Birds of St. Augustine

[ArthurDent]

This thread features a number of the birds I've photographed in and around St. Augustine, Florida.Please feel free to comment and criticize the images. I am interested in your comments and am looking for criticism to improve my photography. All of the images I'll be posting were taken using my Nikon D7000 (which I've subsequently replaced with a D500.)  The images of birds in flight were taken with the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens. The images of birds on the nest were taken with either the 70-200 or a Sigma 800mm f/5.6 lens. I'm going to put 1 image in each subsequent post to make it easier for you to comment on and criticize them. Thanks in advance for any responses.
-AD

[ArthurDent]

Roseate Spoonbill

[ArthurDent]

A bird whose name escapes me

[PedroS]

Nice photos, but with too much sharp for my taste.

The second one is a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinelius)

[ArthurDent]

Great Egret

[ArthurDent]

Nice photos, but with too much sharp for my taste.

The second one is a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinelius)

Thank you for your comment. What sharpness setting do you usually use?

[PedroS]

Thank you for your comment. What sharpness setting do you usually use?

None on camera. Post processing depends but never let white lines to appear...

3rd photo shows a nice action take.
3 comments; it seems too heavily cropped and shows noise, try not to cut the wing feathers, and better to shoot at different hours (sunrise gives you a more cooler and perspective light, sunset a more warm and candid one)

Thanks for sharing and asking feedback. That's for brave hearts.... 

[ArthurDent]

Cattle Egret in Mating Plummage

[ArthurDent]

None on camera. Post processing depends but never let white lines to appear...

3rd photo shows a nice action take.
3 comments; it seems too heavily cropped and shows noise, try not to cut the wing feathers, and better to shoot at different hours (sunrise gives you a more cooler and perspective light, sunset a more warm and candid one)

Thanks for sharing and asking feedback. That's for brave hearts.... 

Unfortunately, it's not a crop, I cut off the wing tip in taking the photo. Too bad, because otherwise it would be one of the best shots I've ever made.

Could you please explain what you mean by the white lines?







it would be better to shoot during the golden hours, but I only had 1 day to shoot, so needed to use all available time.

[PedroS]

Unfortunately, it's not a crop, I cut off the wing tip in taking the photo. Too bad, because otherwise it would be one of the best shots I've ever made.

Could you please explain what you mean by the white lines?

it would be better to shoot during the golden hours, but I only had 1 day to shoot, so needed to use all available time.

That's ok Arthur, don't take me wrong... we shoot when we can, that's it...
Shooting birds, like everything else, takes time and practice. Did I say practice? The most striking thing that I learn with Morris (the other Arthur  was how little I was rejecting photos. When I asked him how did he manage to do such great photos we showed me two huge piles of rejected slides... yep, it was still the slide era, and were two really huge piles of them.
So continue practicing and don't worry, just enjoy as you get them.

By white lines, I mean jpeg artifacts due to sharpening. Look at the legs of your 1st bird. Don't you see white lines contouring them? Those should never appear.

[PedroS]

Cattle Egret in Mating Plummage

Very nice one. Well done

Again, one comment: on those type of photos, having the eyes sharp is the most important thing, what you nailed well, but maybe a f2.8 would have helped to diminish the disturbing background.

[elsa hoffmann]

The halo's can be caused by over sharpening or down-sizing an image.

[ArthurDent]

That's ok Arthur, don't take me wrong... we shoot when we can, that's it...
Shooting birds, like everything else, takes time and practice. Did I say practice? The most striking thing that I learn with Morris (the other Arthur  was how little I was rejecting photos. When I asked him how did he manage to do such great photos we showed me two huge piles of rejected slides... yep, it was still the slide era, and were two really huge piles of them.
So continue practicing and don't worry, just enjoy as you get them.

By white lines, I mean jpeg artifacts due to sharpening. Look at the legs of your 1st bird. Don't you see white lines contouring them? Those should never appear.

Yes I see them. Thank you very much for pointing that out.

[elsa hoffmann]

Yes I see them. Thank you very much for pointing that out.

oh you will see halo's on many images... Often photographers dont even notice their own halo's

[ArthurDent]

The halo's can be caused by over sharpening or down-sizing an image.

Thank you for taking the time to point that out. Much appreciated.