High ISO Northern Harrier

[Sidharth Kodikal]

All the credit for this shot goes to Dave Salem.

We were returning home from a day of raptor photography when Dave saw this Harrier working an area (I had completely missed this bird)
Not only did he spot it, but also put us in the right spot where he knew the bird would return.
And return she did, giving us a few fly-bys for frame filling flight shots!
It takes many years of study and observation to do this.
All I'll say is that Dave knows his spots and his raptors.

In the reflection in the eye, you can see the horizon and the sun just barely above it.
The bird is a bit dark, but I preferred not to alter it as this is how I remember the scene.
NR on BG only.

Canon 1D4, 700mm
1/500 | f5.6 | ISO 4000
Handheld, manual, full frame

All comments appreciated
Thanks

[gail bisson]

The sky colors are absolutely beautiful.
Love the full wings down position.
Really like this a lot. looks great re:NR as well.
Gail

[Julie Brown]

I agree with Gail. Really nice image. Impressive at ISO 4000. Was noise evident in the RAW image, and how did you process this?

[John Robinson]

Nice one Sid .I must try this high ISO stuff but it will be not much good in the dark areas around my pools I doubt. We'll see. Love the wings down position-gives an impression of speed I reckon.
John
John

[Grace Scalzo]

Simply superb Sid! Face is tack sharp and the colors are beautiful.

[Glenn Conlan]

Great capture Sid, beautiful BG. Tack sharp even at a rather slow shutter speed. Keep them coming. Glenn


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[David Salem]

It's how I remember the scene also Sid. Thanks for the credit but all I did was get you on the bird, you had the skills to get the shot, and a great shot it is.
That was a fun evening and I enjoyed watching you firing away as the Harrier flew around you in the last bit of evening light. I love the pose and the wing position and the bird is nice and sharp. Looks great, especially for the high ISO. See ya soon.

[dankearl]

Beautiful BG to go with the Harrier, much different than the norm.
Nice for iso 4000, send this to Arash though and he could make it shine…….
I am using Topaz NR plug in for very high iso star photos and I messed around with it on
your Harrier with OK results for just using the really small file.
I never use NR on the birds but may give Topaz a try sometime.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Thank you all for viewing and commenting.


I agree with Gail. Really nice image. Impressive at ISO 4000. Was noise evident in the RAW image, and how did you process this?

Thanks Julie. At 4000 iso, there certainly is noise. But with a light bg, it wasn't too bad. I have a few others with dark/grass BG which will need heavier NR that I might post later.
I would've run NR on the bird but I'm on a new machine and haven't installed my NR software yet.
I usually use DPP and do run color NR in it, but I used ACR for this one. Since I just upgraded to CC, figured I'd give ACR a try, and am liking it quite a bit.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Beautiful BG to go with the Harrier, much different than the norm.
Nice for iso 4000, send this to Arash though and he could make it shine…….
I am using Topaz NR plug in for very high iso star photos and I messed around with it on
your Harrier with OK results for just using the really small file.
I never use NR on the birds but may give Topaz a try sometime.

Thanks Dan. I have Arash's NR guide and might give that workflow a try on this image, once my new machine is set up completely.

[Robert Hardy]

Whta a super shot you have captured here.
Rob.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Sid, seems like you were pretty excited to shoot this lovely lady. Excellent downstroke of the wings, and that BG is simply stunning. Great work with the high ISO.

Sounds like you fired away more than a few shots at her, so Im sure you will share them soon. :w3

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Sid,
nice colors, flight pose,look to the cam.
I would try to reduce noise in the wings at least.Push the white sider in levels a bit more and you will get more oomph in the tones.

I just really wonder that there is visible detail in the white rump feathers , others in this forum said there are no details in the Harrier rump feathers they are pure white………….. At least i see loads of detail in these white rump feathers. :w3:eek3:.

TFS Andreas

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Thanks for all the comments.

Hi Stu, I'm usually miserly with the number of shots I fire, but with full frame harrier shots, you could say I machine gunned a bit. I can't get within half a mile of one here in Austin!

Hi Andreas, I went conservative with the OP. I might do a repost with NR on the bird and a little more oomph.

Thanks again!

[Karl Egressy]

Great looking image, Sidharth. Nice wins down pose, the head looks really sharp. Never tried ISO 4000 but based on your image, it works.

[arash_hazeghi]

pretty good Sid for the ISO. I think you can do better a bit, let me know if you need help.

best