Where's my branch...

[David Roach]

EOS R EF 400DO I 2xtc II f11 1/160 ISO 800 manual exposure

[Paul Burdett]

Cool shot David. Really like the pose on both birds (Herons?) and great to see an environmental shot, instead of the usual "clean" BG/FG. Both eyes are sharp too! Cheers.

[Randy Stout]

David:

I really like he action captured. Strong environment content helps tell the story. Good choice for the small f/stop to help with DOF, but perhaps a bit higher ISO so you could have had a higher shutter speed. There is some motion blur.

Well exposed and framed.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good interaction, and the dark background gives off a nice mood. f/11 seems to have been the perfect aperture here, but I agree going to ISO 1600 or 3200 would have helped with the subject motion (not very obvious here, but I am sure some other frames were spoiled due to that). If mine I'd remove the leaves peeking up from the top bird's back. Nicely done overall, I like it a lot!

[Bill Dix]

Great poses from both birds, and f/11 gave you both in focus. Nice lighting as well. I don't know if a touch more selective sharpening on the heads of both birds would help, but perhaps the ever-so-slight softness is motion blur.

[Randy Stout]

The reason I believe that motion blur is an issue with the lower birds head and neck, is that sticks/leaves both in front of and behind that bird appear to be adequately sharp( so enough DOF), but the areas I mentioned are not.

Randy

[John Mack]

Great interaction here. My favorite frame of yours in this series. Nice setting and interaction.

[David Roach]

Hi everyone and Randy you are absolutely correct (as usual) in that there is slight motion blur in the female's head (doing the classic "sky" reaction to male arrival) and the male's wing (he's tucking it in after the landing). This was the same morning as the other with light constantly changing due to change in thickness of clouds on the eastern horizon. Daniel, you are also right that other frames in this sequence were worse (even more motion) and some better. Trying to get the cleanest image I was constantly fiddling with the manual settings while staying on the female and awaiting the males return with another branch. When the female's reaction would begin, I'd only have time to change ISO (one last time, yes the light was in constant flux) before hitting the trigger. I did like the slight blur as it adds to the drama in this frame. Also, loved that dark BG and went for high contrast in PP to accentuate that effect. I guess I need to get even better at turning two dials at once at critical times. Any advice from the group on techniques would be greatly appreciated as I am new to manual mode.
Thanks as always for your very valued inputs.



The reason I believe that motion blur is an issue with the lower birds head and neck, is that sticks/leaves both in front of and behind that bird appear to be adequately sharp( so enough DOF), but the areas I mentioned are not.

Randy