![\"mountain](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/mountain-bluebird-0043b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThough I’ve never announced it publicly on my blog I occasionally use Saturday morning’s post as a testing ground for images that I like personally but are just a little bit different from my usual fare.\u00a0 My intent is to see how well\u00a0they’re received.\u00a0 Sometimes most folks like them and other times they don’t particularly.\u00a0 I’m perfectly ok with either reaction since my intention is to get honest feedback, either from comments or the lack thereof.<\/p>\n
This is one of those images.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4x tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this adult male Mountain Bluebird about three weeks ago near the Montana\/Idaho border.\u00a0 It was perched on a conifer in the morning sun\u00a0with deeply shaded pines and firs in the background, conditions which made the greens in the background appear almost black.<\/p>\n Black or very dark backgrounds have lots of appeal for some but I\u00a0tend to be wary of them because\u00a0very often they’re artificially produced during processing (photoshopped)\u00a0and not natural.\u00a0 This background was untouched during processing (other than moderate noise reduction due to the relatively high ISO), though I did selectively reduce some of the brights in the perch.<\/p>\n The bird is small in the frame and a little centered (a cropping decision I made to accommodate the perch and other branch) but the image still appeals to me, partly because it reminds me of that lovely morning\u00a0with the crisp mountain air and the sounds of a variety of songbirds in the vicinity as they sang their little hearts out.<\/p>\n Perhaps you had to be there…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I occasionally use Saturday morning’s post as a testing ground for images that I like personally but are just a little bit different from my usual fare. This is one of those images. <\/p>\n