Share your photographs of Australian birds for critique by members to help you improve your photography.
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By Alec Brennan
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#486920
Species
Common Name- Golden Bowerbird (male)
Scientific Name- Prionodura newtoniana
Location- Mt Baldy, Atherton Tablelands FNQ
Post Production- This image was taken at 1/30, f5.6 and ISO 4000, mounted on a tripod. It had standard processing in L/R and the removal of a couple of distracting bright areas in Photoshop. Topaz was used for noise reduction. Minor cropping to 7000 for the original reduced to 1400 for F&P

Notes- Photographing rainforest birds is challenging because of the absence of decent light and the presence of a range of nasties including mosquitoes and leeches on this occasion. One is normally trying to find a limited window of view between branches and then in the wet season there is also the rain!!

The Golden Bowerbird is Australia’s smallest bowerbird and has a life-cycle similar to other bowerbirds in that it reaches maturity only after 6-7 years. It constructs a large maypole bower that it uses for display during the breeding season though the breeding season for this particular bird had well and truly finished by the time I photographed it in December. The bird is an obligate high rainforest bird that is rarely seen below 700m and the worry is that with global warming, they need to ascend to beat the heat and the territory available to them is rapidly shrinking. You can read more about this at https://theconversation.com/climate-cha ... ests-41023 and https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-03/ ... e/10774516
Attachments:
Golden Bowerbird 6392-.jpg
Golden Bowerbird 6392-.jpg (626.48 KiB) Viewed 176 times
EXIF Data... show/hide
Capture time and date:
2020:12:12 09:08:46
Focus length:
600 mm
Shutter speed:
1/30 sec
F-number:
f/5.6
ISO speed rating:
4000
White balance:
Auto
Flash:
Flash did not fire
Camera manufacturer:
Canon
Camera model:
Canon EOS R5
Exposure program:
Aperture priority
Exposure bias:
0 EV
Metering mode:
Pattern
Richard Sands liked this
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By Warren Wilson
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#486935
Alec…. that’s a stunning image, particularly given the difficult light and environmental (nasties) conditions. 1/30s is seriously slow using any focal length never mind 600mm. The classic over the shoulder pose certainly shows off the delicate feather and colour detail. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing one of these in real life. Well done and thanks for posting.

Warren Wilson
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By Jim Schultz
Posts Custom
#486936
Hello, Alec
Such an absolutely stunning bird, Alec, and what a fine capture this is. Everything just gels.

Incidentaly. I have tried in vain to copy Olympus RAW to Tif with the Workspace software. Muy, muy complicado! I found out to go in undert ‘export’, but then after that Olympus refers to software for which one has to pay monthly (?). Thank you for the tip anyway; looks like yet again I have to press my son into service. Me, I’m just too doof!

I did see you African images; what a fine collection that is, Olympus or Canon.

Regards, JimS
Alec Brennan liked this
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By Alec Brennan
Posts Custom
#486939
When I am looking at images on F&P I have often thought how interesting it would be to see a bit more about how and where the photo was taken. On this particular occasion my colleague took an iPhone snap of me taking the picture so I thought I should share it. I forgot to say that in the rainforest you really need to use burst photography. So every image is in fact 30+ images and then search for the optimally sharp ones in the burst. With these settings many don’t make the cut. But we are being enormously helped by the technology compared to 30 years ago
IMG_3556.jpeg
IMG_3556.jpeg (438.25 KiB) Viewed 124 times
EXIF Data... show/hide
Capture time and date:
2020:12:12 08:06:43
Focus length:
1.54 mm
Shutter speed:
1/30 sec
F-number:
f/2.4
ISO speed rating:
1000
White balance:
Auto
Flash:
Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Camera manufacturer:
Apple
Camera model:
IPhone 11 Pro
Exposure program:
Normal program
Exposure bias:
0 EV
Metering mode:
Pattern
User avatar
By Nathan Watson
Posts Custom
#486949
Wonderful image Alec and worth the perseverance and discomfort. The impact of our changing climate on many habitats and the species they support is a real worry. I enjoyed your follow up post and photo of you taking the image. I agree it would be great to read about and see more of the “behind the scenes” aspect of the images shared. I’ll try and remember to add a little to my posts in future for interest.
Alec Brennan liked this
User avatar
By Ian Forsyth
Posts
#486959
That’s a phenomenal image Alec. The bright bird and the darker background really make it. And the supporting image and additional shooting tips are also great. Thanks for posting this.
Alec Brennan liked this
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