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Out of the Thicket
1st PlaceOut of the Thicket
Beagleboy


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Bokeh (Advanced Editing IV)
Camera: Canon EOS-300D Rebel
Lens: Canon EF 300mm f/4.0L IS USM
Location: My backyard
Date: Jan 5, 2005
Aperture: f 9.0
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/100
Galleries: Nature, Animals
Date Uploaded: Jan 9, 2005

This is a little Black-capped Chickadee Parus articapillus that was waiting its turn to come pick out a sunflower seed at one of our feeders on our back deck.

The original was cropped quite a bit since the shot was taken between two trees that occupied a good chunk of the foreground. I was left with a 1200x1200 shot, only got for a 6in x 6in print:(

The shot was taken on an overcast afternoon. I prefer this type of light when shooting birds: I find it easier to avoid blown-out highlights.

The bokeh is made up of branches of a large maple tree that was blown over during hurricane Juan back in 2003. The birds use it as concealment before making their final approach.

Not a whole lot of editing. Some colour adjustment with a curves layer, a bit of dodging on the bird and a quick minimal pass through Neat Image. Resized and sharpened. C'est tout.



Statistics
Place: 1 out of 241
Avg (all users): 7.1532
Avg (commenters): 8.4333
Avg (participants): 7.0252
Avg (non-participants): 7.2845
Views since voting: 15050
Views during voting: 415
Votes: 235
Comments: 69
Favorites: 49 (view)


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AuthorThread
06/20/2005 09:00:46 AM
Oh I love this one. Perfect for the challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/01/2005 08:36:27 PM
Hey Beagleboy, would you mind if we used an inkjet of your chickadee photo for a school science project? It would be muc appreciated!

Mike
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/19/2005 07:02:50 AM
ohh.. lucky me... I get the first place image to critique :)
well.. first off, congrats on a winning image.. obiously it is well done.

so...
good use of thirds, having the bird in the bottom right corner, looking up and too the left creates a very strong image. The branch entering in the bottom left corner leads the eye to the bird, making it a pleasing image to look at. The tree's in the background create a very simple and pleasing bokeh with very natural, organice lines, nicely contrasting the sharp image of the bird.

good job.. I also like how you didn't crop any more of the photo.. i like that the bird takes up only a small portion of the frame.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/19/2005 02:50:17 AM
Lovely work
Such a cute bird!
Nice detail
Congrats on your ribbon
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/18/2005 09:56:00 PM
Managed to add it as a favorite but forgot something basic - Congrats on the Blue Denis!
A superb shot, worthy of any magazine!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/18/2005 03:48:03 AM
Cute bird and great photo !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/18/2005 01:57:22 AM
Originally posted by kosmikkreeper:

Good one Denis!! Félicitation!!

I took a similar shot about a month ago! :-)



Not in same league though! Beagleboy is quite right about the lighting conditions and contrasts.
His is exquisite.
shonny
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 08:30:03 PM
Congratulations on your Blue Ribbon for this beautiful image!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 03:16:44 PM
This is so charming! Bokeh gives this a magical tone and mood.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 02:31:03 PM
good grief, i can't get over how freakin cute that bird is...i just want to sqeeze it! but since i can't, i guess i'll just have to fave it--cause everytime i see it, it makes me smile. :)

congrats on another blue--i bet jacques is starting to get a little worried! ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 01:55:56 PM
Congrats on a well deserved blue, beautiful shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:37:58 PM
I thought I commented on this during the challenge. ??
I love it. Congratulations!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 10:57:27 AM
Congratulations!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 09:30:00 AM
Amazing shot! Congrats!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 09:29:36 AM
Excellent photo, definantly worthy of a ribbon. Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 09:01:39 AM
This is a wonderful image - and I am not saying that just because I love birds :-)

Well composed, and great execution. Congrats on the win.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 09:01:38 AM
congratulations, nice bokeh, cutest photo :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 08:47:09 AM
A solid composition and nice use of bokeh. Congratulations on your blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 08:36:50 AM
Let's hear it for the East Coast. ;) Amazing detail for such a tight crop. Thanks for posting your setup and original. Great stuff. When's the Atlantic Canada GTG?

edit: This was one of my top votes.

Message edited by author 2005-01-17 08:39:35.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 08:14:14 AM
Woohoo! Thanks for all the votes and comments folks.

I was on pins and needles about this one all week. The score kept fluctuatiing back and forth, back and forth. I knew it was doing well and that it had a chance at the top-3, but I was sure other images were going to do better ribbon-wise. Glad to see that I was wrong!

Nova: Lens used was my Canon 300mm f4 IS. This badboy is a joy to work with! I was completely taken aback when I saw that I captured this at 1/100. These little guys hardly sit still.

Here is the original image:


As you can see, I did some serious cropping. Even with all that cropping, the image quality was still very high. A testament to lense's quality.

Thanks again!
01/17/2005 08:07:51 AM
I rarely use this word, but that chickadee is just plain cute! Excellent crop and composition! Congrats...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 07:37:24 AM
Good one Denis!! Félicitation!!

