Black Kite in flight

[Wendy Kates]

I shot this image late in the afternoon in Israel's Jordan Valley. There is a slight sharpening halo that I'm not sure how to remove.
Canon 7D, 300mm f/4 lens, 1.4 extender
ISO 400, f 5.6, 1/2000s

Added canvas since bird was very high in frame; cropped; increased exposure by about 1 stop and sharpened initially in RAW, and again in jpeg, with Smart Sharpen.

Critiques welcome.

[Diane Miller]

Very nice!

With any camera, and especially the 7D, it's better to bump up the exposure in camera than to do it in RAW -- you'll have less noise in the dark areas and you can always bring down the highlights, as long as they aren't completely blown out. Expose to the right is an excellent idea with any camera.

Very good job on adding sky -- I've been sloppy about that lately so pulled it into PS to use my "heavy curve" method to see the detail in the light areas. Here I made the curve very steep in the range of the histogram that represents the sky. You missed a very thin strip in the top left and along the top edge -- it may not even show in this screenshot.

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This does emphasize the sharpening halo -- the only way I know to get rid of it is to do some very tedious and fine cloning. I would try different sharpening parameters to see if it could be minimized. I wouldn't have even noticed it in the post.

[Tim Harding]

Nice Shot. You might consider some selective brightening under the wing tip and tail to bring out some additional detail.

[Iain Barker]

Hi Wendy

This is nice. I don't think the halo is that noticeable on your post but agree the best way to get rid of it would be to go back and try different sharpening settings as it would be easier than trying to fix it now. I also agree it selectively sharpening under the wing and tail may improve the image. If you have the opportunity again I would try and get the bird when it is angled slightly more towards you as it is heading away slightly I think that would have taken you image to the next level.

TFS
Iain

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, all, for your input. Iain, I do have a couple of shots with the bird angled more toward me: unfortunately, they weren't nearly as sharp as this one. :(