Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6
f/7.1, 1/2000s, ISO 800, 200mm
Every year, we have many pairs of starlings breeding in our locality. We have bird feeders in the garden all year round, but when the starlings bring their young to them, it is really hard to keep them filled.
As a consequence of their generally rowdy behaviour and competition for food, we often get squabbles breaking out. It also means I can get very close to them, as they are generally oblivious to anything but the food and their disputes.
I took a fishing chair to a fen once. I sat down and all four legs disappeared into the peat, essentially leaving me sat on the ground 🤣
I used NX Studio from Nikon when I first started on digital, which is free, but I found it less capable than I needed. I might go back and have another look. I really like Fast Raw Viewer. It makes it really easy to cull my shots down before importing them.
In lightroom I'll do a general first pass process on import and then if there's something I really like I'll take my time ruining it lol TBH most of anything I do after the first pass is just cropping for layout.
I also have topaz denoise, sharpener and gigapixel for doing large prints and a Spyder for screen calibration. I don't think calibration is really worth it if you're only doing digital images, because unless the person looking at the photo has an identical screen and calibration it's never going to look the same, but it's a noticeable improvement when printing.
Mmm, chair + fen = inevitable end
One of my favourite accessories in my camera bag is a folding square of foam, from Multimat - https://outdoorgear.co.uk/multimat-compact-kumfie-sit-mat/ Light, doesn't get in the way, and allows me to sit on most flat surfaces even if damp.
On free software - I seem to remember Canon are meant to be at the better end of what is on offer in this area (and some camera suppliers just give demo versions of third party software). So I just got lucky perhaps.
I have wondered about getting a monitor that might be more faithful to its inputs, when what I guess a Spyder might do is relevant, but my colour memory/sense is not that great, and I'm certainly not doing prints of my own photos - I'd need a much better printer!
I had the separate Topaz products, but when they offered me a free upgrade to the combo product I leapt at it - it just seemed so logical to have it all in one package, rather than chaining them.