Snowy at Noon

[Dave Phillips]

I did a no-no and spent several hours over the noon hour shooting snowies in full overhead sunlight.
A real joy to watch them hunt/fish in the muddy colored settled flood water lit by full sun.

400mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/3200, -1EV, sot at 11:52am.....later dropped to ISO 400.
The shadow looks harsh as it was soooooo underexposed, but the shoot was fun
and I learned a lot

thanks for looking/critique

[Glenn Ehmke]

Fantastic work given the light Dave - obviously no problems freezing the action at 1/3200!

Interesting to me that backlighting seems to have worked well here - it's limited the amout of burnt area in the image to the back of the bird that you mostly cant see while comming through the almost translucent white plumage really nicely. I'll have to remember that one. Probably won't work on birds with dark plumage though....

One question though, why did you shoot at a high ISO - why not 100?

Glenn

[Dave Phillips]

Fantastic work given the light Dave -
One question though, why did you shoot at a high ISO - why not 100?
Glenn

thanks Glen, the shoot was a learning experience for me. I was doing as you noted and trying to make use of backlight.. Started with high ISO mostly for shutter speed, but was also shooting at f/11 and f/16 for dof trial.
The light would change every so often, so I just stayed on 800....it's clean enough when overexposing.
(but the bg was underexposing of course)

[Robert O'Toole]

Love the pose and the timing. The image isnt as bad as you would think give the situation and conditions. I like the backlit look to it and the translucent feathers.
Fill flash would have really helped to open up the shadows.

Robert

[Steve Canuel]

I think this looks great Dave. The shadows don't bother me at all as that's what I'd expect based on the brightness showing through the wings. The bird and its shadow go well with the BG while at the same time providing a nice contrast to the consistency of color.
Steve

[Desmond Chan]

I have to say: "WOW !!"

[Kirk Benson]

Brilliant shot Dave, I think it's gorgeous as presented. Very well done.

[Bob Malbon]

David, Great all around! Love the comp - needs a nice frame on the wall that is!! Bob

[Fabs Forns]

The light worked with this circumstances giving you a dramatic image, the wings show translucent and the pose is perfect! The Snowy looks 3D!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Looks like a beautiful ballet. Dlicate with lovely movement and I too love the dramatique lighting. Gorgeous Dave !!!

[Blake Shadle]

Nice work, Dave. You were doing things you weren't supposed to and came away with a nice image. The only thing I might recommend is warming up the white balance... the whites look a bit cold (not as if there was any actual warmth in the light :D)

[Dave Phillips]

thanks all for comments and tips.

Blake, funny you should mention the wb.
I had this warmer and with the muddy water it looked off, so went to a purer white.
You have a good point about the coolness and I will definitely explore this more....thanks