| This site requires new users to accept that a small amount of member data is captured and held in an attempt to reduce spammers and to manage users. This site also uses cookies to ensure ease of use. In order to comply with new DPR regulations you are required to agree/disagree with this process. If you do not agree then please email the Admins using info@nikondslr.uk after requesting a new account. Thank you. |
| Moderated by: chrisbet, | ||
| Author | Post | |||||||||
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Eric
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Thought I should start another year with an all too rare visitor to the garden. Once we would have dozens of Fieldfares and a few Redwings feasting on the windfalls but now dwindling bird numbers and additionally, as a side effect of global warming, fewer birds needing to migrate this far south, we rarely see them. This sole bird was clearly starving. It stood for nearly an hour eating its fill of apple paying no heed to the other birds around it. it was very docile for a Fieldfare. But then, now filled with energy it resorted to type, chasing and scolding the blackbirds like a thing possessed. Fortunately I captured it while in its half exhausted state....it was all over the place after that. For the record, it was -6deg outside....the photographs were taken through double glazing, of course!!!!!  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Eric
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Lady Blackbird emerges from her well used bolt hole in the frost covered hedge, after a sparrow hawk passed by... Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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I'll Duck in with one, (I'll get my coat) Click here to comment on this image. |
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chrisbet
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Love a duck...... |
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jk
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Definitely love a duck or even two! |
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Iain
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Grey Wagtail. Dull day and big crop. DZ8_1656 by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Eric
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Was it a pair.  Nice bird(s) 1656 exposures already Iain. Don’t wear it out. Are you happier with the results than the Sony? |
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Iain
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Just one taken at 10000ISO just cropped and a little bit of denoise. Again poor light. Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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Two Red Kite pics. DZ8_3394-Edit-Edit by Iain Clyne, on Flickr  DZ8_3368 by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Eric
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Went looking for Goosanders on the River Ouse. They winter there every year and I photographed them once. I was told they are near the bridge in Downham Market....cant miss them ....there all day". Well unless this is a Transgender Goosander, they weren't there today. Just as well as 12800 ISO is a bit too grainy for me especially when cropping. Not even a Purple Heron.   Click here to comment on this image. |
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Eric
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Stone the Crows!!!!! Actually 84 Jackdaws ...and a wood pigeon having a late afternoon halt in our garden on the way to their roost.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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At least you got something. |
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jk
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If you want to kill noise and improve sharpness then try TopaZ Labs Sharpen AI. |
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Eric
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jk wrote:If you want to kill noise and improve sharpness then try TopaZ Labs Sharpen AI. Photoshop AI denoise is very good. My problem is I forget to drop the shutter speed when I don’t need it high. Stationery birds don’t need 1/1200th! That’s 2 or even 3stops of ISO reduction available for a static subject.  |
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Eric
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One of the hazards of patio doors that depict a reflected area of the garden that isn't there! This Collared Dove took flight in the wrong direction. Fortunately only its dignity was damaged and he/she flew into the tree to hide its embarrassment....it emerged shortly after (they have short memories) to feed again.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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chrisbet
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Stupid things regularly crash into our windows, occasionally breaking their neck! |
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Eric
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chrisbet wrote:Stupid things regularly crash into our windows, occasionally breaking their neck! Well this one had a Sparrowhawk on its tail but it braked and peeled off just in time. Another angle and some good old mono...  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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A fine art picture of a Pigeon. |
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Iain
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A female Reed Bunting and a female Gadwall training for dancing on ice. DZ8_3820 by Iain Clyne, on Flickr  DZ8_3942 by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Eric
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I think that duck is wondering how the other duck got frozen under the ice. Reed bunts are such unassuming characters. Nice captures….and full marks for venturing out is that weather.  And why are all ducks so pin toed? They wouldn’t waddle so much if they placed their feet straight. |
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Iain
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Reed Buntings are one of the few birds that I think the female is the nicer looking of the two. |
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Eric
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Iain wrote:Reed Buntings are one of the few birds that I think the female is the nicer looking of the two. I tend to agree with you. The black on the males head is very severe. |
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Iain
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A Siskin (female). DZ8_4860-Edit-Edit by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Graham Whistler
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Bit of fun I used one of my Kingfisher photos to do a watercolour painting. Not one of my best but I enjoyed doing it. I promise no AI used or Photoshop was used, just watercolour paints and a brush. Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Graham Whistler
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Great Tit Sony A1 6000mm + x1.4 3200ISO Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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Singing Dunnock, Spring is here? DZ8_5565-Edit by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Graham Whistler
