Sharp tongue

[wendell westfall]

D70s 70-200VR 2X @400 1/1000 f5.6 ISO400 0EV

This feller was honking and chasing yesterday, and even sticking out his tongue in a very ungentlemanly fashion. I like the pose but realize there are problems with the exposure -- in both the black and white colors particularly. Please offer criticism and recommendations as to how I can improve exposure for these rascals . . . or have I come about as close as I can expect (surely not) for Canada geese?

Thanks in advance,
Wendell

[Katie Rupp]

They are such "contrasty" fellows, Wendell, that my best luck with them is waiting for soft light which isn't easy where I live so I'll be interested in responses to your question. Love the pose/behavior!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Wendell,
I like the capture...it looks like your bird has an attitude problem...:eek::D The focus point was not on the eye, it's a tad soft, you locked focus on the central area of the body...and you compensation was at 0EV, should have tried depending on your camera a +0.3 or a +0.7 to expose the blacks...I would suggest on cropping 1/4 from the top to make it a tight pano, thus putting more attention on this crazy bird...:):cool:

[wendell westfall]

Hi Gus:
So, as a general rule, I should choose +EV to favor the blacks over a -EV for the whites? I like you tight pano suggestion . . .

[Gus Cobos]

This is correct Sir,
a +EV for the black birds, and a -EV for the whites...I use my two Nikon D70s about 60 percent of the time, over my other bodies...It's a solid reliable camera and the batteries go on forever...:D

[Lance Peters]

HI Wendell - Good points!! Also to add to this is Dynamic range - our eyes can see about 14 stops of range between black and white - the bestest camera's probably about 8 stops. So with subjects that are Black and White in bright sunlight you will find that if you dial in +ev to get good details in the blacks - your whites will be blown out and vice versa. The only solution is softer light because this reduces the dynamic range of the scene to something that your camera has a better ability to capture. In Bright sunlight you canot get details in your blacks and have your whites in check as well.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Lance the eight stop is very optimistic The range will be under five stops at best

The main killer for this image was the time it was made and angle it came from. From the shadow it had to be close to eleven and from the right !! Do love the behavior !!!!

[Nonda Surratt]

CG's have such great attitude, especially this time of year, nice job there Wendell!

Agree on the light angle and focus.

[Christopher Miller]

Wendell, like the pose and BG. The eye looks a bit weird to me. Not sure if that's because it's a bit soft as pointed out by Gus. I understand the problem of exposing; I've run into the same problem with chickadees.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Great thread. All the techs covered and liked the explanation about dynamic range by Lance and Al. Never knew the range was so high in bright light.

[wendell westfall]

Thanks to all . . . valuable info for me . . . for example, I knew nothing of dynamic range before.

Think I need a good book to explore further the "basics" (but not the complexity) of picture-taking . . . any suggestions?

[Jackie Schuknecht]

http://www.kelbytraining.com/player/index.html (http://www.kelbytraining.com/player/index.html) Wendell this site has everything, you can watch the first three segments in any subject of your interest. $20/mos, or 200 for the year. I find it invaluable.

[wendell westfall]

Thanks, Jackie. It looks very interesting . . .