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BIRDERS BLOG

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My Favorite Bird Photo

posted by Tim Avery at
on Thursday, January 27, 2011 



This is my favorite photo I have taken, and of my favorite bird, Piranga ludoviciana, or the Western Tanager as most of us know it. I took this near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon in May of 2010 as the northern Utah valleys were being overwhelmed by literally flocks of tanagers heading north. I may have also photshopped a stick that ran across the birds back to make the image look a little prettier than it initially was.

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5 Comments:
Anonymous Jerry Liguori said...

Great photo, a bit of photoshopping never hurt anybody as long as it doesn't look fake or silly. I might try to pick my favorite photo, but sometimes its difficult, it changes regularly

January 27, 2011 at 3:16 PM  
Blogger Ryan O'Donnell said...

Speaking of photoshopping, has anyone seen the latest issue of Audubon Magazine, with the Pyrrhuloxia on the cover? Poor bird had its toes photoshopped right off! What an embarrassment for Audubon. Click on the Pyrrhuloxia and look close:
http://audubonmagazine.org/features1101/photoawards.html

January 27, 2011 at 3:58 PM  
Blogger Tim Avery said...

@Ryan O'Donnell: Haha nice, it's actually a user submitted photo as part of their contest. Holy crap that is bad. For anyone interested in seeing it closeup I blew it up and cropped it:

Nice Job Audubon! Check it out here

@Jerry Liguori: I completely agree. If done well and only to improve imperfections in the image it is very useful.

January 27, 2011 at 4:15 PM  
Blogger Birding is Fun! said...

I wish I was better at photoshop, but I end up going with my photos in their natural state most of the time.

I too love the Western Tanager. It was almost the state bird of Idaho, but not enough people recognized it back in 1930.

January 27, 2011 at 6:01 PM  
Blogger Tim Avery said...

That would have been a great state bird! Mountain Bluebird isn't a bad choice thous either!

As for photoshop just play with it and you will find that over time it gets easier and easier.

January 27, 2011 at 11:20 PM  

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