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Got the Camera out not used it for sometime.. A few garden birds sorry through double glazed window but the Blackcap F is good news! Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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jk
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Graham, Glad to see you are well enough to start posting again. |
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Iain
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Mandarin Duck. DZ8_6783-Edit by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Graham Whistler
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Super weather today in Titchfield Haven with photographer friend Ian. Sony A1 with 600mm lens plus x1.4. Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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Nice to see you back out Graham. |
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Graham Whistler
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Thanks Iain weather has put me off too many dull winter days.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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Same up here weather wise. Nice Avocet, never a easy bird to get in the sun. |
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Graham Whistler
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Thanks Chris it is working today Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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chrisbet
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Nice images - beautiful birds |
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jk
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Are these captive or wild raptors Graham. |
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Graham Whistler
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Both wild but the Kestrel came to dead mice put in place for them to come to. Both shots in same wood owned by a friend who has a hide there. |
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Iain
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Long Tailed Tit. DZ8_7426 by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Graham Whistler
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Starlings in the garden this evening with flutterbutter, Sony A1 with 100-400mm lens. Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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They seem to like that stuff Graham. |
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Graham Whistler
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Some more from our garden today: Sony A1 and 100-200mm lens Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Graham Whistler
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Had another go today at the Starlings still with Sony A! and 100-400mm lens but used slightly better settings on motor drive speed "M" Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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Jay Z8 180-600mm DZ8_9172-Edit by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Graham Whistler
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More young Starlings this afternoon. Did my best but could not get a good parent feeding shot. Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Graham Whistler
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Sony A1 and 200-600 with x1.4 all high ISO today light poor. Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Graham Whistler
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Bath Time Today young Starlings Sony A1  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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Mistle Thrush. Click here to comment on this image. |
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chrisbet
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One of my favourites - sadly we haven't seen one in the garden for years. |
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Iain
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Where I saw this we get Song Thrush but not many Mistle Thrust. |
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Graham Whistler
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Well seen nice capture. I also not seen one for several years. |
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Eric
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Coincidentally I was at a farm in Worcestershire this week and saw a parent Mistletoe Thrush showing 3 fledglings how to forage. Lovely sight. Haven’t seen them in our area for 5-10 years…and then only in cold winters |
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Iain
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Haven’t seen one up here for quite a while either, at first glance I thought Song Thrush till I took a second look. |
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Iain
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Grey Heron with an eel. Click here to comment on this image. |
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blackfox
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a kingfisher from Monday  Click here to comment on this image. |
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blackfox
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and another one d500 +tamron 150-600 G2  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Iain
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They look good Jeff. |
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Iain
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Must have been Kingfisher week. D8Z_1675 by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Iain
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A Juvenile Chiffchaff from today. D8Z_1881-Edit by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Iain
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A juvenile Dunnock in the wet. D8Z_2465-Edit by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Graham Whistler
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Sony A1 and some help from Lightroom Click here to comment on this image.  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Graham Whistler
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 Click here to comment on this image. |
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Graham Whistler
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Edited to remove shadow on squirrel's nose! Click here to comment on this image. |
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Eric
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Graham Whistler wrote:Edited to remove shadow on squirrel's nose! All the best 'birds' have nose jobs these days. What kind of bird is that Graham?  |
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Eric
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Graham Whistler wrote:
You can really see the camouflage effectiveness in young birds in that photo. nice capture and pose. |
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Graham Whistler
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Working up a few more photos using Adobe Lightroom Clasic works OK, but still think I will stick with my old friend Photoshop. Click here to comment on this image. |
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jk
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Eric wrote:All the best 'birds' have nose jobs these days. Flying squirrel? |
