I have a new visitor!

[Teddy Regpala]

in my feeder this afternoon. A goldfinch! Hoorah!

I've been wanting these birds to visit my feeder since I placed the feeder last May.
I've seen them before in the area, especially when I bring my daughter for her doctor's appointment. I can see them flock the thistles hung under the tree by the windows.

After arriving from work, I glanced at the feeder at the end of the patio and to my surprise, I saw this lonely goldfinch. Most probably a Lesser Goldfinch. I originally thought it's an American Goldfinch, but after reviewing the details and field guide, I knew it's a Lesser.
He doesn't mind us walking around the dining area, unlike the other finches like the house finch, sparrows, and western scrub jays that regulary feeds fly away at the slightest movement inside the house.

I immediately went upstairs and grabbed my camera, and set it up inside the dining room. I slightly opened the sliding door, enough for me to get a direct sight.
Unfortunately, it's getting dark in the patio area due to the trees. I set the camera on an old (video) tripod, which was too wobbly to my liking (my monopod is out of commission).
I only manage a few shots, as the house finches bullied it out of the feeder.

Taken with Nikon D300, 300mm f/4 + TC1.4, 1/250s, F/7.1, auto ISO 800 (+2EV).


Cropping and sharpening suggestions are welcome.

Ted

[Bob Kaufman]

Good one, Ted. Perhaps a tad more contrast and saturation. But it could be my monitor also.

[Teddy Regpala]

Most probably my monitor, as it's not calibrated since I made hardware changes more than a year ago.

I tried to adjust contrast, but highlights are being blown. The background didn't help either.
You can tell I s*ck in PP. Lol. I really need help on that part, big time.
Once I figure out how to properly adjust the contrast, hopefully more details will be revealed.
And yes, I'm so conservative with the colors as well. It's a pain being partially color blind.

Thanks for the tip.

[Romy Ocon]

A very pretty bird..... and welcome to the Color-challenged Club, Ted!

[Teddy Regpala]

It's getting worse as I age.
I used to figure out most numbers and letters from the color test charts. Now, I can only figure out some. I should have memorized them for my next eye doctor visit next year.

By the way, I saw the guy again this morning. He's becoming a regular to my feeder. He's by himself, which made me suspect that his better half is in the nest. I read that the males are a provider, feeding their partner (by regurgerating food) while nesting (is that a term?).

[Martin Alvendia]

I wish I had a visitor like this everyday! Image looks fine with me....I too don't play around with color too much. A little sharpening would probably help....

[Ding Carpio]

I agree with Bob: A bit more saturation.

Aside from contrast, you may want to try the Channel Mixer. What I do is to create a Channel Mixer layer then set channels to boost the channel's hue and desaturate the others. For example:

Red Channel
R = +90%
G = -50%
B = -50%

Green Channel
R = -50%
G = +90%
B = -50%

Blue Channel
R = -50%
G = -50%
B = +90%

Then you can slide the opacity of the layer to a low value that suits your taste.

Sorry for the unsolicited advice but I thought I might as well post it here for the rest of the guys who're not yet aware of this technique. I learned this from a DPReview thread and it's supposed to simulate the Fuji Velvia film saturation.

Oh, and since you mentioned you're partially color blind, you may want to try the master's technique of soliciting his color consultants' help (his family).

Jun 24, 2008 17:53:45 GMT Teddy Regpala said:

Most probably my monitor, as it's not calibrated since I made hardware changes more than a year ago.

I tried to adjust contrast, but highlights are being blown. The background didn't help either.
You can tell I s*ck in PP. Lol. I really need help on that part, big time.
Once I figure out how to properly adjust the contrast, hopefully more details will be revealed.
And yes, I'm so conservative with the colors as well. It's a pain being partially color blind.

Thanks for the tip.

[Teddy Regpala]

Jun 25, 2008 9:53:17 GMT Ding Carpio said:

Sorry for the unsolicited advice but I thought I might as well post it here for the rest of the guys who're not yet aware of this technique. I learned this from a DPReview thread and it's supposed to simulate the Fuji Velvia film saturation.

Oh, and since you mentioned you're partially color blind, you may want to try the master's technique of soliciting his color consultants' help (his family).

I really need help, seriously. ;D
C&C, advice and suggestions in any shape and form are always welcome.
And thanks for the detailed settings, will try it tonight.

Ummm, I have a daughter, 11.5 months old, does she count?
My wife? Ha! She'll probably ask me to step out infront of the computer, lol.

[Ding Carpio]

Jun 25, 2008 15:22:46 GMT Teddy Regpala said:

My wife? Ha! She'll probably ask me to step out infront of the computer, lol.

That's one big reason why I built my own recently! And now that I've built it, she keeps saying, she can't understand why this household has too many computers.