As I work through my folders, I keep finding bunches of pictures I’ve never processed or even sorted. I saved these grackle photographs because they needed a bit more work than usual and then I forgot them. But here they are. Until the grackles come back, probably in November…
Although they can be a bit of a nuisance since they show up en masse, they are truly beautiful. They look black in shade, but add a little sunshine and they glow in all the colors of the rainbow and a few more that the rainbow does not include.
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Categories: #Birds, #gallery, #Photography, Anecdote, Blackstone Valley, Grackle, Nature
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
These do look like studio portraits. Such a beautiful bird.
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The colors are amazing and these particular birds look as if they were glowing. The problem was that the pictures are a bit dark. I had to find a way to lighten portions of the picture, but not the entire photo. It still takes a lot more time than I usually want to use for a single photograph, but the colors were so lovely, I decided to bite down and do it anyway.
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Beautiful! It really is glowing with the purple and swirls!
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They look downright golden in that light. I had to figure out how to use Photoshop to lighten one part of the picture, either the head or the tail, without lightening the rest of it OR washing out the background. I’m not a whiz with Photoshop, so it took me a while to make it work. It’s still more effort for a single picture than I usually have time to give, but I really liked these pictures.
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Navigating and learning Photoshop is a great skill too, Marilyn. My daughter-in-law in Alaska is learning her way around that program and enjoys her camera daily. I’m enjoying everyone’s captures!
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These are wonderful photos, Marilyn. They look like studio portraits!!!
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Thank you. This grackle just stood there long enough for me to (very quickly!) snap off about a dozen photos. Half of them were, as quickly done photos so often are, missing pieces of the bird’s head or tail or something, but half of them came out well enough to work with.
That “studio” look is a combination of a very good long lens, a bird that’s NOT in motion, and — as always — the right light. The lens when extended makes the background blurry. It almost looks like a studio backdrop, but it’s just the bokeh from this really excellent lens. The best part of using this lens is that it does the job for me. The bokeh factor is built in. Just as well. When I’m trying to shoot birds, I have to work fast. There’s no time for effects. You hope the pictures come out since you know you can’t go back and try again 🤩
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