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I will be making a trip to Guanacaste, Costa Rica in January and am looking for a good bird / nature photo guide for a day trip while there. If anyone has a recommendation from experience I would appreciate your input and their contact info. Thanks, Barry Ekstrand

I also like the Topaz Labs products. IMHO Nik, Topaz, and On1 are each very good but slightly different from each other. I use these 3 as filters in Photoshop CC.

Green Heron at Bear Creek Park in Houston Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 500mm f4 IS II, Canon Extender EF 1.4x III ISO 1600, 700mm, f5.6, 1/200 sec, manual mode Shot on tripod, IS turned off This is the first Green Heron that I've photographed. The image has been cropped ~60% on a side...

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 500mm f4 IS II, Canon EF 1.4X III TC, Canon EF 2.0X III TC, Canon Extension Tube EF12 II 1400mm, f11, 1/800 sec, ISO 3200 I finally did a test this morning that I've been intending to do for awhile: adding both of my teleconverters to the 500mm f4 IS II lens. I used...

A light just went on after reading your post, undoubtedly I need to use the Save command instead of the Save As command that I normally do. I appreciate your comment very much, that will improve my workflow nicely. I will also check out your tutorials, thanks for mentioning that as well!

I use those capabilities in LR (manually, no preset) but not when I've moved to PS CC via the "Edit In PS" menu item in LR. I assume when I start in LR and go to PS, the layered psd file does not update the LR raw file that I began with - or am I wrong here? I thought I had to save the PS work...

Diane, thanks for your comments. On the flattening question, the process I follow is to save the psd file with all layers before resizing and exporting a jpg. I have always preferred to manually resize and convert the color profile vs a Save For Web approach. I'm sure there is a good...

I also like the second version better. The rose color is actually closer to the real flower, and the background is not as noticeable. Many thanks to all for the comments!

One addition that I don't see mentioned above, when I started trying to photograph birds I found that shooting my Canon in AI Servo mode helped my keeper ratio improve a bit. I don't know the Nikon system but I assume there is an equivalent setting that helps to hold the focus with a moving...

Anita, Thank you for your comments. On the setup, it was on our kitchen table, the daffodils were in a large vase and I placed the rose in a bud vase about 6 inches in front of the daffodils. I was using that vintage Vivitar 135mm f2.8 Close Focusing lens at f2.8. I'm still in the 'trying it...

Nancy, Thank you for your comments, they are much appreciated. I will give that a shot as well! Barry

Thanks Dennis, I'll give that a try. I appreciate your feedback! Barry

It's been awhile since I posted, time to fix that. This is a little yellow rose and buds my wife clipped and put in a bud vase. I placed it in front of a large vase of daffodils for the background. Tech specs: 5D Mark III with Vivitar 135mm f2.8 Close Focusing lens (an old film era lens that...

Hi, I will be heading to Marathon the second week of January and will likely have 1 day for bird photography. I'm looking for recommendations on spots to make it a productive day (my big lens is a 500 mm plus teleconverters). If possible I would like to shoot for birds other than the common...

I can't figure out how to edit my original post, so just adding this: Forgot to add that I also had the EF 1.4x III teleconverter on as well, so this was at 700 mm.

Jim, What a great shot, there is nothing not to like about it. It tells a complete picture - wings convey action, snowflakes convey the environment, and the moment is obviously a great one. Congrats on it, I'd love to have that opportunity one day. One question - did you have to tweak...

Sanjeev, What species is this? A very nice looking bird that I don't know. I like this a lot, I enjoy seeing shots that show behavior like this. Great pose, sharp. Exposure looks good to me. Given the same situation again I would be tempted to raise the ISO a bit to allow stopping down a...

Great shot of one of my favorite birds, I'm a big fan of the female of this species. I really like the pose and perch, excellent sharpness and exposure. Very well done. Barry

Male Cardinal, photographed in the brush at the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR a couple of weeks ago. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 500 mm f4L IS II ISO 1600, f 5.6, 1/8000 sec PP done in Lightroom and Photoshop, NR on the background with Neat Image All comments appreciated. Barry

Out at the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge a couple of days ago, this pair of (a male and female I believe) American Widgeon flew in and landed on the opposite side of the pond. Again a healthy crop to get them as a decent size in the frame. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 500 mm...