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Graham Whistler
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Sony A1 with 600mm and x1.4 lens 3200 ISO Click here to comment on this image. |
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Eric
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Graham Whistler wrote:Sony A1 with 600mm and x1.4 lens 3200 ISO You have certainly got your mojo working again Graham. Lovely image. |
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Eric
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Graham Whistler wrote:Working up a few more photos using Adobe Lightroom Clasic works OK, but still think I will stick with my old friend Photoshop. Lightroom seems to have treated that image over harshly for my taste. |
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Graham Whistler
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Had another go with Lightroom, and I do think Photoshop is better in several ways and is much better with dealing with noise on high ISO ie, like this taken in poor light at 3200 ISO you can not see any noise on the same photo processed in PS. This is the Lightroom version. Also, I am very much the new boy with Lightroom and am not very keen on it, wanting to store everything on the Cloud, this I will never do!!!! I will continue to stick with Photoshop, I have been using it since 1990 Click here to comment on this image. |
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jk
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Graham, Lightroom Classic, not Lightroom, is what you need as that uses local everything and saves back to your desired local drive! Lightroom Classic is probably the best image cataloguing system I have ever used. |
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Graham Whistler
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Similar shot JK, but all PS this time and much better quality. Lightroom is, as you know, included with PS, but Classic, no doubt, is better but I would not use it much, and the extra cost would be silly to spend if not used. Click here to comment on this image. |
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jk
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I get Photoshop and Lightroom Classic for my Adobe subscription that used to be £9.99/month now increased to £14.99/month. |
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Eric
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jk wrote:I get Photoshop and Lightroom Classic for my Adobe subscription that used to be £9.99/month now increased to £14.99/month. My Yorkshire Thrift Gland twitches each month Adobe take £9.98. I may give up photography when it goes over £10…..or at least altering my photos! On a more serious note, I am finding the images out of the new Fuji don’t NEED any photoshopping. Exposure is spot on and it handles most situations admirably. The only thing I would miss with Photoshop is the superb masking options which enable selective targeting IF I do WANT to make an adjustment. |
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Eric
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Graham Whistler wrote:Similar shot JK, but all PS this time and much better quality. Lightroom is, as you know, included with PS, but Classic, no doubt, is better but I would not use it much, and the extra cost would be silly to spend if not used. Graham…I know you may disagree with me but I am not a fan of the total oof background with birds. I like to see some semblance of habitat in the background. I appreciate backgrounds can be distracting but without it the image becomes more of a studio portrait than a wildlife capture. Nevertheless that’s a lovely image of a GSW ..from GWP.  |
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Eric
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jk wrote:Graham, So does Photoshop? I have a WIP folder on my desktop and all my photos are “parked” there till complete, before being saved to an external SSD. Cannot get excited in cloud storage of my images…old fashioned fart! |
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jk
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Eric wrote:My Yorkshire Thrift Gland twitches each month Adobe take £9.98. They will probably increase it to £14.99 within the year as that is what they think is an acceptable amount. Probably 1 second of accountants time at Adobe |
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Iain
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Nuthatch giving me a look. D8Z_2705 by Iain Clyne, on Flickr |
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Eric
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jk wrote:They will probably increase it to £14.99 within the year as that is what they think is an acceptable amount. I thought you had recoiled from paying Adobe anything and we’re using some other package? It a moot point, but I only stopped using Affinity because it wouldn’t open Sony raw files properly. I haven’t tried the Fuji files on there…they may be ok. It’s not the monthly amount persay that irritates me, it’s the fact I don’t use PS from one month to the next. If I go on there ….say 4 or 5 months ( after holidays) a year, I am effectively paying 2 to 3 x the price. Bring back the CD.  The older I get the more Yorkshire I become. Needed to replace a vertical blind runner for patio doors. The blind supplier wanted £148 to replace it. Went on line and bought the track for £35. Fitted into same clips in 30secs. I wanted to change the entry door locks to thumb locks ( we keep leaving keys insitu stopping opening from outside) Double glazing men came down measured up 2 locks. Quoted £152 for supply and fitting 2 new locks. Went on line ….£12 each. I literally fitted them both while the kettle boiled. I know in business they have to make a living…been there got the tee shirt. But since the pandemic (and Brexit) people are just taking the p! |
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Eric
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Iain wrote:Nuthatch giving me a look. What’s all this? Posting bird photos on a bird thread? Sorry for my ranting thread drift. Cheeky little bird. I do like seeing birds in atypical poses to their normal stances. Good capture  |
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Iain
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I don't know what Photoshop Elements is like now. |
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Graham Whistler
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Sorry Eric, still no sharp BG, but this Sony A1 image with 800mm with x1.4 was shot in very poor light at ISO 5000! Unheard of a few years ago, but now a few seconds in Photoshop to almost remove all the noise. QED? Click here to comment on this image. |
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jk
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Eric wrote:I thought you had recoiled from paying Adobe anything and we’re using some other package? Most people now have zero practical skills. I dont know what schools teach these days but I think it must be limited to 'How to feel insulted', 'I am entitled ....', 'My rights have been infringed by that.....', etc.. Good trained tradespeople are rare, getting them to turn up in Cornwall seems to be difficult, customer care is a thing of the past. Need I go on..... Then people wonder why they have less money that before. |
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jk
