Handsome Black Redstart....

RedRobin

RedRobin

Dances With Dogs
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Robin
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That's a great set Robin, I bet you are pleased ... local to you?
 
Very nice set. The good light we are having is bringing out the best of the birds posted lately. Makes a change from the grey weather of winter, roll-on summer.
 
gramps said:
That's a great set Robin, I bet you are pleased ... local to you?
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....Thanks :) Yes, I am pleased - He was a very good subject too.

About 60 miles from home, so a 120-mile round trip but via some fast sporty roads cross country which I enjoyed driving. Visited him twice in a week.
 
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Swanseajack said:
Very nice set. The good light we are having is bringing out the best of the birds posted lately. Makes a change from the grey weather of winter, roll-on summer.
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....Cheers :)

I took these photos at the very beginning of March when we had a couple of days of sunny weather.
 
RedRobin said:
....Cheers :)

I took these photos at the very beginning of March when we had a couple of days of sunny weather.
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You can tell the good light is coming by the photos being posted, be good for me as only started taking more of an interest in birds towards the the end of last summer. So been taking my shots through autumn and winter. Be nice to get the SS up and lower ISO.
 
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1st, the OOF rock is overpowering and takes up to much of the frame. Full view of the bird and good eye contact sort of make up for this but maybe look at a square crop :thinking: still a very pleasing image (y)
2nd, best out of the set for me, fantastic eye contact and detail with a super catchlight, detail on the breast feathers is also superb (y)
3rd, bit of a nothing shot for me and maybe wouldn't of bothered adding this one as i think it weakens the set of images, a case of less is more.
4th, see above, man made perches do nothing for me.
5th, little bit of a crop in from the RHS and up would make it a stronger image, superb pose showing the colours/detail, eye contact again is spot on (y)

One thing i do question is your shutter speed/iso, 6400 and iso 800 :thinking:
Sorry for giving proper critique (well my view) not a lot of that about these days on here.
 
Well done Rob on capturing such a wonderful subject.
Number 2 for me the colour and detail with super DOF.

Take note of the feedback provided it all helps.
 
Just had a look at the first one on the PC. That's a very nice shot indeed. I'd be chuffed to bits to have that. Second one slightly unusual pose but still very nice. All in all a nice set of a bird I've never seen.
 
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Neil B said:
1st, the OOF rock is overpowering and takes up to much of the frame. Full view of the bird and good eye contact sort of make up for this but maybe look at a square crop :thinking: still a very pleasing image (y)
2nd, best out of the set for me, fantastic eye contact and detail with a super catchlight, detail on the breast feathers is also superb (y)
3rd, bit of a nothing shot for me and maybe wouldn't of bothered adding this one as i think it weakens the set of images, a case of less is more.
4th, see above, man made perches do nothing for me.
5th, little bit of a crop in from the RHS and up would make it a stronger image, superb pose showing the colours/detail, eye contact again is spot on (y)

One thing i do question is your shutter speed/iso, 6400 and iso 800 :thinking:
Sorry for giving proper critique (well my view) not a lot of that about these days on here.
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....Firstly let me say that I very much appreciate your time and consideration in writing your critique, Neil. :)

I think you are right to question my 1/6400 shutter speed and ISO 800 and I have come to realise that I too often set my ISO for the day and then sometimes forget to change it as the light changes. I took these shots at the very beginning of March and have since started to set ISO 400 as my starting point (unless of course it's a very dull day).

What I am about to say is not intended as an over sensitive defence or contradiction of your comments but only to explain how I probably have a sometimes different approach to bird photography.

I tend to shoot on Av-mode for birds (unless in flight) and I wanted to, in fact needed to, put the distracting backgrounds out of focus and so intentionally set F/5.6 and F/6.3. As the set demonstrates, the new Canon 100-400mm L II is notably sharp at large aperture values as others have also reported. I also wanted to be ready with a high shutter speed for capturing any sudden flight shots, at which I failed every time! Black Redstarts move very fast indeed and take off very unpredictably.

Covering your comments about composition/cropping on several of the images, I consciously wanted to convey both a feeling of height (among the rocks) and environment where the bird was perched and so cropped accordingly. Personally I tend to prefer most of my bird pictures to include more than sole emphasis on the bird.

Regarding man-made perches, like you and many others, I ideally prefer completely natural perches such as branches but the fact is that most bird species aren't so fussy about what they perch on if it serves their purpose. Many individual birds have their favourite perches and return to them (as you know) and this is what was going on during both the days I visited the location. I primarily wanted to capture the raised head feathers in that post shot. But at least the post and barbed wire shows that it's in the countryside.

As it happens, you could argue that the rocks are man-made perches simply because they were all cut and placed there by coastal workers as part of the sea defences. Those rocks will have probably been imported by ship even from another country! So, for me, posts and rocks like these are acceptable even if not always ideal.

I'm glad that you found no glaring technical errors such as colour casts or noise etc.

Btw, image #2 is also my favourite.

Thanks, Neil :)
 
michael kilner said:
Nicely done Robin,I would be tempted to crop out some of the rock in no1,no2 is my pick
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....Thanks, Michael. #2 is also my favourite. @Neil B suggested the same about cropping #1, so I'll have a look at doing that now :

Black%20Redstart_7902v1nfxs.jpg


^ I agree :)
 
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