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Maestro
Jun-24-2008, 01:28 PM
Well I have just gotten back from my family trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley here in Texas but unfortunately while on the trip I had my external disk drive crash on me. When I got home I salvaged most of my photos but lost all of my MP3s almost 250GB. Most of them were imported from CDs so that is okay, but a large $ amount was from iTunes. Grrrrr! I also lost all of my videos. Live and learn. Anyhow, here is the first from my visit to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. This is from the Martin Refuge in Edinburg. It is a lesser goldfinch.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/maestros/Nature/Small%20Birds/LesserGoldfinch1aclose.jpg

It actually did not come to the seed or the water at this blind, but stayed on the perimeter in the shadows.

EXIF
1/320 @ F4.5
Focal length 500mm (Sigma Prime)
ISO 400
Spot metering
Manual exposure and program
Ric Grupe
Jun-24-2008, 05:49 PM
Been there on the disk failure...:cry...too bad.

I keep seeing birds I never knew existed...so thanks.

I hope you don't mind, but I wanted you to see that you can recover some detail in a dark image.

http://rickay.smugmug.com/photos/319396969_W9rsy-O.jpg

Basically tone curve work and auto exposure.:D
dlplumer
Jun-24-2008, 05:59 PM
Sorry about your loss :cry Great capture, and I must say Ric's re-work looks great. :thumb
Maestro
Jun-24-2008, 09:46 PM
No problem Ric. If I go back and try to lighten the black I will make sure to make about 10 back-ups. Aw heck, I will just back-up everything one more time. :D
Maestro
Jun-25-2008, 09:40 AM
Sorry about your loss :cry Great capture, and I must say Ric's re-work looks great. :thumb

Thanks Dan. I am in the process of reimporting my music as I work on processing some photos from my trip.
BigAl
Jun-26-2008, 03:29 AM
Bad luck about the HDD - glad you could get something back :cry

Well done with the goldfinch at such a low ss. :thumb

ps: Rics adjustment looks good too.
Maestro
Jun-26-2008, 05:27 AM
Thanks Al. I am still reloading info back onto a new drive. It will be a while until I am finished.

This lesser goldfinch is actually the Texas variant of this small finch. The completely black back is characteristic of this variant.
redleash
Jun-26-2008, 07:42 PM
I get those Lessers in my backyard a few times a year and I love their colors. I have a few shots with my 55-200 zoom but not the clarity or detail of yours. Very nice capture!

Lauren
Maestro
Jun-27-2008, 08:49 AM
I get those Lessers in my backyard a few times a year and I love their colors. I have a few shots with my 55-200 zoom but not the clarity or detail of yours. Very nice capture!

Lauren

Thanks Lauren. In San Antonio I can see why you would see these. That is about as far north as they make it in Texas. I wish they made up into the Dallas area.
bhowdy
Jun-27-2008, 11:47 AM
I like the lesser very much, never see them here, so this is a treat. Well done Stephen :clap
Maestro
Jun-27-2008, 12:32 PM
Thanks Bob. Much appreciated.
PrescottPhotog
Jun-27-2008, 06:29 PM
Well I have just gotten back from my family trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley here in Texas but unfortunately while on the trip I had my external disk drive crash on me.

Hi Stephen, Bummer on the HD failure, been there, not fun. Very nice shot though so not all was lost.
Maestro
Jun-27-2008, 07:38 PM
Hi Stephen, Bummer on the HD failure, been there, not fun. Very nice shot though so not all was lost.

Thanks Chris. Thankfully none of the current trip's photos were lost because they never made it on the hard disk. :D I did lose a lot of music and videos though. Live and learn. Thanks again for looking.
Harryb
Jun-28-2008, 06:45 AM
Good capture Stephen :thumb and Ric's re-work covers most of what I would have critiqued, thanks Ric.

Digital storage is the weak link we all have to deal with. I've yet to come up with a system that I feel is safe enough.
Maestro
Jun-28-2008, 06:48 AM
Good capture Stephen :thumb and Ric's re-work covers most of what I would have critiqued, thanks Ric.

Digital storage is the weak link we all have to deal with. I've yet to come up with a system that I feel is safe enough.

Thanks Harry. I think the consensus is that I brighten the back up so I will hit the RAW file and do it again. Thanks for the critiques guys and gals. :D

Oh and I have two external drives now one backing up the other. :thumb
kdog
Jun-28-2008, 11:28 AM
Nice capture, Stephen. That's a beautiful bird I've not seen before. The most I would do to that shot is a small amount of selective lightening of just the head. The rest of the bird is exposed well.

Cheers,
-joel
Maestro
Jun-28-2008, 05:16 PM
Nice capture, Stephen. That's a beautiful bird I've not seen before. The most I would do to that shot is a small amount of selective lightening of just the head. The rest of the bird is exposed well.

Cheers,
-joel

Thanks Joel. If you had gone about 1 hour west from Padre you would have had a chance of seeing them. When I get a chance I am going to redo this one lightening the head a bit. Thanks.