A Few Firsts for Me

[drr1531]

Haven't been shooting much lately. A friend invited me to accompany him on a birding tour at a local wildlife reserve. As we all know there's a big difference in birding and photography. It was enjoyable outing but didn't yield much in the way of photos. I did get a few long range shots of species I've never shot before. Never even seen a phalarope before.

1) First ever avocet. There were a bunch of them on this mud flat but they were camera shy.

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2) Cedar waxwings. Seen plenty of these back before I was into photography. They could have picked a better spot but hey... Up home we have bohemians.

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3) Blue wing teal. Another photographic first though seen plenty of them. None came close enough for individual shots so settled for the flock.

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4) More blue wings. I ran this one through The bottom bird was slipping out of DOF so I ran it through Topaz AI Sharpen. Meh....

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[Mike Buckley]

The second one would make a fabulous note card. What causes you disappointment about the spot the birds picked? I ask because it seems to be ideal to me.

 

[Louis Champan]

Love those Cedar Waxwings, nicely done.

 

[wild life]

Nice set. I always enjoy seeing Blue-winged Teal. The first photo is an American Avocet, not a phalarope.

 

[Allan]

I like the blue wing teals. Good capture of the blue.

 

[drr1531]

The second one would make a fabulous note card. What causes you disappointment about the spot the birds picked? I ask because it seems to be ideal to me.

I'm not fond of that sort of pale sky as a BG. Though you make a good point about the note card.

Love those Cedar Waxwings, nicely done.

Thanks, Louie.

Nice set. I always enjoy seeing Blue-winged Teal. The first photo is an American Avocet, not a phalarope.

Ooops. My brain knew that but my fingers didn't cooperate. Not sure why I typed phalarope. We see them quite often on Prince William Sound. These little guys:

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I like the blue wing teals. Good capture of the blue.

Thanks, Allan. Interesting the blue on top of the wings is iridescent and only shows up at certain angles. I shot several frames of a couple of flocks and that is the only shot that showed the blue. I kicked the saturation on the blue channel a bit also to highlight it.

 

[Mike Buckley]

I'm not fond of that sort of pale sky as a BG.

That's one of the primary beneficial characteristics for me. Probably because the look reminds me of an illustration created on white paper.

 

[Luis R. Lebron]

Beautiful series.

 

[andreasb]

The waxwings made it all worth it for me, i like it a bit different than we normally see

 

[RonS]

Excellent set Dan. I also like the Waxwings.

 

[Phil K]

Very nice set indeed

 

[Binnur]

#2 looks great Dan.