I took a similar shot about a month ago! :-)

  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 05:52:05 AM
Yeah Denis!! This rocks so much, and was a clear winner to me. Congrats on your ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 05:49:30 AM
You dawg. Congrats man.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 04:56:15 AM
Sweeeeeeeeeeeet. Great shot bro. Congrats on your third ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 01:23:40 AM
Congrats, well deserved winner.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:33:24 AM
Really lovely bird photo Beagleboy, congrats on the ribbon! Am curious as to the lens used and AMAZED that this was achieved at f9.0!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:25:12 AM
I guess talent runs in the family. Congratulations on a great shot and your blue ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:17:32 AM
congrats, denis! i knew this was going to finish well!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:11:57 AM
Woot ! Denis, such a awesome shot...great job !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:08:09 AM
Congrats on your ribbon and good job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:06:38 AM
Very nice Denis, congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:06:12 AM
Congrats Denis! This is beautiful!!! :o)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:05:01 AM
Beagleboy you have performed very well here. I am so glad that you did it without the obvious spherical aberration rings which some members persisted is the only bokeh. This is just lovely to look at.

Congratulations on that well deserved blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:04:02 AM
Congrats! I really liked this one.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:03:55 AM
Congratulations!

Beautiful Shot :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:02:50 AM
Beautiful Work Denis! Congratulations on the Blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2005 12:01:32 AM
Congrats on your blue!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/16/2005 10:17:24 PM
Must have been difficult to catch, they're so small and swift! Sweet and perfectly composed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/16/2005 11:37:03 AM
Great shot and good use of bokeh to make the subject stand out. It might have been a bit better if the lighter branches in the backgound didn't stand out as much, but short of editing, I'm not sure what you could have done to prevent this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/16/2005 12:29:20 AM
Really beautiful nature shot. Terrific bokeh. Adorable chickadee(?).
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/15/2005 11:15:49 PM
Very nice indeed. The framing is terrific, and I love the level of detail you managed to capture. The background really accentuates the downy softness of the feathers. Great work. I hope to see you ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/15/2005 11:04:45 PM
Magnificent shot! It has a winters morning look, positioning of the bird is great I just wish I could see his eye. a shot I'd be proud to take.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/15/2005 08:25:59 PM
I love this photo - good bokeh - very sharp and clear - 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/15/2005 03:42:24 AM
Well composed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/14/2005 09:56:32 PM
excellent capture, excellent exposure. very good work. will be very surprised if this doesn't show up on the front page when this is over. good luck!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/13/2005 02:03:34 AM
Sweet image of a hard bird to catch in a quiet pose.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/12/2005 07:43:55 PM
Even without the signature circle of confusion artifacts, I would still consider this bokeh. I think your composition is classic rule of thirds. Good job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/12/2005 03:03:02 PM
very nice bokeh, the off-center subject is a plus for this shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/12/2005 10:15:26 AM
Very nice subject, sharp and clear, good interesting bokeh. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/12/2005 04:32:23 AM
Perfect example of Bokeh! Very sharp focus on that chicadee, nice background blur.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2005 10:01:44 PM
beautiful demonstration of this challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2005 09:26:45 PM
You captured a beautiful little bird here, I envy you I have such a hard time getting close to birds to get this type of shot. Congratulations you did a very nice job with the background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2005 02:00:44 PM
I wonder what other comments people are going to give to you. Some may find the branch bokeh in the background distracting....but I kind of like it! Nice focus on the bird...very sharp. 8!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2005 11:06:05 AM
wonderful example of bokeh.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2005 10:42:32 AM
Nice Chickadee-dee-dee
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2005 10:32:38 AM
What a quality shot! Excellent skills. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2005 03:29:53 AM
excellent capture, and the bokeh is beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2005 12:34:43 AM
I will be very surprised if this isn't in the top 3. Excellent detail.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 11:05:58 PM
I have tried so to get a decent picture of these pretty birds -- very difficult due to their black and white feathers. You pulled it off beautifully, and even got a tiny glint in the eye. The branch is perfectly lit and in focus, and I like the blurred branches in the background. Very nice!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 08:52:56 PM
I like it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 07:31:10 PM
Very nice 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 05:45:02 PM
aw, i just love this. :) besides the fact that that is THE cutest little bird ever--the picture is wonderful. simplicity at its finest--and awesome composition, colors and...by my uneducated definition...bokeh. :) really nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 12:33:56 PM
This is absolutely divine. I hoep you win a ribbon for this. It's perfect in every way. Love the way the feathers look, the detail and the expression. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 12:14:34 PM
Very nice shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 02:54:34 AM
Excellent shot, just beautiful. My top pick.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 02:46:48 AM
Sweet. Nice crop. Pity the bir's eye doesn't pop a hair more. Interesting bokeh.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 01:41:48 AM
Lovely and quite effective DOF and resultant bokeh (colours a perfect complement to the foreground focus). 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2005 01:08:29 AM
i love the placment of the twigs to center the bird. not to mention its really, really, really, adorable 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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