Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - Dakota County, MN

Posted by Terence P. Brashear on Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:32 pm

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This Scissor-tailed Flycatcher represents a first county record for Dakota County in Minnesota. While I like action I caught I am disappointed with the noise in the background. I have tried for the past two days to deal with the noise in the blue background, but have not gotten a satisfactory result. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Canon D30, Canon 600mm f/4, ISO 200, 1/1000, f/16, RAW, YarcPlus + 1.6 EV, Photoshop, USM, cropped ~25%.

Regards,

Terry

Terence P. Brashear
San Diego, CA
http://www.naturepixels.com
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Last edited by Terence P. Brashear on Wed Oct 22, 2003 10:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

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by Alan Murphy on Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:41 pm

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Terence,

What a great record shot. Great timing on the female as she takes off. The comp is excellent. Some fill flash would have really helped here. I'm sure others will chime in on the noise. I would do a gaussian blur on the BG.

Alan Murphy
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by E.J. Peiker on Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:49 pm

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Cool perspective!

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by AlexC on Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:05 pm

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Lovely bird, and wonderful exposure, sorry about the noise issue and it could use a couple of rounds of USM, Very nice !!! Congrats!!

[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
[b]Miami, Florida[/b]
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by Paul Fusco on Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:19 pm

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Terence -

Nice action pose! I like the composition with the sweeping branch.

- Paul

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by Bill Whala on Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:33 pm

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The blue is even enough that the Magic Wand in Photoshop will select it very cleanly. Do a couple of shots of Gaussian Blur after selecting. Be sure to get the little spots that don't get picked up at first or they'll stand out big time.

What a pretty bird. The action is great.

Congratulations on your sighting of this bird. How exciting!!

Bill Whala

"Aves of similar plumage tend to converge with one another"

Last edited by Bill Whala on Wed Oct 22, 2003 8:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

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by Dennis Olivero on Tue Oct 21, 2003 10:31 pm

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Good going TB-if they are here you will find them!

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by Sheri Whala on Tue Oct 21, 2003 11:06 pm

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I love the action in this! Very nice!

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by Mike Wilson on Tue Oct 21, 2003 11:46 pm

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Unique image of a really cool bird.

Mike Wilson
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by Laura Stiefel on Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:40 am

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I love the view of the scissor tail! Bill has mentioned using gaussian blur- I also like using the smart blur tool when my backgrounds become too noisey.

Laura Stiefel
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by Wil Hershberger on Wed Oct 22, 2003 7:33 am

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Great shot. Try Neat Image to get ride of the background noise.

[url=http://www.cricketman.blogspot.com][b]Wil Hershberger[/b][/url] | [b]NSN0025[/b]
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by Anthony Medici on Wed Oct 22, 2003 4:57 pm