On the Road Again ...

[Arthur Morris]

This image was created on the morning of 9 APR 2020 at Indian Lake Estates. I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1485540-REG/sony_sel200600g_fe_200_600mm_f_5_6_6_3_g.html/BI/6633/KBID/7226/kw/SO200600G/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xSO200600G) (at 600mm) and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1509600-REG/sony_ilce9m2_b_alpha_a9_ii_mirrorless.html/BI/6633/KBID/7226/kw/SOA92/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xSOA92) ISO 2500. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/500 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode; I went for sone Zebras on the adult’s white neck patches and lots of Zebras on visible sections of the sky. AWB at seven fifty-three am on an overcast morning. Center Zone AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed superbly.

For the complete story of the swimming crane family and the creation of this image, see the blog post here. (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2020/04/20/on-the-road-again/)

Don't be shy; all comments are welcome and appreciated.

Compare with the pano crop in Pane 2. Which do you prefer and why?

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

I decided to create a pano from the original image above. Since I wanted to create an image with no sky in the frame while at the same time leaving a decent amount of room above the bird’s heads, I had to fill in some of the sky in the upper left corner. That turned out to be a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. I wound up using two small Quick Masks refined with Regular Layer Masks.

with love, artie

[Jonathan Ashton]

Artie, this doesn't look right to me - does it have an embedded color profile??????

[John Mack]

Love the title. Nice view of all the birds. I like the framing in both images. The color on the top of the first image looks odd to me. There are two clone lines on the repost top left corner next to the tree. A nice moment for sure.

[Jack Backs]

I guess my only quibble would be that it would be nice if the chicks were in focus also. Not sure how much more latitude with iso and shutter speed would be needed to bump the aperture to achieve this.

[David Roach]

Really love the entire canvas design in the pano crop. Agree with Jack's assessment. TFS

[Jerry Taylor]

Artie,
I definitely prefer the pano version. What an extraordinary capture and moment. I can easily say I have never even seen this before let alone had the opportunity to photograph it. I may have taken that whole trunk in the upper left out, but..... (this is a joke me commenting on an Arthur Morris photo, LOL)

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes, the pano and filled-in sky looks better to me as well (a couple of small horizontal clone marks still visible there though). I love the scene as a whole with all four coming straight towards us. One aspect that I really like and has not been mentioned yet are the white flowers around the base of the tree at right plus the vine climbing up that trunk. Very appealing elements.

[Mike Poole]

I prefer the looser crop - its not a set of portraits, so the extra environment really adds more to the shot for me. I could live without the brightest areas in the OP but not a deal breaker

Mike

[Debapratim Saha]

Love the well synchronised poses and painterly back goround,also like the feel of bit noise in the BG.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Artie a very cool encounter . Love the parade .... and the pano crop works well .

The overall IQ is not there for me , sadly . Lacking fine details and the noise is quite obvious , and that level of noise at only ISO 2500 :eek3:.
As a personal note ... the colors are not grabbing me either , could be just me .

No possible aperture would save the DOF to get all birds sharp ....Jack :w3 .... with that lens combo . Just my take .

TFS Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

I guess my only quibble would be that it would be nice if the chicks were in focus also. Not sure how much more latitude with iso and shutter speed would be needed to bump the aperture to achieve this.

If you stopped down enough to get the colts sharp (if that is even possible) the soft look of the background would have been ruined and jangly sharp.

with love, a

[Arthur Morris]

Love the title. Nice view of all the birds. I like the framing in both images. The color on the top of the first image looks odd to me. There are two clone lines on the repost top left corner next to the tree. A nice moment for sure.

Thanks, John. The color should be identical because the two images are from the same master file, just cropped. It is possible that the inclusion of the sky messes up the brain's perception of color ... I can't believe I missed the clone marks. I was so concentrating on the edge of the tree that I messed up the easy part.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, this doesn't look right to me - does it have an embedded color profile??????

Hi John. Good question. It is confession time. I used to teach folks that stuff but have forgotten over time. Should BPN images be in sRGB? Is that what you are referring to? If yes, does it get embedded if you Assign the color profile? Any and all help would be appreciated.

with love, artie

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi John. Good question. It is confession time. I used to teach folks that stuff but have forgotten over time. Should BPN images be in sRGB? Is that what you are referring to? If yes, does it get embedded if you Assign the color profile? Any and all help would be appreciated.

with love, artie

Artie, I find the quickest and most convenient way to ensure that sRGB is embedded is to use a "Save for Web" Action. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Save = Save for Web. The Action I use incorporates the "Embed Color Profile" up toward top right of the screen, so if I use an action to include Embed Color profile it doesn't get forgotten. Hope this makes sense & helps.