I had to make it a quick trip to the Klamath Basin ahead of an incoming cold front and before Holiday and other obligations sucked up my time. But I can at least report that indeed the Eagles are beginning to return.
Post processing was a little difficult with this as the bird was backlit and in shade but I got a lot of help from Color Efex pro in bringing out the detail in the feathers. Some burning and dodging on the head also helped.
I didn’t have a chance to get out and shoot this week and it is probably just as well since I am way behind in post processing of my Klamath Basin images. This one is from August. I have hundreds of shots of pelicans out swimming in the lake but when I zoomed in to check sharpness on this one I thought it would make a great intimate portrait if I cropped in a lot. Love that diagonal line of the pelican’s beak.
In post I did the usual. Detail, saturation, darken edges, a little noise reduction and some final sharpening. On this one I also added a border for a little more visual interest.
It was back to the Klamath Basin this week and the stars of the show this month were the hawks. On the second day there it was cloudy and there were hawks roosting in every tree and on many a sign post. But this one was taken on the first day when there was more blue in the sky. I love the way he is just hanging on by a few toes. I learned a new trick for identifying a Red Tail Hawk in my bird class. Though they come in many color configurations, they always have the dark belly bad which shows up well here.
In post processing I first cropped to a vertical. It is kind of a miracle that this one came out sharp in the first place as I was shooting hand held out the passenger side from the driver’s seat so I couldn’t take advantage of my bean bag. Long story short, it would have been nearly impossible to shoot this vertically in that situation.
I brightened it up a little using levels in Photoshop. Then into Color Efex Pro for detail, saturation (brilliance/warmth) and a little highlighting on the center and darkening on the edges. It looked a little noisy to me so I took it through Topaz DeNoise then used smart sharpen in Photoshop to recover some of the sharpness that was lost in the denoise process.
I’m behind the curve on my Klamath basin blog so look for a couple of catch up posts at http://jeannehoadley.com/Klamath by the end of next week.
It was back to the Klamath Basin again this week. I was particularly struck with the detail in the feathers of this bird though it’s colors have definitely fades since spring. I also like the way the autumnal foliage blurred into a beautiful tan background.
In post processing I cropped in some, added detail and saturation and a little highlight on the bird. And as always finished with some sharpening.
It was back to the Klamath Basin for my monthly visit yesterday. I made it a quick trip as I expect to spend more time in September and October during the fall migration. Still, in spite of a very hazy start and a very windy finish it was a pretty good day with at least 25 species noted.
But as far as photographs, I liked this Snowy Egret for the reflection and, though you may not be able to see it on the smaller version, you can actually see his yellow feet in the shallow water. That and the drops of water falling off his beak and the ripples where he just made stab at hunting make this a definite keeper for me.
I hadn’t been out of the car five minutes before this Northern Flicker landed on a branch near me. I never even knew flicker’s existed before I got into bird photography but lately I have been seeing them everywhere.
In post processing I did a lot of work to tone down the shadow on the side and bottom of the bird though I am still not completely happy with it. I also edited out all the branches in the lower right hand corner to lose distractions and create some negative space. The the usual treatment in Color Efex Pro: a little detail, a little saturation and some darkening of the edges to highlight the bird.
I spent three days in the Klamath Basin this week and thought I might come home virtually empty handed, at least in terms of new and interesting birds. In the last hour of the last day I decided to stop at the wildlife viewing kiosk at Tule Lake and there I found one American Avocet, two Black Necked Stilts, three long billed dowitchers, and three killdeer. Proving once again that persistence pays off.
In post processing I did most of the usual tricks, ie detail, saturation and darkening the edges. I also did alot of spot healing and content aware fill in the upper part of the water to remove distracting junk from the water. Not sure I went far enough with that. I’m also wondering if this should have been a vertical. Always room for improvement.
I can’t say this is the best image I shot this week but it did seem most appropriate to the holiday. This is the first eagle I’ve seen at Tule Lake since early March. So I guess it is true that there are some year round residents.
In post processing I added some detail and saturation and a spotlight on the bird. I have just started using Topaz deNoise which gives a nice smooth look but also requires some extra sharpening in Photoshop at the end.
I was privileged to spend a couple of hours watching this burrowing owl family last Sunday evening near Burns, Oregon. The result was over 300 images which after editing for composition and sharpness left about 150 keepers. So, it was hard to choose but I liked this shot for having 5 of the six young owls in it with no weeds in their faces and all with a little different expression and posture.
In post processing I cropped a little to emphasize the owls and added a little sharpening, a little saturation and a little warmth. I then darkened the corners and borders and lightened the birds faces ever so slightly.
I’m running late with last week’s image of the week as I have been very busy with a three day workshop on bird photography in Harney County. I caught this Western Meadowlark on Saturday but stay tuned for next week because there were some awesome birds on Sunday and Monday.
In post processing I cropped a little for composition, added a little detail and saturation and just a slight highlight on the bird to bring him out.