Another one from the Tundra (Falco peregrinus tundrius)

[Erik Hedlin]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9161037766_be464da8b9_o.jpg


The breeding season is progressing here on the tundra and almost all of the birds we're monitoring have laid their entire clutch (usually 4 eggs). Hatching should begin in roughly two weeks!
If anyone is interested, you can find more information about our research at our website (http://www.arcticraptors.ca/), or see continuous updates as the season progresses on our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arctic-Raptors/492020344188032)

Canon 7D and 400mm f5.6L
ISO 400
f6.3 at 1/2,000
Hand held, AI Servo, +2/3 exposure comp.
No cropping, a little USM and NR, and I lowered the contrast of the background a little bit to make it less distracting.

Thanks in advance for comments and crit! I'm not completely satisfied with my post so if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

[Randy Stout]

Erik:
I like the bank towards us which gives a decent view of the dorsal surface of the near wing. Although the whites on the throat don't look too bright, I am not seeing any detail there.

Good call to reduce the contrast on the BG, it could have easily overpowered the bird.

The tucked feet are a nice detail.

Cheers


Randy

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Erik, Agree with Randy about the nice dorsal view and the whites too. Perhaps a bit less EC or shoot in manual mode (maybe start with f8, 1/2500s in bright sunlight and go from there).

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Erik,

Some good feedback above. I might add a touch of contrast to the bird alone, and might consider cloning out the white portions of the bg with a darker (earth tone) color, if you are OK with that.

Headed to check out some of your research!

Miguel

[Marina Scarr]

You must have some amazing opportunities with these speeding bullets. I have attached a RP wherein I did a luminosity layer to darken the entire image b/c it appeared overall a bit to bright to my eyes. I burned the white chest a little and the back of the tail, cropped it tighter and sharpened the bird a little more. You could do even more with the RAW file. Looking forward to chick pictures!

[Randy Stout]

The bird looks much nicer in Marina's repost, more snap for sure.

Randy

[Erik Hedlin]

Fantastic! There might be a little loss in quality due to working with a jpg, but I'm loving the extra pop added Marina. I'm definitely going to take this through another round of post and see if I can match your results. Thanks for putting the time in!!