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January 26, 2007
Friday Feathers - Flubs
Almost doesn't count except in horse shoes and hand grenades.
It's either a Mockingbird or a Thrasher but it doesn't matter. The photograph was taken on a sunny afternoon. The sky was blue, no clouds, and most likely the camera setting was on automatic. The photo looked good on the camera's display but it was something entirely different when transferred to the computer.
The background is fine, but where the hell is the bird's face? Great that the bird was busy singing or chirping so its beak was open -- that's a plus -- but that funky, dark hue is hiding the bird's face, and I want to see its eyes.
I dragged the photograph into Photoshop and used the Curves Tool to lighten the image. Doing so blows the blue background right out of the photo and turns the tree branch into a moldy looking green but hey, there's the bird's face and now I can see its eyes.
Though I manage to get a clear look at the bird after the fix, with the blue background gone and the branch color not exactly what it should be, the photograph is a miss.
Cindy
Comments
oh dear, my bird book only covers britain and europe (and parts of north africa) so i can't help identify the bird. nevermind.
Brain matter deposited by: zed on January 26, 2007 12:46 PM
nice flups Cindy :-)
Brain matter deposited by: Joost on January 26, 2007 5:54 PM
what branches aren't always green with moss? maybe just on the left coast ;)
possibly a young kingbird?
http://www.pbase.com/naturepics/image/61710865
http://www.pbase.com/chiwang/image/32297376
(lots of birders on pbase)
Brain matter deposited by: sdy on January 27, 2007 5:12 AM
Steve - yukyukyuk about the branch comment. I didn't mean that branches don't have moss, I meant that the coloration of the branch doesn't look right.
BTW, it's a Northern Mockingbird --
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/NORMOC/
Thanks for pointing me to Chiwang's photos on pbase -- really really good bird shots. *sigh*
Joost - :-)
Zoe - no problem!
Brain matter deposited by: Cindy on January 27, 2007 8:52 AM