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Graham Whistler wrote:Sorry Eric, still no sharp BG, but this Sony A1 image with 800mm with x1.4 was shot in very poor light at ISO 5000! Unheard of a few years ago, but now a few seconds in Photoshop to almost remove all the noise. QED? Graham look for the juvenile robins as they look like small thrushes. Very cute. |
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jk
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Iain wrote:I don't know what Photoshop Elements is like now. Same ACR as full Photoshop but less AI and many features dumbed down. Photoshop CC 2025 (v28.9) is very good. Lightroom Classic v14.4 is nearly as good as Photoshop CC but I always find that the Heal and Clone features in Photoshop work better. |
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Eric
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Graham Whistler wrote:Sorry Eric, still no sharp BG, but this Sony A1 image with 800mm with x1.4 was shot in very poor light at ISO 5000! Unheard of a few years ago, but now a few seconds in Photoshop to almost remove all the noise. QED? You are forgiven Graham Cracking bird. The lady that helps Jan around the house believes her Dad has ‘returned’ as a Robin because every time she looks out of our window a Robin appears. I will show her your image tomorrow and see if she can see any distinguishing features. |
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Iain
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jk wrote:Same ACR as full Photoshop but less AI and many features dumbed down. I was thinking of Eric if it's still a one off payment. Like you I have the PS and LR subscription. |
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Eric
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Iain wrote:I was thinking of Eric if it's still a one off payment. Like you I have the PS and LR subscription. Do you use both, Iain? |
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Eric
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I am being a bit tongue I cheek about this. |
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Graham Whistler
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Baby Robin on this, look back here to 28th July posting. |
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Iain
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Eric wrote:Do you use both, Iain? Yes I do, I do most of my work in Lightroom but there are still things I prefer to do in PS. |
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chrisbet
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I used to use photoshop way back when it was free and I hadn't found Linux! I don't know Lightroom but this is a screenshot of Darktable / Lighttable - it handles pretty well every type of image including RAW  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Bob
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I have been looking at your woodpecker shots on splash , and marvelling at the quality especially sharpness of the images. Which camera/lens combo did you use, and how much postprocessing did you carry out? My squirrel and pigeon just don't cut it as far as I am concerned - I took better, sharper photographs with my Canon AE-1 Program and a 300mF4L canon lens.But that was a long time ago.... |
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Eric
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Bob wrote:I have been looking at your woodpecker shots on splash , and marvelling at the quality especially sharpness of the images. Which camera/lens combo did you use, and how much postprocessing did you carry out? Bob….in case Graham misses your questions (this is an old thread you’ve posted on) If you click on the “Click here to comment on this image” text under each image, another window opens with a smaller version of the image top left. Click on that smaller version and it gives access to its EXIF data….which gives you a lot of the info on the taking and making of the photo. |
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chrisbet
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Lol - only if there is EXIF data to read - some editing software manages to lose it! And only on images in the topics - the splash page doesn't have that functionality, I am now just waiting for JK to request it..... |
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jk
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Requested as and when you have time to do it. No hurry. Moved Bob's post to the Bird Photography thread so he can see Graham's posts more easily.  |
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Eric
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Following the recent post on another thread about the (not having telephoto lens with me) missed opportunity photographing a barn owl. I went back to the files and decided to re work one of the images using Photoshop's improved AI support. It's never going to be anything more than a heavy crop/sectional enlargement (105mm lens) but I think PS did a better job than previous software.. Affinity Photo.  Click here to comment on this image. Original file...  Click here to comment on this image. |
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Eric
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No hiding place. Click here to comment on this image. |
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chrisbet
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jk wrote:Requested as and when you have time to do it. No hurry. Done - new EXIF tag under each splash page image. It takes you to an original sized image with the EXIF button - as per the "comment" link. |
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Iain
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Eric wrote:Following the recent post on another thread about the (not having telephoto lens with me) missed opportunity photographing a barn owl. That looks to have come out really well. |
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jk
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chrisbet wrote:Done - new EXIF tag under each splash page image. It takes you to an original sized image with the EXIF button - as per the "comment" link. Thanks Chris. Great service as always!. |
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Eric
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Iain wrote:That looks to have come out really well. not for the vole. |
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Eric
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chrisbet wrote:Done - new EXIF tag under each splash page image. It takes you to an original sized image with the EXIF button - as per the "comment" link. Thx Chris….that makes things a lot easier to see image details. |
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Iain
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Eric wrote:not for the vole. |
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Eric
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Iain wrote: Iain..sent you a PM |
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Current theme is Modern editor
| A small amount of member data is captured and held in an attempt to reduce spammers and to manage users. This site also uses cookies to ensure ease of use. In order to comply with new DPR regulations you are required to agree/disagree with this process. If you do not agree then please email the Admins using info@nikondslr.uk Thank you. |