Perfect Flight Shot?

[Arthur Morris]

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This image was created on the third afternoon of the Spoonbill Boat IPT. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1431717-REG/nikon_20082_af_s_nikkor_500mm_f_5_6e.html/BI/6633/KBID/7226/kw/NI50056E/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xNI50056E), the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1052071-REG/nikon_2219_af_s_teleconverter_tc_14e_iii.html/BI/6633/KBID/7226/kw/NITC14EIII/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xNITC14EIII), and my souped up Nikon D850. (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1351681-REG/nikon_d850_dslr_camera_body.html/BI/6633/KBID/7226/kw/NID850/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xNID850) ISO 800. Matrix metering plus 1/3 stop off the sky: 1/2500 sec. at f/8 was more than a stop under-exposed. (Even though the skies were clear, it was late in the day; the light was very soft and, in addition, it was a bit hazy.) NATURAL AUTO WB at 5:27pm on a clear afternoon.Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: 0. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here (http://birdsasart-shop.com/the-nikon-af-fine-tune-e-guide/).Center Group (grp)/Continuous (C in Nikon/AI Servo with Canon) AF was active at the moment of exposure. The array was centered on the bird’s face; good on me. This image is perfectly sharp on the eye.


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The posted image is full frame. All that I did in PS was to selectively sharpen the face with a contrast mask.

Learn more about the creation of this image in the Flight Poses and Wings Positions: Part I of Many. And a killer forward-facing/turning left flight image made with the 500 PF/TC-E14/D850 Rig blog post here (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2019/02/21/flight-poses-and-wings-positions-part-i-of-many-and-a-killer-forward-facing-turning-left-flight-image-made-with-the-500-pf-tc-e14-d850-rig/).

with love, artie

[John Mack]

Nice how the bird is fully stretched out. Also like the diagonal line it creates. Light looks sweet.

[William Dickson]

Yep, it sure looks good here...Beautiful detail and DOF. I reckon you got the exposure spot on...What a great underwing display. Why would you use Matrix metering, I have never used that mode but wondering now if I should.

Will

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Diagonal bird adds to the image. I always had wings clipped for this kind of image.

I like everything about the image, may be a you could reduce the sharpening a little, it looks slightly over sharpened for me on my monitor.

TFS

[Isaac Grant]

Looks like a frggin dinosaur from below. Nice details but for me to be perfect you would need eye level and a varied background.

[Arthur Morris]

Diagonal bird adds to the image. I always had wings clipped for this kind of image.

I like everything about the image, may be a you could reduce the sharpening a little, it looks slightly over sharpened for me on my monitor.

TFS

Yeah, I usually clip that pose too. What looks over-sharpened?

with love, artie

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Yeah, I usually clip that pose too. What looks over-sharpened?

with love, artie

Details on the bird looked over sharpened to me on my monitor

[Arthur Morris]

Details on the bird looked over sharpened to me on my monitor

I selectively sharpened the head and then sharpened theJ JPEG at at 80/.3/0 (Unsharp Mask), a very low value ...

with love, artie

[Dorian Anderson]

I don't see any sharpening issues. The lighting on the face is really nice, and I love how we can see every feather in the wings. The flight angle and diagonal position really work well. I cannot believe how long the wings appear. The detail looks good considering the size of the bird.

[arash_hazeghi]

sharpness and IQ look great from here but I agree would have loved to see this eye level against beautiful ocean blue

TFS

[Arthur Morris]

For the eye level fans: thanks, and I agree that that would be a killer image. But then without the amazing underwing detail ...

with love, artie on his new laptop where I can see all the shades of the calibration strip ...

[annmpacheco]

Really amazing Artie! Wonderful sharp detail of all those feathers underneath. I like the diagonal full spread and the separated wing tips. Wowsa, doesn't look over sharpened at all to me.

[gail bisson]

I am not sure about "a perfect flight shot" because for me, the angle is too steep. Having the pelican 2 feet lower would have been killer! I believe that you would still have gotten the great light under the wings and a better head view.
Great underwing details and beautiful light as presented. Tack sharp. The diagonal position within the frame is lovely.
Very nice Artie!

[Arthur Morris]

"Two feet lower" when the bird is 40 feet in the air sounds a little thin to me ....

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

Yep, it sure looks good here...Beautiful detail and DOF. I reckon you got the exposure spot on...What a great underwing display. Why would you use Matrix metering, I have never used that mode but wondering now if I should.

Will

HI Bill, Matrix is the Nikon equivalent of Canon's Evaluative. I have used it from Day 1 with Nikon. What metering mode are you using?

with love, artie

[William Dickson]

Hi Artie, I never realised that Matrix was the same as Evaluative, yes that's what I use.

Will