Come to me male Prairie Chicken.

[kevin Hice]

I thought I would post one of my chickens from this spring thanks to Dorian posting some great shots. This chicken was being chased and flew right by. So I was able to track this bird quite away out. What amazes me is how birds know exactly where you are. Even being in a blind they seem to know of your presence.
I don't get lots of flight shots being somewhat limited because I set the blind up very close for action shots and being on my knees or laying down. Also have the setup on a gimbal with a tripod. Thanks to all for previous comments on my last post.
Processed with Dpp 4, Photoshop and Topaz noise very limited. I will have to say regarding noise processing have to thank Artie for pushing the exposure in raw has helped me very much. I don't get lots of noise. I thought of cropping out the bottom strip of grass but rather liked it gives more perspective.
Canon R3
600 Rf L
840 mm
M 5.6
1/3200
ISO 3200

[Randy Stout]

Kevin:

Good choice to retain the grass, it helps anchor the image.'
Nicely exposed, soft light, like the background.

Nice flare of the primaries on the rear wing.

Well captured.

Randy

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Kevin ... nice flight shot and the low POV is a cool amplifier of the situation .
Colors and tones looking good ... personally I might give the subject a subtle boost .

ETTR is nothing new .... but glad you picked it up :w3

When you are using Topaz NR ... i would personally turn off the NR in DPP , to avoid double NR . Just have the feeling that you are going along that route as the OOF areas are very smooth in your files . Just give it a try ....

TFS Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

I love the grass and the strip of blue sky at the top. And the image too. My pleasure.

with love, a

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice flight shot Kevin and I like the slight look to camera, but I think you could add a bit more selective sharpening.



I will have to say regarding noise processing have to thank Artie for pushing the exposure in raw has helped me very much.

Kevin, you do mean in camera ie ETTR and not lifting the raw ie lifting the exposure, which is not the way to go. If the raw is light in appearance, but you have pushed the exposure as far as you can to the right without clipping, and captured as much data as possible, then dropping the exposure at the Raw conversation isn't an issue. In addition NR becomes far easier to manage at higher ISO, but ISO3200 is a breeze with the R3.

TFS
Steve

[kevin Hice]

Thanks Steve, I have been pushing the exposure in the camera and hardly any noise even at a higher ISO. And can use low adjustments in noise reduction.

[Steve Kaluski]

Perfect Kevin, you have got it sorted, the less adjustments the better the file. :cheers:

[Mike Poole]

Great pose, wing position and head turn, and the grass strip at the bottom is a bonus for me. It'd be nice if you posted your shots a little larger

Mike

[dankearl]

Nice!! Excellent flight pose and angle.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very nice Kevin - and here's another mention to post larger if possible...images like this deserve to be seen bigger:S3: