Share Your Best Photo of the Day

[Tanager 101]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533432781

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533432771

@IKLland is this better? I forget to turn up the brightness on the laptop screen so I'm constantly overexposing with the little bit of simple editing I do. Thanks for pointing that out! Ratings on these less overexposed photos appreciated. Sorry about that. What do you think of them now? Anything would help improve them.

[Tanager 101]

Also to be honest, I think I like the overexposed photo better. I feel the bird stands out more.

[Aidan B]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533460451

Edited February 10 by Aidan B

[dragon49]

https://maculaylibrary.org/asset/533445131

Still can't paste, so here's a direct upload:
 

 

[Johnd]

 

 

https://flic.kr/p/2mLXDVC

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10 by Johnd

[IKLland]

@Tanager 101Did you take those photos in Raw format or jpeg? 

[chipperatl]

 

[Tanager 101]

@IKLland jpeg. I don't really know how to take photos in RAW. Every time I try the photos end up in Jpeg. I know there are advantages to having them in RAW (I just don't really know what they are)

[IKLland]

@Tanager 101If you shoot in RAW format, you have much more flexibility when you edit. Basically, when you shoot in jpeg, the camera chooses the contrast, exposure, and colors for you. When you go to edit it, because the camera has already "chosen" those things for you, you don't have much control over what you do in editing. You can try to adjust those things, but the results won[t be as good as if you shot in RAW and had control yourself. For exmaple, if you blow out the exposure(too bright on a white bird, like ur pelicans), and you try to fix it in editing with a jpeg file, the white areas will become gray and you won't get good results in the overexposed areas. 

When you shoot in RAW, the photo that you see on the back of your camera when you take it is not the final photo. You MUST edit the photo to some degree to get it to even look good, and you also MUST edit the file. Otherwise, you won't be able to do anything with it(upload it, etc.) So, if you don't do anything to the photo duirng editing(even cropping counts), you can do anything with the photo. In other words, you must at least crop it. When you see the photo on the back of the camera, it won[t look good in terms of contrast. It will be flat, in other words. When you edit it, you have complete control over contrast, exposure, and color, etc. If you kinda blow out the exposure on a white bird, you can recover it in a RAW file and it will look fine. If you blow it out too much though, it wont be recoverable. 

The bottom line is that if your simply looking to document birds, shoot in jpeg. If you want the best possible photos, shoot RAW, Just know that you must at least crop every single RAW photo in order to use it. Another option is to shoot in RAW+jpeg. This saves one raw file and one jpeg file for each image. Persoanlly, I shoot full raw. The photos that arent as good that I still keep, I'll just make a quick crop to. RAW+Jpeg takes up twice as much space as a RAW or JPEG photo, so just keep that in mind. 

[Jim W]

One bird, two pics.  My first ever ABA Code 4.  Bahama Mockingbird, taken today at Cape Canaveral, FL.

 

 

[lonestranger]

I agree with @IKLland, RAW files contain a lot more data and when it comes time for processing, allows for more flexibility in editing.

Having said that, learning how to process digital images as good or better than the camera manufacture's digital image processor can be a challenge. Processing RAW images can also leave you with a photo worse than the camera's JPG image, if you don't know what your doing.

As previously mentioned, shooting in RAW can have great advantages, it's not for everyone though. I now shoot in JPG for a few reasons, less and less of an interest in post processing being one of them.

[IKLland]

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533687741

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533687611

Ratings appreciated! 
 

[Birds are cool]

Just started using Adobe Photoshop Express. I really like it. Ratings greatly appreciated!

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533709471

[IKLland]

@Birds are coolif you ever have any questions about how to use the app/suggestions, feel free to PM me. Also, are you using it on a real computer or an iPad/phone?

[Birds are cool]

Thanks @IKLland. I am using a computer.

[IKLland]

@Birds are coolI use it on an iPad, so a few things may be different, but we can make it work if you have any questions.

[Birds are cool]

Ratings/thoughts appreciated: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533910961

 

[smittyone@cox.net]

Photographed yesterday.  I was watching this immature Eastern Red-tailed Hawk sitting on a utility pole.  It dove/glided down from the pole to the roadside ditch directly next to my car, perhaps 30 feet away!  Although I anticipated this, way too many of my shots cut off wingtips, tail, half the bird... some frames didn't even have a bird in them at all.  I even remembered to zoom all the way out from 600 down to 200mm--I usually forget to do this.  Photographing birds in flight while seated in a car is tougher than you might think. Many of the pics I managed to keep in frame were not tack sharp.  Seems my Sony a9 struggles with fast moving subjects coming towards the photographer.

[Tanager 101]

Couldn't get an closer so I did my best to frame it with what I had to work with https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533934971

[lonestranger]

@smittyone@cox.net said

Quote

Seems my Sony a9 struggles with fast moving subjects coming towards the photographer.

I think that's something that ALL cameras struggle with. Some more than others, perhaps, but fast moving subjects coming at the camera is probably where AF struggles the most on all cameras.

[Birds are cool]

Quote

I think that's something that ALL cameras struggle with. Some more than others, perhaps, but fast moving subjects coming at the camera is probably where AF struggles the most on all cameras

I know my camera struggles with this! I can never get a good picture in these cases!

[Connor Cochrane]

Myrtle Warbler, whatbird really tanks the iq. Has anyone figured out how to embed since the update?

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/534120261

Edited February 12 by Connor Cochrane

[Birding Boy]

A very friendly Trumpeter Swan from last May that I never uploaded

ML534176691 Trumpeter Swan Macaulay Library

[dragon49]

Fulvous Whistling Ducks:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/533963661

 

 

Edited February 12 by dragon49

[jayD]

  02/11/23