Crested Caracara

[Diane Miller]

Shot in the Lower Rio Grande Valley about a month ago. Way too cloudy. Canon 7D2, 100-400 II at 400, ISO 1600, f/6.3, 1/1600 sec., hand held. I probably could have done with lower ISO and SS though. Cropped to 40% of original horizontal frame. Should have had the 1.4X on, although the center focus point is somewhat of a limitation with a subject that could be moving.

The basics in LR5 -- not much needed. Into PS for NR on the BG and a little cleanup, and a touch of Structure with Viveza.

C&C always appreciated and learned from.

[Bob Serling]

Actually cloudy is very nice here, as is the pose and head angle on this prehistoric looking bird. Cloudy gives you that beautiful smoky background that you can't get in direct sunlight.

[Lyle Gruby]

Great looking subject, perch, and BG. IQ has really held up to the large crop. I have shot down in Houston, and I agree that it can get way too cloudy some days.

[Diane Miller]

Cloudy-bright is great. Agreed, sunlight is not my preference. But cloudy-almost-dark is too much. This was gloom, thus an ISO I'd rather not have resorted to, especially for a crop. But it beat a day a work, as the saying goes. :S3:

[Karl Egressy]

Nice pose and interesting background of a good looking raptor, Diane.

[David Salem]

Nice pose and a good-looking adult individual. The perch and the background look Great and I like the overall exposure and detail in this one. Looks like you might have went to one of the photo ranches out there. Well done

[Gerald Kelberg]

Some of us are always having to shoot at ISO 1600!

But the soft light is great on this one. I love the colours and the pose of the bird on that perch. Looks great to me!

Gerald

[shane shacaluga]

Very nice image. IQ has stood up to the crop and seems noise levels are good at this size. Perch is good and I like the BG too.


Do you find this ISO is sort of the limit you are comfortable working with on this camera?

[gail bisson]

I think the soft light is great.
I like the BG and the perch very much. Nice pose too.
Well done,
Gail

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the pose composition and perch, the colours are also pleasing. The detail in the plumage is also very good, the strong eye contact makes the image - well done.
BTW do you use Viveza (I guess this is similar to Topaz detail??) before sharpening and at full image size or in place of sharpening?

[Diane Miller]

Thanks, everyone! Yes, this was at Laguna Seca Ranch -- I did the hire-a-guide-for-a-day thing. Highly recommended experience!

And yes, ISO 1600 is really beyond my desired limit. 800 is better. It isn't so much "noise itself" but the drop in resolving power as ISO increases.

I use Viveza for two things. Here it was for quick access to the Structure slider, which is also in Silver Efex Pro. It gives an effect in between sharpening and Clarity. It will really bring out grain, though. I do it on the full image, after NR. I rarely do any sharpening except the default 25 in LR. Most of the time I remember to do a very subtle Smart Sharpen on a JPEG. Sometimes it can make quite a difference.

I haven't used Topaz Detail -- just never figured out their sliders.

I also use Viveza for its delicate masking of OOF areas for tonal adjustments such as darkening a bright OOF branch or the like. It can be freaky how good a job it can do. You use a control point, but the effect will slop over into adjacent areas and you need to set "neutral" control points around it to limit the effect where you want it.