Share Your Best Photo of the Day

[BirdNrd]

White-crowned Sparrow's behind

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/461932101

Edited June 23, 2022 by BirdNrd

[JimB]

I was fortunate this morning to find a couple of these secretive Henslow's Sparrows in a 327 acre field!

[Connor Cochrane]

I brought an almost 20 year old lens to Europe with me as I didn't want my main gear to get stolen. This means no good pictures. I'm surprised I was even able to get a slightly focused photo in flight of this Common Swift.

[Johnd]

from 2016

 

 

[MarkG]

 

[lonestranger]

On 6/22/2022 at 12:19 PM, IKLland said:

A HOFI portrait in beautiful lighting. Ratings appreciated.

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/461628431

Nice shot of a mostly back-lit bird, IKLland. I can't help but wonder what you could have achieved if that beautiful lighting had been coming from behind the camera instead of from behind the bird. Nice work for the angle you were shooting from though. ?

Sorry, I don't do ratings/likes on request but since it sounded like you were looking for a pat on the back for a shot well taken, there you go. ?

 

[dragon49]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462130961

[IKLland]

2 hours ago, lonestranger said:

Nice shot of a mostly back-lit bird, IKLland. I can't help but wonder what you could have achieved if that beautiful lighting had been coming from behind the camera instead of from behind the bird. Nice work for the angle you were shooting from though. ?

Sorry, I don't do ratings/likes on request but since it sounded like you were looking for a pat on the back for a shot well taken, there you go. ?

 

Yeah, thanks. I don’t usually ask for ratings, and don’t really care if they get rated, but if I feel like I got a really great shot, I will ask for ratings. I took this shot in my yard, and this little cutie just landed ten feet in front of me. If I had got up to move to a better position, it surely would’ve flown away. I have the challenge of shooting into the sun in the mornings in my yard, but late day is better. 

[smskelton]

[Connor Cochrane]

A Zitting Cisticola from Spain today

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462237321

[DLecy]

54 minutes ago, Connor Cochrane said:

A Zitting Cisticola from Spain today

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462237321

That’s a really cool pic.

[Connor Cochrane]

Just now, DLecy said:

That’s a really cool pic.

Yeah, I actually got really lucky with this one. Most of the European warblers are pretty secretive, and I had been trying to get one of the Cisticolas to come out in the open. I pished, which I haven't had much success with in europe, and this bird flew in to a branch right in front of me. I only got this one frame before it flew away so I consider myself lucky with this one.

[DLecy]

11 minutes ago, Connor Cochrane said:

Yeah, I actually got really lucky with this one. Most of the European warblers are pretty secretive, and I had been trying to get one of the Cisticolas to come out in the open. I pished, which I haven't had much success with in europe, and this bird flew in to a branch right in front of me. I only got this one frame before it flew away so I consider myself lucky with this one.

Are you using DxO PureRAW these days?

[Connor Cochrane]

6 minutes ago, DLecy said:

Are you using DxO PureRAW these days?

Not yet. I got the free trial a few months back and was really pleased with the results. The only problem is use a fairly old laptop to edit photos, and it took around 10 minutes for a single photo to process through dxo. I'm going to wait till I get a slightly newer computer in a year or so before I make the switch. I'm still using Topaz De-noise which only takes 2-3 minutes to process.

Edited June 25, 2022 by Connor Cochrane

[MarkG]

 

[smskelton]

[BirdNrd]

Red-wing

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462421321

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462421311

[Tanager 101]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462423711

 

My best male Tanager yet. (Wish I didn't have the one lens broken, then I could have had a five-star, amazing looks!)

[dragon49]

I went to this website (https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/bblretrv/#Introduction) to report the Federal Band Number, but the second half is too worn to read after the first digit after the dash, so I emailed the picture along with the date, time, and location to:

bandreports@usgs.gov  

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462468281

[chipperatl]

[IKLland]

4 hours ago, dragon49 said:

I went to this website (https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/bblretrv/#Introduction) to report the Federal Band Number, but the second half is too worn to read after the first digit after the dash, so I emailed the picture along with the date, time, and location to:

bandreports@usgs.gov  

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462468281

Awesome shot! Easily one of, if not your best photo ever.

[dragon49]

18 minutes ago, IKLland said:

Awesome shot! Easily one of, if not your best photo ever.

Ty - I recently stopped relying on sports mode, when I realized that auto mode takes better photos.  Color saturation and lighting is better.  I'm still defaulting to sports mode so as to have a better chance of capturing flyovers, but I change modes for stationary birds.  

[IKLland]

6 minutes ago, dragon49 said:

Ty - I recently stopped relying on sports mode, when I realized that auto mode takes better photos.  Color saturation and lighting is better.  I'm still defaulting to sports mode so as to have a better chance of capturing flyovers, but I change modes for stationary birds.  

Do you edit your photos? Even if you get the colors all wrong in the camera, you can perfectly change it during editing. 

[dragon49]

35 minutes ago, IKLland said:

Do you edit your photos? Even if you get the colors all wrong in the camera, you can perfectly change it during editing. 

I'm not too good with photoshop, but I have an old version of Photoshop elements, and I find that the Auto Smart Fix feature often does a good job.  I don't want mess around too much and submit incorrect colors to Ebird though, so I'm careful with editing.  The last different touchup I remember using was lightening some badly backlit Black Vultures.

[Jim W]

From my trip.  Hiking in Big Bend National Park, I stumbled on a Cactus Wren nest.  I never approach nests, but I noticed the parents often would stop on a particular branch to scout on their way in and out of the nest (about 50 feet from the nest).  I set up on this branch and was able to get some nice close shots.  I ended up seeing quite a few on my trip, but this first encounter was a lifer.