different people, but I am from the "old school" and prefer to be told "as it is" - I never get offended and to me there's no harm in that, I just respond honestly if I feel something is wrong ......... but that's a discussion that we have stopped having and the guys that pointed me in the "right" direction hardly ever comment these days as they get "shouted down" by the mediocre - I have stopped all C & C as it just serves no purpose on here.
For some, bird photography is a passion and therefore they are passionate about the subject, in what they say and how they wish to improve.
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