Share Your Best Photo of the Day

[pictaker]

 

[NorthernKeys]

Got a new camera and moved to a new apartment in the last week, so I've been using any opportunity I can to take pics. Just a House Finch today, but I still like the way this one came out. :)

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452231731

[Johnd]

 

[dragon49]

I'm going with my lifer, Gray Kingbird:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452385281

[IKLland]

1 hour ago, dragon49 said:

I'm going with my lifer, Gray Kingbird:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452385281

This photo you have up is much better. The lighting is bad in the one you posted here, but in this one it is awesome!https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452385201

[GracesWarbler]

43 minutes ago, IKLland said:

This photo you have up is much better. The lighting is bad in the one you posted here, but in this one it is awesome!https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452385201

I'm curious why you think so.  Do people prefer overcast light over direct lighting?  I find the two photos to be comparable, with a more interesting pose in the first.

I confess, I sometimes struggle with lighting.  Sometimes I think I took a good photo but it turned out horribly back-lit and other times (like the photo of the Black-crowned Night Heron on the last page) a photo with a lot of shadow ends up looking really nice.

Should I try to bird more on overcast days?

[lonestranger]

1 hour ago, IKLland said:

This photo you have up is much better. The lighting is bad in the one you posted here, but in this one it is awesome!https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452385201

I am confused, yeah, yeah, it happens easily at times. There are too many references to "this" photo for me to figure out which comment is supposed to go with which photo. Personally, I like the lighting, and pose, better in the photo posted by @dragon49 than the linked photo you posted. Is that what you were trying to say, or do you prefer the lighting of the linked photo better? Like I said, I'm confused here.

[smskelton]

[dragon49]

55 minutes ago, lonestranger said:

I am confused, yeah, yeah, it happens easily at times. There are too many references to "this" photo for me to figure out which comment is supposed to go with which photo. Personally, I like the lighting, and pose, better in the photo posted by @dragon49 than the linked photo you posted. Is that what you were trying to say, or do you prefer the lighting of the linked photo better? Like I said, I'm confused here.

 

2 hours ago, IKLland said:

This photo you have up is much better. The lighting is bad in the one you posted here, but in this one it is awesome!https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452385201

 

1 hour ago, GracesWarbler said:

I'm curious why you think so.  Do people prefer overcast light over direct lighting?  I find the two photos to be comparable, with a more interesting pose in the first.

I confess, I sometimes struggle with lighting.  Sometimes I think I took a good photo but it turned out horribly back-lit and other times (like the photo of the Black-crowned Night Heron on the last page) a photo with a lot of shadow ends up looking really nice.

Should I try to bird more on overcast days?

I see @IKLland's point about the lighting in the pic I chose for the best pic of the day, but I don't consider it to be bad and don't think it's that big of a deal.  I also like the pose much better in the photo I chose.  I often use the Photoshop Elements "Auto Smart Fix" feature with bird photos that have bad lighting, (too light) but find that many times with dark birds, this makes the birds too dark, so I avoided it in this case.  Looks like it makes a little improvement to the lighting, but I can't make up my mind about which picture I prefer.  Here are two pictures - you make the call.

Not that big of a difference between the bird in both pictures, but I have more extreme examples.  I have a photoshopped auto-adjusted picture of an American Kestrel that is noticeably pixelated and much worse than the original.

Original unedited pic:



Photoshopped pic:

Edited May 23, 2022 by dragon49

[IKLland]

2 hours ago, GracesWarbler said:

I'm curious why you think so.  Do people prefer overcast light over direct lighting?  I find the two photos to be comparable, with a more interesting pose in the first.

I confess, I sometimes struggle with lighting.  Sometimes I think I took a good photo but it turned out horribly back-lit and other times (like the photo of the Black-crowned Night Heron on the last page) a photo with a lot of shadow ends up looking really nice.

Should I try to bird more on overcast days?

I think that direct sunlight is better, only if at the right time of day. If I’m the “golden hours”, in early morning or late afternoon, I much prefer sunlight. I’m in the middle of the day(9 am to around 3pm), the sunlight gets very harsh creating unpleasant colors and shadows. If shooting at that time, I prefer overcast, as it eliminates shadows. The sunlight in @dragon49’s original post is very harsh, and has a strange feel to it. Therefore, I like 5e shot that was taken in cloudy better. If the shot was taken early in the morning or late in the afternoon, I’d prefer sunlight. 

1 hour ago, lonestranger said:

I am confused, yeah, yeah, it happens easily at times. There are too many references to "this" photo for me to figure out which comment is supposed to go with which photo. Personally, I like the lighting, and pose, better in the photo posted by @dragon49 than the linked photo you posted. Is that what you were trying to say, or do you prefer the lighting of the linked photo better? Like I said, I'm confused here.

I prefer the linked photo better for the reasons I stated above.

[IKLland]

57 minutes ago, dragon49 said:

 

 

I see @IKLland's point about the lighting in the pic I chose for the best pic of the day, but I don't consider it to be bad and don't think it's that big of a deal.  I also like the pose much better in the photo I chose.  I often use the Photoshop Elements "Auto Smart Fix" feature with bird photos that have bad lighting, (too light) but find that many times with dark birds, this makes the birds too dark, so I avoided it in this case.  Looks like it makes a little improvement to the lighting, but I can't make up my mind about which picture I prefer.  Here are two pictures - you make the call.

Not that big of a difference between the bird in both pictures, but I have more extreme examples.  I have a photoshopped auto-adjusted picture of an American Kestrel that is noticeably pixelated and much worse than the original.

Original unedited pic:



Photoshopped pic:

I do prefer your edited image over the original image, but I still prefer the linked photo due to what I stated in the post above. 

[blackburnian]

I would say the original photo posted on this thread is easily the best of the kingbird photos. 

[blackburnian]

And I certainly wouldn’t say the lighting is “bad.” 

[IKLland]

I do agree that the pose is much better in the original shot. 

[Tanager 101]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452656681

[DLecy]

Had a few good looks at the local Junco juvies today. These are two separate individuals.

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452665341

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452665181

[smskelton]

[IKLland]

11 hours ago, DLecy said:

Had a few good looks at the local Junco juvies today. These are two separate individuals.

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452665341

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452665181

Gosh, I wish I had juncos in my yard! I’m just not in the right habitat, I think. Awesome photos. 

[IKLland]

My best gosling shot yet!
https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452773501

[dragon49]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452779111

[Tanager 101]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452826801 Best Swainson's Thrush photo so far. 

[hbvol50]

[Aidan B]

Got some amazing looks at a few Calliope Hummingbirds!

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452899171

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452899121

[IKLland]

19 minutes ago, Aidan B said:

Got some amazing looks at a few Calliope Hummingbirds!

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452899171

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/452899121

What the?? Wow.

[IKLland]

@Aidan Bhow do your photos get rated so quickly?? It’s already up in the top photos. I don’t think I’ve ever had one get up there within an hour of posting.