Berry Love-ly

[Birdsong]

Thanks to advice, I got some semblance of what I wanted, although I found if I did not overdo lightening the shadows, the sharpening went much better. Otherwise I get grainy feathers. I still had to keep levels somewhere between Steve's recommendation and Paul's.

This one was a bit easier to work with. Yes, X-T I did remember to look at the histogram. But it was so cold that my viewer was steaming up, and the histo had those crazy double peaks. I should have gone into the neighbor's yard. Better sun angle.

BOS

I remembered to remove the other feeders, shake the snow off the evergreen, and actually sat IN the blind this time instead of using it for a backdrop. Best laid plans of mice and men. By the time I got something to bring the feeder/branch up higher, the birds decided they had had enough.

[finnbay]

I really like that first shot as a typical habit of waxwings. You did a nice job with that siskin. You have a lot of it in focus which is difficult to do when they are looking at you like that! Nice, smooth background and good exposure of the bird.

[Jim Almquist]

I really love to see Waxwings and the first shot is just a perfect example of the reason why. They pose or at least look like they are and have such cools markings. I can't wait till the apple trees go into bloom so they will show up again.

[MN Shutterbug]

Dang Birdsong, were those waxxies in your yard, recently? Ah yes, I see they were shot yesterday morning, when I was out of town. Nice work. And the BOS really turned out good.

[Steve Foss]

Birdsong, if the birds are underexposed and you have to bring them up brighter in levels, you'll see digital noise in the feathers, and sharpening that will accentuate it and make it look rougher. Particularly in the first WW image, because of the bright background, I'd bet the meter underexposed the birds in favor of the background. What I'd do in that situation is run noise ninja on the bird, which not only kills a lot of noise but smooths things out a little bit. Then I'd lasso the head/face and apply sharpening there.

Nice job on the captures.

[Birdsong]

I can't wait till the apple trees go into bloom so they will show up again.

Don't the wax wings stay for the winter there, Jim? I can't say I see them all that often, but I hear them frequently here. These were in my daughter's yard yesterday. She lives a block away.

Thanks, Steve for the new direction. I would love to be able to save this one because of the berry passing, though that branch also makes it very hard to crop. I don't have Noise Ninja, but I think its time to look into it--underexposure seems to be my middle name. I have such a great understanding of exposure and metering at this point. I will get the hang of it it, however--eventually.

[Jim Almquist]

They are in the area but never in my yard till spring. I did see a flock in a tree in Duluth so the next time I went back to get a shot they did not appear