Birds Wintertime birding in SE Texas

Chris Summers

Well Known Member
Pro Member
Pro Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2022
Posts
349
Likes Received
1,280
Name
Chris Summers
When I haven't taken pictures in awhile I get Creative Fever. Sort of like cabin fever from being inside too long but for me it's a lack of creativity behind with my camera taking pictures. So I went down to a local park and did some birding with my Canon R7 and Tamron 150-600mm lens. Our weather has warmed up a lot so I have been seeing more cardinals and other springtime visitors. And as I am along a river there are always the usual shore birds.

The light was hazy with few shadows which was perfect. I found a Great Egret preening his feathers and taking a bath and then a pair of cardinals. The male was just so bright in front of the winter foliage.

I edited a few in Lightroom. Love that new masking tool, it gets better with each Adobe upgrade. I usually select the subject, in this case the birds and adjust exposure, highlights and shadows and then do some sharpening on the eyes and facial feathers. Then make another mask for the background. I usually lower the exposure to put more emphasis on the birds, decrease the clairity a bit to soften the background and decrease noise if it is more than I like.

My creativity fever is gone for now!
 

Attachments

  • 2023-003-010 birds.jpg
    2023-003-010 birds.jpg
    628.7 KB · Views: 83
  • 2023-003-021 birds.jpg
    2023-003-021 birds.jpg
    864.1 KB · Views: 67
  • 2023-003-062 birds.jpg
    2023-003-062 birds.jpg
    717.4 KB · Views: 64
  • 2023-003-092 birds.jpg
    2023-003-092 birds.jpg
    994.6 KB · Views: 64
  • 2023-003-108 birds.jpg
    2023-003-108 birds.jpg
    992.8 KB · Views: 70
  • 2023-003-169 birds.jpg
    2023-003-169 birds.jpg
    816.9 KB · Views: 64
  • 2023-003-197 birds.jpg
    2023-003-197 birds.jpg
    983 KB · Views: 62
  • 2023-003-205 birds.jpg
    2023-003-205 birds.jpg
    915.7 KB · Views: 68
Same! Also I have liked the effect of knocking down the 'black' instead of the exposure in the background mask. Similarly the texture instead of the clarity or noise.
 

Latest reviews

  • Zoom Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM
    5.00 star(s)
    Fast, sharp, and lightweight! A great lens
    This is my main workhorse of a lens and I love it. It's very light weight (only around 2.3 lbs) lens. I've been able to hand-hold it for an event...
    • Crysania
  • Canon EOS R6 Mark II
    5.00 star(s)
    Fantastic sport camera
    This camera is FANTASTIC. I'm a dog sports shooter, so very fast indoor action with a lot of obstacles to shoot in and around. This camera does a...
    • Crysania
  • Zoom Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM
    4.00 star(s)
    A good lens for what it does, with it's drawbacks
    I have had this lens since it came out and it is my lightweight go to lens for walking around in the city and using my infrared-converted camera...
    • Hali

New in the marketplace

Back
Top